Since becoming a full time faculty member at Clock Tower three years ago, Waver Velvet has gained a Reputation. It is not particularly uncommon for a professor at Clock Tower, but even Waver knows that his is special. By merely advising the thesis projects of many a low generation mage who, he has become their unsung champion. Waver would find it flattering if it wasn't so damned distressing that he achieved this by simply giving these students the time of day.
He says nothing on the matter though, ignoring the wary tone his fellow faculty members use when discussing the research he authorizes and continuing to assure the students that flock to him that they too are capable of doing great things in their own lifetime.
It is with this reputation firmly in place that causes Waver to nearly fall over when Rin Tohsaka knocks on the door to his office, all but demanding that he be her adviser for her graduate thesis. After all, Rin is his perfect opposite, with a great family name that goes back for centuries, impossible number of magecraft circuits and admiration of not only her peers but the faculty of the entire school. At first, Waver thinks it's a joke. He doesn't laugh, but he does look at her as if she's said something absolutely absurd, and then goes back to grading papers. It isn't until Rin sits down in the tiny folding chair in front of his desk that makes Waver finally look up.
For her part, Rin cannot say she is shocked by Waver's lack of enthusiasm, or even his office - the most telling sign of any faculty member's office is strange in proportion - longer than it is wide - with his desk crammed into a corner and mismatched bookshelves lining the far wall. Mold lingers on some of the ceiling tiles closest to the window and Rin is pretty sure that on his desk is a beaker full of radioactive something-or-other undergoing a state change, right next to a cup of tea. The office's shabbiness and awkward size is only underscored by the six foot tall Waver sitting in a bespoke suit from Savile Row, all arms and legs whenever he tries to shift in his seat. Rin sniffs, casting her eyes around in disapproval. "They expect you to work in a space like this?"
"I usually work in the labs," Waver replies in a neutral tone."My students know that they're more likely to find me there than here."
Rin shrugs at the statement, pointedly ignoring its stand-offish nature. "So as I said, I need you to be my thesis advisor, as I'm graduating next term and have to do one in order to meet requirements."
"Mm, why me?"
"Because you have the smallest office out of the entire Clock Tower faculty, for starters."
Waver smiles grimly at that and leans back in his chair, lifting two of its legs off the ground. A sharp, deprecating laugh follows. "And what are you so intent on writing about that name alone will not save you from the critique of your peers and professors?"
"I want to address the potential for dismantling the Fuyuki City Holy Grail," is Rin's earnest reply, and at that Waver nearly tips over in his chair. He is only saved by the back of his chair touching on the wall, tilting him forward again. This doesn't stop his arms from flailing about, a graceful crane in a far too small cage, and Rin grins at the display in spite of herself.
"And now you know why I came to you."
When Waver smiles this time, it is a large, wicked smile, all teeth and restrained laughter and gears turning in his head. Rin continues. "You're interested?"
"Tell me what you have in mind," Waver prompts, leaning forward.
The change in demeanour doesn't bother Rin in the slightest - in fact, she returns the slightly manic smile. "I think we can both agree on the fact that the Grail Wars have undergone a state of corruption that needs to be addressed, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"But to understand what went wrong, one must first understand the genesis of the Grail and its history. I have access to the earlier accounts and the power of oral history cannot be discounted here." Waver inclines his head in agreement, prompting Rin to continue. "With that history in mind and an understanding of the alchemical processes that the Grail runs on, its possible to find where the Heaven's Feel system went wrong and determine if this can be fixed at all, and if it can't, how the Grail can be taken apart entirely."
Waver sucks in his breath, running through the proposal in his head and gently prodding at potential roadblocks. "Two questions: how much alchemical training do you have and how much access to documents related to the creation of the Grail as well as the first through third wars do you have?"
"First: usual contact consistent with the mineralogy department. Second: I am looking into that when I go home for winter holidays. Our library is poorly organized and-"
"-and Clock Tower runs on card catalogs and books that list archive holdings, so you're not sure on that front," Waver finishes with a twinge of misery in his voice. "Plus, there's no way the Einzbern or Matou families would give you that information, assuming they have records of it to begin with." With that, Waver straightens up, shuffling papers around on his desk. His tone is more disappointed than dismissive. "You're staking too much on primary documents that might not exist."
Rin matches Waver's dismissiveness with steely determination. "We'll have them. I just wanted to see if looking for them would even be worth my time. Little point in combing through the house looking for dusty old pieces of paper if I'm not going to use them."
The certainty in Rin's voice causes Waver to pause, recognizing something painfully familiar in her tone. "If you find enough documents over break and if your department is okay with it, then I'll sign on," he says, aware that he's caving in to her demands far too easily. "It'd be a very good idea if you call or e-mail me with what you find on your property and what sort of information that entails. That would enable me to look in the archives both here and abroad to see if there are other documents that meet your needs. I know that the Einzbern have some boxes in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin that might contain some relevant information and a request there won't raise any eyebrows."
"I can do that," Rin says, bursting at the seams with confidence. She proceeds to let Waver to talk her into using e-mail for communication over the break rather than relying on international phone calls, then leaves his office with a triumphant grin. She had expected a greater fight to ensue, for there to be more insults about her own magecraft inheritance and even a refusal to discuss the matter of the Grail at all - but this? This was good. This she could work with.
To:
From:
Subject: Documents?
Date: 27 December 2010
Rin-
E-mailing to see if you've had any luck with finding documents. Clock Tower's archive holds three relevant collections that I can get access to (the others are inaccessible to all). According to the finding aids, they address matters of ley lines redirecting prana to a single spot. Since your family was responsible for that manipulation, I'm going to guess that any complementary documents are in your hands.
