I do not own Fate Stay Night, Tsukihime or Kara no Kyoukai. They belong to Nasu Kinoko and TYPE-MOON.
FACT 04 – CORRUPTION IN THE CHURCH
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Characters: Kirei Kotomine (Fate Stay Night), Ciel, Merem Solomon (Tsukihime - Ciel's Good Ending)
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'Curry is the best.'
That was the prominent thought in Ciel's mind at the moment. There was nothing better than a good dish of steaming rice topped with extra-spicy curry sauce after a well-succeeded mission. It was a sensation only second to a hot, relaxing bath after a hard day of work.
It had been three days since the seventh of the Burial Agency had returned from a important mission in the German Black Forest. Narbareck, the leader of said organization, had sent her there to eliminate a powerful demon. And not just any demon, but a Dead Apostle Ancestor, one of the first descendents of the Type-Moon race and the elite of the vampire aristocracy.
Forest of Einnashe, the seventh (the same rank as hers, ironically) of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors, the 'Demon of Schwarzwald', the 'Living Forest', among other names, was one of the most difficult opponents she had ever dealt with. Of course, she wouldn't have expected any less of a Dead Apostle Ancestor, but a fifty-kilometers-wide sentient forest that could literally devour you wasn't the type of enemy she could have hoped to fight alone.
The fact that she was no longer immortal had made it all the hardest, for the wouldn't be able to revive back in case she got mortally wounded. Make no mistake, Ciel was happy to finally be free of Roa's influence and become mortal again. Being the Serpent of Akasha's pawn for so many years wasn't something she would want to go through again. However, given the nature of her job, she had to admit that it came in handy sometimes. Part of her even suspected that Narbareck had sent her on this mission only to get rid of her, for she had lost much of her usefulness without the immortality.
But in the end, everything had gone well. All thanks to the unexpected help of Shiki Tohno, her former underclassman and current lover. His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception had been just what she needed to destroy a collective entity like Einnashe. From what Shiki had told her, he had also gone to Germany (despite her constant warnings for him not to get involved in the Church's business) to collect the Fruit of Einnashe, the core of the demon. Said fruit had the property of lessening bloodlust, and Shiki wanted that for Arcueid. Apparently the True Ancestor's vampiric impulses were getting so strong that if they didn't stop it somehow, Shiki would have to choose between killing her or being killed by her.
The thought of her rival brought a momentary pang of jealousy into her mind. It still irked her that she had to 'share' Shiki with that airheaded vampire, so much that Ciel wouldn't have minded taking Arcueid out of picture. But Shiki seemed to love Arcueid too, so if anything happened to her, he would be plain miserable and that would make Ciel unhappy. That was why the executress was willing to put up with this three-way relationship: as long as Shiki was happy, she would tolerate the arrangement (so long as he didn't ask for a threesome or anything of the sort!). And if Arcueid claimed she was fine with Shiki liking someone else too, there was no way Ciel would lose to her. She wouldn't be the first to back away of the relationship, no matter what.
Ciel's mind snapped back to the present as she spotted her destination: Fuyuki Church, a lone building located on top of a hill in the homonymous city. She had never been told why was called to this faraway place, a good four hours drive from Misaki City, but apparently it was important, since it was Merem Solomon, her colleague of the Burial Agency, who had requested it. So, hopping from a lamppost to other, she made way to the building, taking advantage of the night darkness.
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Fuyuki Church was larger than it appeared from the outside. The impressive chapel and the huge hallways with a good number of pews made it clear that this place had many patrons. There was no comparison with the smaller churches in Misaki, but it shouldn't have come as a surprise, for Fuyuki was known for having plenty of foreign inhabitants. No wonder that this city was considered one of the Holy Church's main strongholds in Japan. The place being empty due to late hours made it seem all the larger.
Empty, except for one person. Sat on the first row, a boy with shoulder-length black hair in a long, white tunic, stared forward at the altar, seemingly unaware of her presence. But Ciel wasn't fooled, for no one would be able to sneak up on Merem Solomon, fifth of the Burial Agency and twentieth of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors.
"So you have arrived," Merem said, still face forward, yet recognizing her presence.
"Why did you call me?" Ciel asked bluntly. It wasn't like she was impatient, but members of the Burial Agency rarely met, and when it happened, it was usually of importance, so she might as well get straight to business. That, and the fact that she was a long way from Misaki, so the longer she stayed, the more time Arcueid would have with Shiki. Her Shiki.
"Always straight to business," the Dead Apostle chuckled. "First off, let me just congratulate you on your last mission. Killing Forest of Einnashe was an incredible feat."
"I didn't do it alone, and you know it," the executress dismissed it. She never sought appraisal for her job, but rather atonement for her past sins as Elesia. "And you had a part in it too."
