CHAPTER 3:

ALLIANCES

"So, how are the tests on the captured wizard?" The man who asked the question was a tall, imposing man with an aquiline but oddly beautiful face framed by tresses of dark hair, seemingly in his twenties, save for his cold, merciless eyes, that betrayed his true age. He was playing chess with a most extraordinary figure, whose blue and black striped hooded robes could have seemed more like a clownish outfit. Instead, coupled with the impassive golden mask, the effect was more unnerving than comical, with the only sign that there was a person beneath it all being what looked like tresses of blonde hair peeking out from between the hood and the rest of the robes. When the figure spoke, it was with a calm, collected tone.

"It seems that your theory was correct, Lord Darnic. Mr Black will indeed make a suitable core for my Noble Phantasm, once my ultimate golem is ready. Indeed, I do believe that means we can dispense with testing the Homunculi for now. However, I would like to raise a point of concern. I have been observing Lord Potter for some time now, inbetween my monitoring of the golems and Homunculi, along with teaching Roche. Of all the magic users affiliated with Yggdmillennia, he strikes me as being too ambitious for his own good. I warn you simply because his ambitions may interfere with my work of completing my Noble Phantasm."

"I am fully aware of that, Avicebron," Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia said. "I thank you for your loyalty, fuelled by pragmatism though it may be, but I have been aware of Potter's ambitions since the day he joined me, back in the dying days of the wizards' petty little squabble in the Seventies. He must've shouted down that ridiculous hat at Hogwarts into having him go into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. He grew up in privilege, a spoiled brat whom everything was handed to him on a silver platter, and he was allowed to get away with almost anything. I even heard he used Amortentia on Lily Evans after her breakup with Severus Snape. However, his usefulness, for now, exceeds his ambitions, and I have tied his son to our clan by marrying him to Fiore. The pair of them get along quite well, in fact, and while Charles Potter is spoilt, he at least is nowhere near as obnoxious as his father. And a merger of wizarding and Magi bloodlines is a rare event."

"Partly because of the differing attitudes to magic, to say nothing of the different magic systems involved," Avicebron observed. "Magi use magic circuits, and their magecraft is considerably more customisable, though it's also harder to use. Wizards find it easier to use magic, and it's a little more versatile, but it's harder to create new spells, and they tend to be less energy efficient. Magi take a somewhat more logical and objective view towards magic, whereas wizards tend to view it as far more of a birthright. Both sides are conservative by modern standards, but Magi tend to accept technology more than wizards. And wizarding magic does not attract Gaia's attention."

"As you can imagine, it was hard creating a Homunculus clone of Charles Potter back in 1980, especially before I had Gordes under my aegis. Homunculi generally have magic circuits, not the cores of wizards. He also needed to last long enough to avoid suspicion. I've heard rumours from our sources in Clock Tower that he found a way to modify his body so that he has a lifespan comparable with a human, which I have to admit is an admirable feat."

"Admiring the enemy?"

"Admiring my handiwork, and in any case, a skilled enemy, while aggravating and infuriating, can still be admired. He doesn't lack for skill, despite the fact that he was a decoy. If anything, he has the potential to surpass Charles, though Potter would not countenance that." A sardonic smile touched Darnic's lips. "And he wishes to avenge himself on James Potter, and possibly myself. I even tried, through my agents in Clock Tower, to activate the countermeasures I embedded within him, and he had already removed them. Aggravating, but admirable all the same."

"The creation avenging himself on the creator. A literary cliché come to life," Avicebron observed. "If he somehow stole the blueprints for Frankenstein's monster that Caules was intending to summon and used those, it would've been more apposite."

"Perhaps. More concerning is Lily Evans. Unlike her Homunculus child, she is skilled and focussed in a way that approaches the likes of the Magus Killer. And now she has our Assassin. Still, she will fall, and I will present her to Potter to do with as he will…"

While the Evans family wasn't exactly rich, Lily did get quite a bit of money from the more dangerous jobs she did for Clock Tower, and even got a stipend from the infamous Wizard Marshall, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, for being one of the few people who could stand being not only an interesting apprentice, but also an intelligent conversationalist who wasn't afraid to voice what she thought. This was high praise coming from Zelretch, of all people, given his tendency to break people he didn't like, usually through pranks or arduous 'apprenticeships'. His latest apprentice, one Rin Tohsaka, was one of the few he wasn't trying to break, at least not for shits and giggles. Getting her to become a better Magus and human was another matter, but Luna and Zelretch relished the challenge.

In any case, the monies meant that Lily had recently bought a fairly large house for herself, Remus and Harry to live in near Canterbury, as well as Sirius, who didn't want to spend any real time at his family's ancestral seat at 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius' facetious suggestion of calling it the Lily Pad promptly got him hexed. She called it Evanescence, as a pun on her surname, as well as a tribute to a band she had recently come to enjoy. Any friends of the family left were welcome here, so Hermione and Luna sometimes crashed here. It went without saying that it was warded up the wazoo.

One feature of note that it had was a training room, part-gym, part-obstacle course, part-firing range, used for Enforcer training. And in it, Remus Lupin watched as his de facto and her new charge went through it. It was hard to believe that Jack the Ripper was a young girl, and such a tragic and twisted one at that. Of course, it was the first time that Remus had ever met a Servant, that and the Tamamo woman Harry was now stuck with.