If said documents aren't in your library on property, check stuff like safety deposit boxes and the households of allies - things might have gotten squirreled away.
-Waver
To:
From:
Subject: RE: Documents?
Date: 30 December 2010
professor velvet
i have found some of the ley line things that probably match with what clock tower has but have also found an account of the second grail war which is very well documented but might be very biased and without other accounts i cant give a good history
if you find third grail war things that is probably better because i cant find any info at all
also are there major alchemy changes like schools of thought etc that have occurred since the grail was first made because that might be another thing to take into account
it took me twenty minutes to type this why cant we use the phone
-tohsaka rin
To:
From:
Subject: RE: RE: Documents?
Date: 3 January 2011
Rin-
Apologies for the late reply - New Year's happened.
Anyway, to address your concerns. I retrieved the finding aid for Berlin's Einzbern holdings. It seems that there is an alchemical treatise that was written around the same time as when the Grail was created by Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern. (I'm looking to see if they have any other documents written by her. I don't have my hopes up though.) If this is related to the Grail like I suspect, then you will at the very least be able to talk about the process of creating it - and that will need to address explicitly and at length in the final draft.
As for the matter of a biased account - you're going to encounter it in all of your primary sources. For example, if you're doing an oral history of the Fourth Grail War (rather than rely solely on old tape and newspaper clippings from the time of the Fuyuki Fire) I'll warn you now that I will also be biased and there are elements I am not going to be willing to discuss. Bias is inevitable - you just need to acknowledge it in the text.
Ignoring the matter of bias for a moment - what I want to know is if the documents you found indicate something wrong with the Heaven's Feel system in terms of summons of servants OR the results of a wish being fulfilled. I can speak from experience that the matter of the Fourth Grail War had evidence of foul play in servant summons. (Specifically, Caster and his master. Look into the kidnappings around the same time as the War and you'll get a good idea of what was going on). If there isn't any evidence of issues in the Second War then we know the Third War is the problem and that's where the most information is needed from as many sources as possible.
Finally - alchemical changes. I'll need to look at the Justeaze file first, as innovation in the alchemical field is very slow indeed (modern chemistry and science caused dismissal of it and only recently have people begun to take interest in it again). I'm guessing that it won't be too much though.
I'll be gone for a conference in Egypt as of tomorrow and then I'm flying to Berlin to look at those documents before exams start - so phone calls are right out, sorry. If you have time during the study period, you can find me in lab 423 in the Gladstone building on Clock Tower's campus.
Yours
-Waver
To:
From:
Subject: RE: RE: RE: Documents?
Date: 10 January 2011
Professor velvet-
i am doing this in bullet points because it is easier sorry
- i found a few journal snippets about the third grail war but the book they are in is in very bad condition but it seems that something did go wrong i am looking for more of the journal
- i researched into the children disappearance in 1996 and i apparently encountered caster's master which explains a lot now that i think about it
-if the third grail war is where things went wrong then maybe german archives have more there and not under the einzbern name?
-sorry about the phone call thing it is just hard to type
-found some alchemy notes about the grail let me know if berlin had anything
-i fly back to england tomorrow i will talk to you when i am over jet lag
-i am bringing all the stuff i found with me in a box maybe i should give it to clock tower for safe keeping
-tohsaka rin
To:
From:
From: Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: Documents?
Date: 10 January 2011
Rin-
I hope you get this before you leave!
First: DO NOT HAND OVER THE DOCUMENTS TO THE ARCHIVE AT CLOCK TOWER. If your ultimate plan is to stop the Grail Wars for good then giving this information to the Clock Tower archive empowers them to create the Heaven's Feel system from scratch and that is the last thing you want to do. I'll look around for a way to keep these things safe while in private hands.
As for everything else: yes the stuff from Berlin is relevant to you, I was capable of getting a photocopy from the staff who were nice enough about it (that it was on flat paper and not bound in a book was also useful.) You'll have enough information to talk about the processes that created the Grail at any rate, and between the two of us we can likely fill in any missing gaps that come up. I didn't find anything else in the Berlin archive that might relate to the Third Grail War, but given what was going on in Germany at the time there may just be a very large backlog that hasn't been properly archived yet.
I'd like to read the Third Grail War account to see how it's played into my own experience (and I trust you to evaluate yours as well.)
In addition, and as a gentle note: if we are going forward in this, we need to discuss your relationship with the Mage Association and how writing this will change said relationship, because it will change and I am unsure how you will react to a loss in status.
I will see you when that jet lag is over. Please bring everything you've found with you.
Yours
-Waver
The Gladstone building is as modern as Clock Tower gets - built in the mid 20th century and unspeakably ugly, as if it was a bunker rather than a laboratory for mages. There is nothing elegant about the beige concrete walls, and inside is no better. The entrance is a sterile white with tile floors that add no charm or class to the interiors, and Rin cannot help but wonder why something so ugly was erected on an otherwise beautiful campus.
Still, she makes her way up the four flights of stairs to lab number 423. Waver had told her there was no need to knock, and so she opens the door slowly, unsure what to expect.
"Professor-?" she asks to a large room filled with stainless steel lab benches and a chalkboard that lines three quarters of the wall space, covered in scribbles and diagrams. Her voice echoes along with the click her heels as she makes her way over to the lone figure in the room, seated by the windows.
"It's usually less empty," Waver explains once Rin is standing beside the workbench, shedding her winter coat. "But with it being exam time, I feel that it's unreasonable to ask everyone to come in and work."