"Oh, I merely guided your friend back there to the core, nothing more." Merem replied in modesty. "It just felt right to do so, since he was trying to help the Princess."
Ciel frowned slightly at the mention of Arcueid's moniker. The fact that Merem was a Dead Apostle Ancestor already made it all strange that he was also a member of the Burial Agency, the Church's elite hunters. But again, Ciel herself had once been a Dead Apostle's incarnation, and there she was too. Besides, Merem had already proved his loyalty to the Church more often than not. But the fact that the vampire boy had a great admiration to Arcueid, to the point of referring her as 'Princess', made Ciel wonder if that was the reason she disliked talking to him so much.
"But enough of pleasantries," Merem said, turning into a more serious demeanor. "There is a reason I have called you here. Since you are the executor in charge of the Misaki region, I thought you should know of it," he paused for a few moments, as if building up suspense, and continued. "The fifth installment of the Holy Grail War will take place here in Fuyuki two years from now."
Ciel was shocked at the message. Yes, like many Church agents, she was aware of the existence of the Holy Grail War, also known as the Heaven's Feel by the Magic Association. It was supposed to be a powerful summoning ritual in which the almighty Holy Grail would be brought forth. Of course, this Holy Grail had nothing to do with the goblet containing the Savior's blood according to the Bible. Still, it was an artifact of unfathomable power, capable of granting any desire, and therefore was not something the Church could simply turn a blind eye to. However, as far was Ciel remembered, no one had managed to summon the Grail even once since the beginning of the wars, and an attempt was made every sixty years. The last one had been about eight years ago, so it should be another fifty or so years until the next.
But two years... that was soon. Too soon.
"But how..." she tried to form a question, only for Merem to cut her off.
"Don't ask me," he held up his palm, dismissively. "It was the higher-ups in Rome who told me so, and apparently they heard it of the Magic Association itself. The only certainty is that the Fifth Holy Grail War will happen in two years."
"I... see," Ciel responded, not happy with this development. And with reason: the previous war had been a bloody nightmare. A carnage, to be more accurate. The Great Fuyuki Fire had been a tragedy beyond imagination, with thousands of victims, among wounded and dead. For the ordinary people, the fire had been caused by a gas leakage, but the Church and the Association knew the real cause. One could have hoped that they had learned their lesson and shut the ritual off for good, but apparently some lessons never stuck. Unfortunately, there wasn't much Ciel could do about it. She couldn't disobey a direct order from Rome. "So I take the Church will act as a mediator like in the previous wars?"
"Officially, yes," the Dead Apostle answered. "But as it has always been done, the Vatican will secretly arrange for a competitor. It is not like they could simply ignore such a powerful ritual."
No surprise there. Ciel already knew that, despite all the talk about cooperation, the Church and the Association still distrusted each other, so if there was any means of destroying the other side, they would go for it. For the Vatican, the use of magecraft itself was a heresy, hence all magi were heretics by consequence. It had been like that since the Middle Ages.
"Has the mediator been chosen already?" She asked, only to sense a presence coming from the hallway shaded side.
"That would be me, Sister Ciel," a grave, dark voice spoke up, coming from said presence. The figure behind it was a very tall man, around his thirties, dressed in black priest robes and with a golden crucifix hanging from his neck.
"Kirei Kotomine!" Ciel growled, narrowing her eyes as she immediately recognized the man. Very few members of the Church hadn't heard of the prodigy executor of the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament, the guardians of the Holy Relics. The executor who had succeeded through all his assigned missions with ruthless efficiency. The one who had survived a team mission with Narbareck in Czech Republic and helped capturing the Dead Apostle Ancestor Gransurg Blackmore. The one who had participated in the last Grail War and survived to tell the story. And no other Church member would exhale such an ominous aura that made him more akin to a devil than a man of God.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Kirei exchanged greetings, ignoring the hostile look the executress was shooting at him. "Although I daresay I never could have expected the visit of both the fifth and the seventh of the Burial Agency."
Kirei's tone was calm and friendly, but Ciel never lowered her guard. "You say you're going to be the Overseer in the next Grail War?" She inquired, warily.
"That is correct," Kirei smoothly replied. "The Vatican needed someone impartial, but experienced in the matter, to mediate the contest. Hence they have asked me."
