After class Sieglinde made it her top priority to hunt Waver down. Her only issue was that Waver didn't have any classes after Archibald's and had more than likely gone back to his dorm. Waver's dorm was unfortunately the farthest one away from Clock Tower, having been the cheapest. She definitely didn't feel bad enough for him that she'd head over there without actually knowing if he was home or not. She made her way through the halls until she found a break in the hallway that lead to a study area with chairs, tables, and two phones: one on each side of the room. Placing her bag in a chair she picked up the phone and dialed the number to his dorm room. She waited a few rings and then shut the phone down on the receiver. Waver was pretty good about answering the phone within the first three rings. Any more and he definitely wasn't home, unless he was asleep. The orange sunset outside proved the sleep theory wrong. With a sigh Sieglinde picked up her bag and began to make her way towards the library.
The library was absolutely deserted. Aside from the librarian at the front desk who greeted Sieglinde with a smile there wasn't a soul in the enormous three story building. Making her way towards the back she made a point to check all of Waver's usual study spots but had no luck with any of them. As she circled around the first story she was beginning to lose hope until a book from the second floor came flying towards her face. She let out a small yelp as she stepped back and watched the book land at her feet. Bending over to pick it up she studied the cover.
"The Secrets of the Holy Grail...? Who even reads books about the King Arthur legend anymore?"
She made sure none of the pages were bent, closed the book, and looked up to see where it had fallen from only to get smacked in the face with two more falling books and have a third hit her in the shoulder shoulder. Annoyed, she bent down and picked up the fallen books. Each one of them had something to do with the Holy Grail.
"Oh, shit! I'm sorry Sieglinde. Are you all right?" the voice of Waver Velvet called from the second floor.
"Yes. Waver, what are you doing?" she asked, eyeing the huge stack of books Waver was attempting to carry. It looked wobbly and she moved to the side in time to have another book land in the place she had been standing. She picked it up and, no surprise, it was another book about the Holy Grail.
"I had no idea you were so into the Arthurian legend. You should have told me. I have a limited edition of "The Once and Future King" at my dorm. I'll let you borrow it sometime."
"I'm not into the King Arthur legend. I'm researching."
Sieglinde watched as Waver attempted to walk around to the stairs behind her, dropping more books in the process.
"Here, let me help" she said jogging up the stairs and walking back to pick up all the books he had dropped on his way to the stairs.
"Thanks!" he called over his shoulder, making it back to the first floor and dropping the still enormous stack of books on top of a study table that was already covered in book piles. Sieglinde put her stack on the table and took a seat in one of the plush chairs across it.
"So what are you researching the Holy Grail for?" she asked, picking up one of the books and thumbing through the pages in search of some sort of illustration among the tiny print. "Isn't it a made up cup?"
"Well, sort of. Take a look at this." he picked up one of the books and opened it to a passage, handing it to her.
Her eyes read over the words carefully and when she was done with it she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"A Holy Grail War? Where people fight over a magical cup from a fantasy story very loosely based on history...? Why are you reading this stuff? It's ancient." she placed the book face down on the seat next to her and Waver walked to the book table and pulled a box out of his backpack.
"Check this out. Professor Archibald ordered it from Macedonia and-"
"You're stealing his mail?! I know you dislike the guy, but isn't taking someone's personal mail a criminal offense?"
"I was given it, okay? Will you listen for a second?"
"Fine, Waver, just don't steal my mail" she laughed and rested her chin on her palm with her elbow on the arm of the chair. "Continue."
"I think Archibald was going to participate in a real Holy Grail War. I was reading that to participate in the war you need a servant. In order to get a servant you have to have some sort of relic that pertains to the servant you want to summon." he took a small knife out of his backpack and cut the string holding the package together and tore the paper off. Inside was an ornate black box. "Why else would he order this?"
Sieglinde stood up and walked over to the box, lifting the lid. Inside was a very old looking red piece of cloth. She picked it up and rubbed it between her fingers. It didn't feel fragile or old at all. It felt luxurious. Her thoughts immediately wandered to who or what it might have belonged to. Perhaps it was from a queen's dress or maybe an altar cloth from an ancient church.
"So, you think this is a relic to summon a servant? What if he just collects stuff like this?" she asked placing the cloth back into the box. Waver turned the box around and looked at the item.
"I'm positive. That's why I'm going to take it, head to Japan, summon a servant, and win the Holy Grail War."
"Are you serious?" Sieglinde asked, staring at him in disbelief. He was really going to steal someone's personal property, fly it overseas, and attempt to participate in a Holy Grail War? Why was he even going to Japan? How would he even summon a servant? Sieglinde knew Waver's mage skills were sub-par to say the least. In the event that a servant could be summoned using magic, Waver wouldn't even have enough to get the summoning process started.
"Yes, I am. You probably don't believe any of this is true, but I do. I'm willing to bet everything I've got right now just for a chance at winning." he said, looking down at the relic box. Sieglinde sighed and plopped herself back in her chair. He seemed stubbornly determined to see this silly situation through.
"Well I see you have a lot of faith in this. What do you get if you win the Holy Grail War?"
"You get anything you want. It's said to grant any wish given to it by the winner."
Suddenly Sieglinde's interest was piqued. A magical wish granting cup obtained by winning a war with magical servants? It sounded awfully fake, but if it was utter rubbish then Waver wouldn't be so interested in it.
"Tell me more."
About an hour and a half later Sieglinde had been debriefed on all her friend knew about the Holy Grail War, which, for having learned about it in the same day, was a lot. As silly as the whole idea had sounded before, once she had heard the whole story she was a bit less skeptic. Also, after having learned that the war was supposed to be violent and for skilled mages, she knew she couldn't let Waver go alone. Not only was he about as strong as an under cooked spaghetti noodle, his magic skills were just as bad. She had tried to persuade him out of going through with his plan, but he stubbornly declined. As much as she wanted to let him go alone, the thought that he might end up killed worried her. Waver had been a very good friend to her since she enrolled at Clock Tower. In fact, he was her only friend. She had acquaintances in a lot of her classes, and even Emma was nice to her on occasion, but Waver had been the one who helped her out when her papers needed proofreading or she needed help studying for a test. While Waver's magic was terrible compared to hers he definitely beat her when it came to academics. Sieglinde knew how to do the magic but Waver knew the technical stuff; how and why certain magic could be done and why others couldn't. She definitely couldn't let him participate in a bloody war, let alone go to a country where he didn't even know the language or how to get around. She picked up a book about Japan off a shelf and made her way back to her chair. She made herself comfortable and, noticing that the library was starting to get a little darker, pulled a small gem out of her skirt pocket and fed some mana to it, allowing it to glow and float by her book so she could read without straining her eyes. She had made up her mind. She was going to Japan to help Waver participate in the Holy Grail war.
Waver stopped reading for a second and glanced up at Sieglinde from his desk. She was curled up in an armchair, a small light emanating from the gem near her, and reading a book about Japan. He was honestly surprised she had agreed to go with him and help him with the Grail War. Secretly he was incredibly grateful. He definitely knew about his shortcomings when it came to any type of magic. Also the idea of going to a foreign country alone made him so nervous that not even his determination to prove Archibald wrong could get rid of it. Although he was glad she would be coming to help his mind shifted to the darker part of what they were about to go do. Being with him would make her a target for other participants in the war. Anything would be fair game to get the Grail. While it was more likely that he would be the one killed, the idea of her getting hurt didn't sit well with him. She had a lot of potential and a future in magic ahead of her. His thoughts were cut short when she set the book down and turned to face him. He immediately acted as if he hadn't been looking at her.
"Hey, Waver. Do you even speak Japanese?"