"All your researchers are students?" Rin asks, taking a seat beside him.
"A large chunk are," Waver replies with a shrug. "And I use the break to work on my own research before I have to sit and grade exams. Anyway, you brought everything you found?"
Rin nods and opens her purse, pulling out a thick manila folder. Waver barely stops himself from making a bigger on the inside joke and takes the folder from Rin's hands, carefully pulling the contents out.
The condition varies with document. A staple bound notebook kept in a plastic bag looks like it might fall apart if he touches it whereas a few loose pieces of paper brown with age nearly feel like cloth to the touch. A group of papers held together with a paperclip look brittle, and Waver can't process the rest of the stack because Rin is explaining what everything is in quick succession.
"-and the notebook in that plastic bag is the only thing I could find about the Third Grail War," she finishes, tapping the bag gently. "How's your Japanese?"
"Passable," Waver says, grateful for translation spells. "This is from what, the nineteen thirties? Or forties?"
"1936."
Waver lets out a low whistle and turns the plastic bag over, examining the state of the notebook. He cringes as a small piece of paper flakes off. "Where'd you find this?"
"Very far back in the downstairs workshop," Rin says. "Hidden."
"Have you read the contents yet?"
"I have," Rin says, eyes drifting toward Waver's stacks of data. "Things went wrong, but it's vague and I'm afraid to use that notebook too much in case it falls apart."
"Understandable," Waver replies, then stops to collect his thoughts. "The Church might have some stuff in the archives relating to this as well, since it was after the third war that they began to serve as mediators."
"Speaking of other archives, you said you had photocopies from Berlin?"
"I do, but they're back home in Godalming," Waver admits. "I can bring them tomorrow. How does the mineralogy department feel about all of this?"
"They haven't been informed yet," Rin says, smiling faintly at the fact. "I'll do that after exams. I figure I can get a head start between the end of exams and start of the term and show them what I have in mind. Is that okay?"
Waver nods, still staring at the documents in front of him. He then sighs and begins to gently pack them back into their envelope, not wanting to harm a single one. "May I borrow these for the evening? I'll give them back tomorrow."
"As long as you're careful with them."
"I will be," Waver says. "There's one other thing I want to discuss with you, before you start writing this but-" he stops, looking around the lab. "Actually, I think I could use a coffee before we talk about anything else." He doesn't wait for Rin to catch onto the fact that they need to leave if they are to continue their conversation - he simply slides the envelope of documents into his messenger bag, followed by his sheets of data, then grabs his thick red wool coat from the lab table behind him. "There's a Costa Coffee up the street from campus that no one from Clock Tower ever goes to."
Rin frowns but catches Waver's hints, throwing on her own coat and grabbing her purse before trailing after Waver. They exit the Gladstone building in lock step but say nothing to each other, continuing their silence until they are entirely off campus. The few students that yell hellos to Rin and accuse her of not studying are met with smiles and shrugs and Waver only inclines his head to the few passing faculty that bother to greet him.
Somewhere between campus and the coffee shop, Waver pulls out a cigar and puffs away happily, standing downwind from Rin at all times. Rin doesn't remark on it until they reach the door of the coffee shop, and even then it's just to remind him that he can't carry it indoors. Waver mutters something about it being impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London and drops the cigar onto the ground, squishing it firmly under his heel. With that done, they both head in.
"Regular coffee?" Waver asks as they join the queue.
"If they have green tea, that'd be better."
"You'll hate it," Waver advises, only for Rin to shrug. He orders accordingly - a large black coffee for himself and a cup of green tea for Rin, all to stay. Rin wanders off to find a secluded seat in the meantime, settling for a corner near the back that overlooks the entire shop. She takes the tea that Waver brings over gratefully, then waits for him to sit down.
"Okay," she says, watching Waver stir in four packets of sugar into his coffee cup, "What are we talking about here that we can't discuss on campus?"
"Remember in my email I said something about how your thesis will change your relationship with the Mage Association?" Waver asks.
"Yes," Rin says slowly, "Although I'm not sure how that's possible."
Waver gives a small laugh. "Rin, you asked me to be your adviser for a reason. You already know."
"I asked you because you authorize unorthodox research and have experience with the Grail Wars," Rin corrects him sharply. "Not because I need someone to act as a shield for a potential falling out with the Association."
There's a pause between Rin's words and Waver's response. "Rin. You know that in mage society, tradition is sacrosanct. You're proposing to undo a tradition that your own family started, and you're making that proposal while possessing one of the most remarkable and powerful magical heritages to walk through the doors of Clock Tower. If you write this thesis with the intent you proposed to me, explicitly discuss dismantling the Heaven's Feel system, you will become an outcast in mage society - period."
"An outcast? That's rich, given the source," Rin shoots back automatically. "You wrote a thesis that violated every single known principle of magecraft circuits and expected praise from your adviser! When you didn't, you stole artifacts from him, saw him die in the Grail War and ended up inheriting his title, his mystic code and-"
"My circumstances are not yours," Waver rebukes her with astounding intensity in his voice. "And by all accounts, I'm still considered an outsider by the faculty - one that's barely tolerated because of poor heritage and middling ability - a fact you are well aware of. If you are set on ending the Grail Wars, you need to understand that you cannot simply walk in and dismantle everything. You have to learn to play by the arcane rules of academia and the harsh rules of magecraft - slipping under the radar and being ignored under the assumption that you're doing exactly what people expect of you all while quietly working towards your own goals. It's then and only then - after you've let those who would stand in your way fall into a false sense of security - that you can surprise everyone with revolutionary research and change the system. And as for anything that happens in the intermittent period - becoming a professor, stumbling upon an inheritance, acquiring a reputation - you must be capable of using those things to serve your ultimate goal."