Ciel looked at Merem for confirmation, to which the Dead Apostle responded with a nod. She couldn't believe it. 'Impartial'? 'Experienced'? If by that, the priest before her meant that he had manipulated all the contestants and turned the war into an even bloodier event than it already was. It was no secret that Kirei's father, Risei Kotomine, had been the mediator back then, while Kirei himself had been a Master. Risei, however, had been killed during the course of the war, and from then on, the competition was left without a referee. There were a lot of rumors about Kirei, like him being responsible for killing the Master he was supposed to be working with, and even that he had a part on the Great Fuyuki Fire that ensued, but there were no proofs. And since two of the other Masters were the infamous Magus Killer, Kiritsugu Emiya himself, and the other, a low profile children murderer, it had been all to easy to place the blame on them. But, of course, Ciel knew better than taking official reports at face value.
"How's that possible?" She murmured, in repressed outrage. "How's it possible that you, who had broken the rules of the last Grail War, could be chosen to be the mediator this time?"
The priest was silent for several long moments, although his expression never changed. Eventually he said "These are some harsh allegations, Sister Ciel, but you can, of course, take your claims to your superiors if you have any proof."
Ciel scoffed at that. Yeah, as if they would do anything. Considering the amount of dirt the Church had been sweeping under the carpet over the years, she had no hopes that any investigation against Kirei would be called for. In addition, she knew that her direct boss, Narbareck, had taken a liking to Kirei ever since that mission to capture Blackmore, so she highly doubted they would take her seriously.
"What are you're planning, Kotomine?" She no longer tried to hide her mistrust. "Don't take me for dumb. If you've accepted this mediation task, considering that your own father was killed by it, then you must be up to something."
Kirei, on the other hand, was as calm as before. "You take me for a vile conspirator, Sister Ciel. But rest assured, for the Church has made it all clear that they do not desire a repetition of the Fuyuki tragedy. Thus I intend to uphold my duties in this war thoroughly."
But Ciel was unwavering. She simply couldn't trust Kotomine's goodwill. Heck, she wouldn't even be surprised if he kept tortured orphans in his basement just to feed some demonic entity (a thought that she meant as a joke, but somehow sent a chill down her spine). She definitely didn't want a tragedy like the Fuyuki Fire to happen again. It reminded her all too much of her own home village back in France, while she had been under Roa's influence. "Then perhaps you won't mind if I stayed and helped keeping watch on things, will you?"
Kirei seemed about to retort, but Merem beat him to it. "Unfortunately, Ciel, the Church gave express orders that no other Church member but Kotomine should take part in this. The Association will consider any other interference as a breach of their agreement, as per said." His tone was grim, as if he too wasn't much happy with this order.
Ciel bit her lip in frustration. So that was why Merem had called her here. It was to warn her. Since she was the executor in charge of Misaki, she was bond to eventually hear of strange events in Fuyuki and might have come to investigate them. But the Magic Association didn't want any presence of the Church this time. Normally, Ciel would have told those magi off to Hell, but since this was also agreed by her superiors, she couldn't risk exposure and trigger an open conflict between the two organizations.
Clearly seeing no other way around, the executress sighed in reluctant concession. "Very well, it seems it really can't be helped," but then shot a glare towards Kirei. "But be warned, Kotomine. If anything like that happens again, I won't forgive you."
"Oh, I would never dream of fighting the seventh of the Burial Agency," Kirei condescended, holding up his palms as if feigning innocence. Ciel wondered if he was being sincere or only mocking her.
She wouldn't waste time trying to figure it out and simply decided to leave. The message was given and she had no more reason to hang around, even if she did make a point of keeping an eye in the news about Fuyuki. That and if she stayed any longer, she would ended up losing her cool and resort to violence against the priest.
"If that's all, then I shall take my leave," she declared in cold politeness.
"Sure," Kirei politely acquiesced. "Caren sends her regards, by the way." Caren Hortensia was another Church member with whom Ciel was acquainted and, surprisingly, she was Kirei's daughter. Hard to imagine that such an angelic girl could be born of a devilish man like Kirei.
Ciel turned around and made her way to the door, leaving the two men to their own devices. But before that...
"Hey," she said, two steps to the door. "Do you know of any place around that serves curry?" She might as well eat something before the long return trip to Misaki.
Neither the two men said anything, until Kirei spoke up. "I am not sure about curry, but I would recommend the mapo tofu of Taishan, in the Shinto district."
Ciel made a face at that. "Thanks, but I'll pass. Mapo tofu doesn't suit my taste."
As she crossed the door out, she was sure to have heard Kirei's muttering something in the lines of "You have much to learn in regards of appreciating fine cuisine." Unnecessary to say, Ciel had to suppress an urge to go back there and shove a Black Key through that priest's stomach. Instead, she just headed off to the local station.
'Curry will always be the best, after all,' she thought.
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Sometime in 2001.
A/N: the mission with Kirei and Narbareck to capture Blackmore is a shoutout to the fic 'Devil's Thrill', to which this story is complementary. It's in the same crossover section and I definitely recommend it.