Rin frowns and sips her tea in silence, watching Waver flop back into his seat miserably. "That was harsh, sorry," he offers, weakly.
"Just a little," Rin agrees, "But I would think that family line here allows me to make those suggestions without the problems others might have."
"It's the opposite," Waver says, "It suggests your family has grown weak and that there is room for a takeover. You know how mages work as well as I do - appearing to be less than perfect at any time is invitation for being manipulated. The thesis you've proposed is going to encourage that tenfold if you aren't careful."
"Mm." Rin considers Waver's words for a moment, then tilts her head. "Hang on. You said that you have to lull them into a false sense of security, get allies and work under noses before surprising people. But your publications so far have just been about rediscovering alchemy and AI, not anything that might be considered controvers-"
Waver raises a perfect eyebrow as Rin trails off, then gives a small smirk. "I play a very long game," he says with an elegant shrug. "In your case though, I think this is just a matter of hiding your intentions in plain sight."
"How would you go about that, then?"
"Don't talk about ending the Grail Wars, obviously," Waver remarks with a derisive laugh. "Instead, talk about how to heal minor fractures in the Heaven's Feel system, all in hypotheticals. This should allow you to obscure the fact that the system is broken entirely. When it comes time to fix those hypothetical minor fractures, you can proudly pronounce the entire thing done for and use the same theories you were going to use to fix it to take the Grail apart entirely."
"But this assumes I'll be told to fix it," Rin says, her eyebrows furrowed together. "If not, then I'm potentially putting forth the secret for making the Heaven's Feel system as well as providing the information on how to fix any potential problems with it, all while allowing the broken version to remain in place."
"Just word it correctly," Waver replies, staring into the inky blackness of his coffee, "And make it clear that you are the only mage on the planet who has the authority to make changes to the Grail - overriding even Einzbern and Matou claims."
"I take it we'll be having most of our meetings here then?" Rin asks, deciding that her tea is indeed not very good and that there's no reason to finish it - especially now that it's gone lukewarm.
"Or the pub that's two streets from here," Waver says with a laugh. "You'll need it, some days."
Rin wrinkles her nose at the idea of drinking in public, but understands that Waver speaks from experience on the matter. She stands then, thanking Waver for the tea and announcing that she really should do some revision for exams. Waver nods in agreement and shoos her off, taking the loss of his conversation partner as an excuse to draw out all the documents Rin brought back with her this time casting a critical eye over them. He picks the first one that he finds in German and proceeds to curl up in his chair, engrossed in the description of the ley lines of Fuyuki City.
The mildness of January fades into a February full of snowstorms, prompting England to come to a halt. Clock Tower does not cancel classes, but many professors who commute to London do. Waver is amongst them and he would be a liar if he said he wasn't grateful for the reprieve. It gives him time not only to sit with his own recent data of magic circuit expansion in his experimental group of second generation mages, but a chance to re-examine the photocopies he made of the decaying journal that contained the events of the Third Holy Grail War. It never fails to bother him how the cover of the notebook had looked as if it was saved from flames and the brittleness of the pages showed through on the photocopies in the forms of grainy splotches and ghost handwriting from other pages.
With a sigh, he sips his tea and begins his re-read.
10 December 1936
At present, the Einzbern servant has already been defeated. This is unsurprising, especially given how they have boasted of their servant's strength and raw talent for winning this Heaven's Feel. The remaining contestants are formidable. Zouken has managed to summon forth something absurdly powerful and the son who controls this servant has been zealous in guarding said servant's abilities. We have determined that she is of Lancer class though and is curiously haughty about her abilities.
Rumour has it that the Edelfelts have done something but no level of reconnaissance has confirmed this fact. We remain confident in using the Rider class for this war and await the second battle.
13 December 1936
Archer and Rider have agreed to an alliance for the time being, although they both have admitted to being at ill ease against Assassin. By all accounts, Assassin should not be a problem and indeed they are needlessly worried. Archer's master, the Nowak girl, does not match her servant's concern and indeed seems perfectly happy to be working beside us for the time being. I have been unable to tell what her desires are for the Grail, but from Archer's few remarks they seem to have a very strong friendship. I am almost envious.
We continue to be unable to determine the identity of the Matou's Lancer and what class it is the Einzbern servant actually occupied - we assume it to be Caster, but there was nothing about the servant's fighting style that supports the conclusion.
The Edlefelt siblings have split their Saber into two personalities - we are investigating how. As it stands, Rider seems to think it pointless to learn this information, only defeat both Sabers. I cannot say he's wrong, but he also doesn't understand my own interest in the matter. He has proven to be dismissive of collaboration since the Archer team up - it makes me ponder what discussions the two have had and how Archer might be effecting him.
15 December 1936
(continued from last page)
As far as the Edelfelts go news has not been good. Their Saber - split in personality and into two beings, one for each sister - has proven to be a complicated matter. No one has been able to determine if the death of one aspect of their Saber will cause the death of the other OR draw either one out into a fight. The Nowak girl also remains a threat with her Archer (whose identity appears to be Marian of Sherwood Forest, so says Rider), but not to an extent that we will lose.
Waver clicks his tongue at the papers, remembering the evidence of pages being torn out from the notebook at this point. Quietly, he wonders what it was that was so grievous that it had to be removed from the written record and truly what disaster had befallen the Tohsaka during the Third Grail War. He takes the moment to sip at his tea, then stares down at the scrappy last entry, reminding himself that the page that it had been on was severely burned itself and a large chunk of the text missing. The date at the top, 23 December 1936, had been suggested by Rin through pure guesswork.
-to say nothing of the younger Edelfelt's Gandr and that I barely survived the blow. To that end it became less about the Grail and more about my own survival. Our servants indeed forgot us in their attempts to claim the Grail, while we struggled between ourselves. It was at that point that something had truly gone wrong with the Heaven's Feel, as the Lesser Grail had materialized but looked as if it had tarnished. I only had one moment to make that observation though, as Edelfelt came at me not only with magic but with the full brunt of her own body, making the fight as much physical as based on the craft. I believe that at that point, Edlefelt's Saber grasped the Grail first while Rider was in his death throes, but in my own defense I had used the Azroth dagger to impale the oncoming body that was attacking me. This confusion apparently was reflected onto the Grail, as Saber's prana lingered after Edlefelt's death and some sort of wish was made, although I saw no tangible result from it. I was left alone then and there, standing as the only other person alive from the War, save Archer's master who had already returned to the mainland and presumably was en route to her home of Poland.
As for the personal impact upon the clan of
And that was where it stopped. The pages after this had been burnt away, out of shame or perhaps a simple house fire or something else all together.
He shoves the thought aside and turns to his computer monitor, scanning quickly to see if the Church Archives have emailed him back about his request for the personal papers of Risei Kotomine. He grumbles when he sees no new emails in his inbox, then ponders precisely what else there is to do on his snow day.
After a moment, Waver decides that nothing is a perfectly adequate answer and leaves his home office, determined that the rest of the day will be devoted to video games and nothing else.
Rin is tempted to throw the first chapter of her thesis across her dorm room, but is restrained by the fact she would need to reorder all the scattered pages afterwards. From their conversations, Rin had expected a certain level of difficulty in writing to meet Waver's approval. She hadn't expected to be handed twenty pages of rough draft covered in red squiggles that corrected nearly every word she used, amendments to her footnotes and commentary on how much of a given source she should be using. No one else would have the gall to correct her to such an extent and-
-and that no one else would have the gall to make corrections to such an extent was precisely why Rin had chosen the adviser she did. Quietly, she reminds herself of that and looks back down at all of the mocking red squiggles, unfurrowing her brow.
With that done, she sits down on the bed of her dorm room and began to read through Waver's corrections in earnest, muttering in disapproval only when he went off on a mini-lecture in the paper margins, his handwriting devolving into glorified squiggly lines.
The rain patters on the roof of the Gladstone building cheerfully, creating the perfect soundtrack for concentration as far as Waver is concerned. He and Rin sit opposite each other at one of the lab benches while some of the student researchers run around the room, yelling about a need for prana monitoring equipment over here or that something in the other corner looks like it might explode. Rin looks up when explosions are mentioned, only for Waver to remind her that it's just an exaggeration and that there's no need to actually worry about the building going up in a cloud of smoke. Waver laughs a little when Rin gives him a dubious glance, then changes the subject.
"The historical chapter is fine so far," he says, doodling idly on one of the revised pages. From where Rin sits, it looks like he's drawing a stick figure horse. "Your writing's gotten much better."
"Only because you were so extensive in editing the first chapter," Rin counters, her hands leafing through the mess of notes that she has compiled since the middle of January.
Waver simply nods, lacking any desire to rehash the writing argument. "You wanted to talk about the portion that's going to address the Third Grail War?"
"Yeah," Rin says, reaching into her bag and drawing out a red spiral bound notebook. "I've gotten a few ideas but-" she flips open to a page covered in writing, half in Japanese, half English, and pushes it towards Waver. "None of this makes any sense. The notebook confirms the fact that whatever messed up the Heaven's Feel system happened during the third Grail War but piecing together the exact cause has been impossible, even with the notebook and Risei's personal papers."
"Hm," Waver grunts, turning the notebook right side up. He pauses to scribble a translation spell on the top right hand corner of the page, then glosses over the contents. It's hard to follow the logic of Rin's notes at first - they are reactions to the notebook itself rather than logical conclusions discussing the contents. After a few minutes' silence, he looks back to Rin, his face equally puzzled. "I think that the confusion that shines through in the notebook is worth discussing itself - it's reflective of the greater process and is markedly different from the material on the first and second Heaven's Feels."
Rin nods in agreement. "I was planning on doing that, but as far as extrapolation goes, the only thing I can figure out is origin the Edelfelt and Tohsaka family rivalry - and that I already knew."
Waver's eyes flick from Rin, to her notebook, then back to Rin. "Do you have the photocopies of the journal on hand?"
"I should," Rin says, tugging her purse over to her and digging around. "Yeah, I do." She pulls out a folder this time and takes out the photocopied pages, handing them over to Waver. "Did you just have a moment of realization?"
"I might've," Waver mutters, scanning the pages quickly. Rin watches him, raising one perfect eyebrow, then sighs when it's apparent that Waver is completely lost in the text. Fifteen minutes of awkward silence passes between them, punctuated by the sound of a student argument on the other side of the room, until finally Waver puts the photocopies down "I think that whatever went wrong, it was the Einzbern that were responsible."
Rin looks up from reading her mineralogy textbook, barely containing the excitement in her voice. "How do you figure?"
"Okay, so," Waver says, turning the pages around to face Rin. "See here, how there's commentary about the Einzbern being out of the war already despite having a servant that they said was the most powerful? We know it wasn't in the Berserker class and Caster is missing from the Grail War entirely - that's interesting. We also know that it's possible to tweak a servant's strengths and class during the summoning ritual, correct?"
"Correct. That's just one example of modification that can occur."
"Right," Waver continues, putting forth another page. "Now we have descriptions of the Lesser Grail from the past two Heaven's feels, but here the description differs - the Grail is said to be slightly more tarnished."
Rin narrows her eyes. "Maybe the lighting was bad."
"Maybe," he muses, "But since we're looking at what went wrong in this Heaven's Feel, we need to assume it wasn't lighting. The question now becomes what else could affect the Grail's physical appearance and then proceed to cause disturbances in the other two rituals?"
"The only thing that might be capable of doing that is a servant," Rin says, her thoughts catching up to Waver's. "But it doesn't follow through. The Grail empties after all seven servants die and returns them to the Throne of Heroes. It's impossible for their spirits to linger."
Waver doesn't lean back on his lab stool, but he does deflate slightly. "What do you remember about the completion of the last Grail War?"
"I don't see how that's relevant-"
"Everything is relevant right now," Waver chides. "My hunch here is that whatever manipulation the Einzbern did to their servant during the third war, it lingered and affected the Grail in such a profound way that it allowed the fourth war to call in servants who shouldn't have been called Heroic Spirits to begin with, might've had something to do with the fire - unless that really was Kotomine's wish like you noted here - and had other-"
Rin lets out a frustrated groan and shoves the papers back at Waver. "This is a huge what-if though! And without more evidence or conjecture on the Einzbern servant, I cannot - in good conscious anyway - publish a statement like that in this thesis. You've been lecturing me for months about spending my words wisely, haven't you? The nature of Third Heaven's Feel is the crux of the entire thesis - this is where I have to be the most careful."
Waver falls silent at that, Rin's voice ringing in his ears. She's absolutely right - the Third Heaven's Feel is the crux of the matter - but having his own words thrown back in his face still smarts. "You're right," he says, withering under the sheer force of Rin's glare. "But I cannot personally think of any other explanation based on the evidence we have. We either need more sources or you need to come up with a plausible explanation."
"Mm," Rin says noncommittally. "It'd perhaps help if you gave me your account of the fourth-"
Her sentence is broken by a fourth year student yelling for Waver across the lab, both panicked and delighted in his cries of, "Professor, come here! You probably want to see this!" At that, Waver stands up, casting an exhausted look at Rin. "I think that's it for the day. Take a break from the history and focus on the chapter about hypothetical repairs to the system, the change in subject matter might do us both some good. I'll get you a written version of the fourth war tomorrow."
"Promise?"
Waver nods in confirmation, then hurries across the room to where a mass of students stand, huddled around a prana monitor. Rin watches them for a few moments, observing Waver's interaction with his other students and noting that the lines of student and teacher are just as blurred with them as they are with her. With that, she stands and leaves amid exciting chattering and a few excited cries as Waver begins to analyze the monitor's readings outloud with a great grin in his voice.
The letter sized envelope waiting for Rin with the department secretary has a note for her on it in Waver's handwriting, uncharacteristically messy. She takes the envelope and hurries out the door, not reading the writing on it until she is sitting in one of the empty lecture rooms in Flammel Hall, the same building that houses the alchemy department. Once she is there, she looks at the message on the front.
It simply says: Please destroy this when you are done with your thesis. -WV
Rin flips the envelope over and tears it open, pulling out five neatly typed pages which are deceivingly plain. For being only five pages, Waver's retelling of the Fourth Grail War is two things - detailed and emotionless. In explaining his own participation, he is honest in regards to his own motives and how he came to summon Rider. In recording the events from the faux death of Assassin to the Mion River Creature which he describes only as 'Lovecraftian' he painfully exact - but there is no documentation of his personal relationship with Rider or how it was that Waver emerged from the war alive after facing Archer moments after Rider's death. It is just as well - the little information concerning Archer and Rin's father that Waver possessed from use of familiars is enough to make Rin put the account down several times and clear her head.
What frustrates her the most is not the lack of personal details in the account - Rin knows that discussing a relationship with a Servant is not easy - it is that despite all of the information, Waver did not see the final fight between Saber and Archer. Without knowing the conclusion of that fight, she cannot draw any point concerning the ultimate state of corruption of the Holy Grail in the Fourth Heaven's Feel.
Rin puts the pages down when she finishes with them, rubbing her temples slowly. In the back of her head, Waver's voice laughs about the pub two streets down from the Costa Coffee near campus. That Waver is now in her head is what drives Rin to grab her purse and head out for the evening, certain in the fact she desperately needs a break from her school work and that only a long walk along the Thames will provide it.
This is it, Rin thinks to herself as she walks across the Clock Tower campus. The cool May morning air feels good on her face and the fact that the sun is out only elevates her mood further. In her head she runs through the potential ways to celebrate such an achievement - going out for dinner, a well deserved bottle of wine, exploring London - but settles on a long shower and even longer nap. She smiles at the thought of a long, interrupted sleep as she walks through the doors of Flammel Hall, the grin remaining etched on her face as she walks up the three flights of stairs and down the corridor to Waver's awkward office.
She doesn't bother to knock when she reaches Waver's door - Rin simply sweeps in and plops the thesis down on Waver's desk, laughing triumphantly. "Done!"
Waver looks at Rin with a blank face, focusing not on the alarmingly large stack of paper occupying the most central part of his desk, but at her face of unmitigated joy. For a moment, Rin's face falls, only for Waver to grin back at her. "We'll need to talk about how you're going to defend, of course-"
"Yeah, yeah," Rin cuts him off with a dismissive hand wave. "Like I'm going to have problems arguing with people?"
"Point," Waver admits, paging through Rin's writings. "209 pages, that's very impressive."
"The diagrams are what pushed it there."
At that, Waver laughs. "Such is the joys publishing alchemical work. Congratulations on finishing, Rin. I'll let you know when the defense date is and who's on your committee."
"Thanks," Rin replies, not sure if she should linger and discuss the completed thesis or just duck out of the office. "For everything, I mean. I know this wasn't an easy sell or something you would've worked with normally."
"No," Waver says,"But I'm glad I agreed to it." He pauses to stretch, grumbling as he does so. "Don't let me keep you from celebrating an accomplishment like this," he adds with a softer, gentler smile.
"Have fun reading, then," Rin replies with a small laugh, heading for the door. She's sure that Waver will find some minor complaints with the final thesis, but that doesn't matter anymore, because it's done, done, done! The word echoes in her head as she walks back outside and towards her dorm, nearly skipping in joy.
In his office, Waver looks down at Rin's thesis again. He knows the contents as well as she does, but he also knows that whatever happens at the defense will determine both their reputations for a long time to come. It's uncomfortable, putting his career in someone else's hands, but he reminds himself that risks like this are necessary, if only because they make him re-evaluate his own plans.
Chapter Five: Potential Repairs
As demonstrated in the Fourth and Fifth Heaven's Feels, there is a need for adjustments and corrections to be made to the system. While the root cause is presently unknown, it is clear that there needs to be new guidelines to ensure that appropriate Heroic Spirits are summoned, that only sound practitioners of magecraft are selected. Although the ley lines of Fuyuki City do not enable any contact with the Grail for the next 55 years, there are a number of alchemical based means that can be fed into the ley lines to provide extra support to the Grail and ensure that the Sixth Heaven's Feel is without issue.
Part I - Summons
This is one way to begin to correct the summoning issues, which are perhaps the largest that we must deal with in correcting problems with the Heaven's Feel system. By embedding symbols that code for positive heroic traits (benevolence, selflessness, justice etc. ) and weeding out negative traits (sociopathy, vileness, fear etc.), the alchemy serves as a reinforcement to the original information embedded within the ley lines of Fuyuki City that were originally manipulated for the first Heaven's Feel.
Rin does not defend her thesis within the now familiar laboratories of the Gladstone building or even within the plush meeting rooms that belong to one of Clock Tower's academic departments. Rather she defends it in a small classroom located in Hayyan Hall, the oldest building on campus and by far and away the most imposing, with its lavishly decorated facade with the faces of judging mages and protective spirits carved in stone.
She is not cowed when she stands in front of her defense committee, comprised of Professor Liam Watkins from the Mineralogy Department of Clock Tower itself and Professor Ida Dusek from the Prague Association. Waver is in the room as well, sitting beside the other two committee members with a solemn face. He gives Rin a small nod when they make eye contact, but he does not smile. Rin knows the reason - he had spoken to her yesterday about the defense and admitted that it had been strongly hinted by the powers that be that he need not be present at the oral argument. In the back of her mind, she thanks Waver for ignoring the advice then looks to the other two examiners, giving them a bright smile.
"I appreciate you all taking the time to respond to my dissertation," she says. "I hope it proved to be worth your time."
"You certainly gave us a lot to think about," Liam replies, "It's not every day that a mage so throughly critiques her family's work."
"I'm aware," is Rin's response, calm and confident. "But sometimes it is necessary. Moreover, is it not right to fix the work of one's family rather than let someone else discover the cracks?"
Neither Liam nor Ida have a good response to that, and so they ignore it all together and begin the examination properly. As Waver predicted, much of their questioning focuses not on the history of the Grail Wars, or even the initial process of creating the Heaven's Feel system, but rather on Rin's proposed repairs. In particular, the committee focuses on the notion of manipulating virtue by coding for it in alchemical terms and how Rin even came up with the idea to do so. Rin responds by talking about the work of Charles Wilson and his empathy engine in Scotland, how he sought to code for worldwide empathy by manipulating architecture as an alchemical circle. She pointedly leaves out Wilson's failure, choosing instead to focus on how she manipulated his basic theory into what made it into her thesis. Satisfied, the committee moves on to the matter of ley lines and remains there for a good forty five minutes.
Eventually, the question Rin had been dreaded is asked. "As for the matter of the Third Heaven's Feel - you have suggested that something went wrong there and have written in great depth discussing the effects on the Fourth and Fifth Heaven's Feels, but you remain curiously evasive about the precise nature of the error."
Rin had never been satisfied with the potential explanations she and Waver had come up with for the nature of the Grail's corruption, and against Waver's demand that she at least suggest something, Rin had glossed over the matter. Ida picks up from where Liam's admonishment left off, her voice cheerful in contrast to his painful seriousness. "It's a very jarring omission, since the rest of your historical work is so careful. Is there a particular reason that you made no conclusions as to what happened in the Third Heaven's Feel?"
"Yes," Rin replies. Her voice doesn't give away her nervousness, but that is only because she practiced this portion of her defense in her mirror countless times. "In my research I could not draw any conclusions as to what it is that truly corrupted the Grail - only that it had undergone negative effects during the Third Heaven's Feel that need to be rectified. As you are aware, the matter of fixing the Grail is the primary concern of this thesis, not recording a history of the Grail Wars. To spend pages upon pages of speculation about the history of this seemed futile to me and I chose to instead focus on how the issues might be modified."
"However," Ida counters, "In knowing the precise nature of what went wrong, would it not be easier to repair the entire system?"
"It would," Rin says, still confident. "But the few accounts of the Third Grail War were not conclusive enough for me to feel comfortable drawing a conjecture and putting it down on paper."
Liam looks from Rin over to Waver for a moment. To his credit, Waver's face is completely blank, but that does not stop Liam from asking, "During the drafting process, did you and your adviser discuss what might have happened?"
"We did, but none of the explanations we came up with seemed plausible."
"However, if you had to pick an explanation out of the ones you discussed," Liam prompts, leaning forward on the table, "Which would it be?"
At the question, Rin takes a moment's pause before launching into a modified explanation of Waver's understanding of the Third Grail War's events. She doesn't hesitate to implicate the Einzbern servant and suggest that their manipulation had a lasting effect on the Grail, but she purposely leaves out that the Caster class was missing and that all sorts of other servant modifications - up to and including splitting Saber into two separate servants - occurred.
The explanation satisfies the committee, at any rate, and they change topics again, now curious as to who might be qualified to put Rin's suggested changes in place. That is a far easier question, and Rin defends her position with ease. With their final question asked and answered, the committee caps the oral examination at two hours and forty seven minutes.
"We will deliberate with each other for a few moments on your final grade," Ida says, hopping up from her chair. Liam does the same and the two excuse themselves from the exam room. When the door clicks shut behind them, both Rin and Waver let out exhausted sighs.
"What are my chances of having to revise?" Rin asks, seating herself in one of the empty desks.
Waver gives an honest shrug. "Depends on how much they want to compare this to your family's past work. Why, are you convinced you did that badly?"
"There were some points I could have explained better, like the omissions with the Third Heaven's Feel," Rin mutters, folding her arms across her chest. "And I'm sure that the fact I snapped over Sakura's role in the most recent war didn't help."
"To be fair, I think they're aware that the end is a personal matter," Waver offers. "They won't make you revise based on that."
Rin just nods at Waver's response and falls into silence, eyes fixed on the door. Eventually, Liam and Ida walk back into the exam room, their faces revealing nothing about their verdict. They re-seat themselves in perfect unison and look expectantly at Rin. She stands again and walks over to the exam table, waiting for one of them to say something.
"Miss Tohsaka," Liam begins solemnly, "You presented us with a thesis that not only revealed great family secrets, but set about a documentation of their failures and put forth remedies. We cannot say that this was the thesis we expected out of you, especially with its alchemical focus rather than gem based magecraft."
"But," Ida adds, her voice brighter, "Your research has given us not only a greater understanding on how the Heaven's Feel system was designed, but provided as complete a history of the Holy Grail Wars as possible, as well as made stride forwards in the field of translating virtue and vice into alchemical terms. That is mind blowing, especially since alchemy is not your primary field of study."
Liam nods. "The information within this thesis is through and well grounded in its methodology. While your disregard for your family's legacy is not to be applauded, it is beyond us to do anything but admonish you for it. Based on pure academic merit, your thesis passes with no corrections. Congratulations."
Rin restrains herself from letting out a loud squeal of joy, although she does catch Waver fist pumping under the table. "Thank you," she says instead with a respectful bow to the examination committee. "Your time, effort and judgement is deeply appreciated."
With that, Liam and Ida gather up their things, leaving Rin to stagger back to the desk she was sitting behind and bask in the glow of accomplishment, too exhausted to register anything else. She doesn't even notice Waver all but dragging her out of the room ten minutes later, muttering about making tea and then maybe getting something to eat.
"So now what're you going to do?" Waver asks over dinner. They've gone to one of the gastropubs around Leicester Square to celebrate the end of Rin's hard work and impending graduation. At Waver's question, Rin gives a tired laugh and takes a sip of her wine.
"You did not just ask me that."
"I did," he replies with a grin. "Big grown magus now, wrote about fixing the Heaven's Feel system and astounded your defense committee-"
Rin cannot help but roll her eyes at Waver's words. "Okay, after I sleep for a week, I'm heading home. From there, well," she shrugs, letting the thought trail off. "How long until people start reacting to what I wrote?"
"More than they have already?"
"Mm."
Waver taps his fingers on the table, face screwed up in concentration. "Well, let's see, most of my department has read it, as has yours. I'm sure that upon her return to Prague, Ida will be passing it around there, so I'd say at the most you've got two months until real consequences hit. That is, unless you submit to a journal and let everyone have at."
"Would you recommend it?"
"Not particularly," Waver says flatly. "Unless you really want to let everyone know how to make a Grail-"
"Then I won't," Rin concludes. "I think the process you described will be more than enough." At that, Rin redirects the conversation entirely onto more pleasant topics, happy to avoid any more talk of the future. They spend the rest of the evening glued to their seats and refilling their glasses, talking about everything but the world of magecraft and Grail Wars until midnight rolls around, reminding them that they both have lives to get back to.
They depart in opposite directions after paying their tab - Waver towards the underground so he can return home to Godalming, Rin back to Clock Tower - and as Rin walks back towards campus, she cannot help but smile. In beginning her thesis, she expected to gain only knowledge as to how to dismantle the grail, but now she not only had that, but a defense against those that would question her motives, as well as allies. It was a good gain, no matter how she looked at it and a gentle reminder that her ultimate goal was not only possible but now probable, so long as she kept Waver close and continued to find more people who would support her.
Notes
* This fic was originally published on AO3 on 18 July 2012. The mirror is here: /works/463042
*This fic is a part of the series If Not Alexander, then Diogenes, and is available on AO3 here: /series/23756
*Please see the AO3 mirror for further notes and citations.