Remus had thought himself unlovable, given the curse inflicted on him at such a young age, to say nothing of his more introverted, passive demeanour. Lily, after all was said and done, proved otherwise, and while you couldn't say their relationship was perfect by any means, it was still better than anything the grizzled werewolf could have hoped for. They didn't try for kids: Lily was sterile thanks to the curses Voldemort used on her, and Remus was afraid of passing on his curse to any offspring anyway. To say nothing of the issue of Harry and Charles. He hadn't thought them to be products of what was basically Amortentia-enabled rape, but either he was more willingly blind to James' faults than he thought, or James worsened since his initial years at Hogwarts. He'd always been rather spoilt and privileged, true, but he didn't mind making friends with all strata of Gryffindor. At least at first. Was it Dumbledore's influence? Or was it a teenaged mindset he never grew out of? A sense of entitlement, invincibility, and a desire for power?

Remus' thoughts were interrupted when the door opened, and the familiar form of Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi II, walked in. A tall, thin, sardonic-looking man with neck length dark hair, he was in many regards rather like Snape, if Snape invested in some shampoo and a no-nonsense attitude as opposed to a vicious one. And a relatively handsome face. Waver had been involved in an auxiliary Grail War ten years ago, stealing the catalyst of his then teacher, the late and unlamented Kayneth Archibald, and becoming the Master of Rider, aka Iskandar, better known as Alexander the Great. He'd come back from that Grail War older and a little wiser and, thanks to his teacher's death, gained his title, albeit as a regent of sorts for the next Lord El-Melloi.

Waver had met the new Servants during a rather tense meeting at Clock Tower, one Remus hadn't been involved in. The handsome young Magus nodded and gave Remus a rather wan smile. "I've come to bring Lily and Harry the necessary travel documentation. They may be taking Portkeys to Romania, but if the local authorities catch them without the right documents, there might be trouble. We've faked some for Jack and Tamamo."

Remus took the folder proffered. Waver was one of the few in Clock Tower Lily would trust with the true identities of the Servants involved. "I'm worried about them," he said. "They're heading into a warzone. More or less willingly."

"I understand. I was stupid when I thought it'd be a cakewalk. Iskandar was powerful, true, but when that witch managed to get him with her Noble Phantasm, I was lucky that she decided to let me go."

"What happened to Medea again? She managed to win the Grail War."

"She's just enjoying life with her new Master. That particular Grail actually worked, and while it couldn't access the Root properly, Medea got reincarnated, and Animusphere managed to save that friend of his. They have a daughter now, actually. Anyway, the thing we're worried about is Assassin. Leaving aside her identity as Jack the Ripper, there is the fact that Lily effectively, if inadvertently, stole her from the Black Faction. I couldn't care less about Yggdmillennia's whining on the issue, but Ruler is another matter."

"Ruler?" Remus asked.

"Oh, right. Standard Grail Wars have seven classes, though others are, technically, available, according to the documents the von Einzberns have been willing to share on sufferance. In cases like this, when you have two teams of seven Servants against each other, a fifteenth Servant called Ruler is summoned. They are a saint of some kind, to act as an impartial judge, taking the role of the Church's Overseer from the previous Grail Wars, and have the ability to command any Servant in the Grail War. I doubt that taking Assassin from their side inadvertently would count as a breach of the rules, as Assassin has chosen her Master willingly. Still, when they head to Romania, I want them to make contact with Ruler ASAP. Also, I want them to team up with Kairi Sisigou."

"He's participating in the Grail War?" Remus had heard of the mercenary necromancer before.

"It was decided to make him Master of Saber at the last minute, and he's been given a fragment from the Round Table for a catalyst. Given that the Potters are said to be in possession of Avalon, it seems like a wise choice. The other Masters of Red have already headed to Romania. That being said, we're yet to hear any direct word from them, save from the Master of Assassin, Shirou Kotomine. While that in itself is not unusual, we had hoped to hear from Jean Rum, at least, as she is usually quite punctual with reports. Incidentally, where's Harry?"

"He's in his rooms, getting to know Tamamo. He's a little disconcerted about her calling him 'Husband' all the time, so, in order to make the best of the situation, he's trying to get to know her, and vice versa. With some success. Tamamo is a decent person, but she's also quite self-centred and clingy. On the other hand, she and Lily have hit it off, more or less, and Lily's been able to keep Tamamo from going too far." He frowned when he came to another file. "Are these the catalysts Yggdmillennia may have a hold of?"

"Indeed. It's quite an impressive list. One, for example, is the notebook of Avicebron."

"Aka Solomon ibn Gabriol, the noted alchemist, kabbalist, poet and philosopher," Remus noted. "A Caster, then. Another relic was a fragment of a myrtle tree, said to be the one Astolfo was trapped in by the sorceress Alcina. One of the twelve Paladins of Charlemagne might be a challenge. A fragment of the Golden Fleece, part of the floor from the Temple of Heracles, a piece of metal said to be from Harpe, the weapon Perseus used to slay Medusa, one of the masks used by the leaders of the Assassins…this is worrisome, and the list is so long, we don't know which of these would be used for sure. They've even stolen antique guns, one supposedly used by Francis Drake, the other by Oda Nobunaga!"

"All of which means, we need to be ready for almost anything," Lily said, coming over, Jackie in tow, the little Assassin skipping over merrily. If it weren't for the fact that Remus knew who she was, she'd just seem like a relatively normal girl…scars aside. "Hi, Waver. Sorry I didn't come over sooner, but Jackie and I were working on how we're going to be using her abilities. Plus, I needed to work off some aggression after Rocco tore strips off me and my son."

Waver looked at the various targeting dummies, most of which were either in ashes, or else sliced up by thrown knives. "I noticed," he remarked dryly…

If you'd asked Harry ten years ago where he would be, then being given a lap pillow by a kitsune who was an infamous courtesan from Japanese legend and actually a fragment of the sun deity Amaterasu would not have even entered into consideration. While it was a somewhat intimate activity, it felt less…intrusive than kissing or anything further did. He'd only known his Servant for a few days, after all, despite her calling him 'Husband' most of the time. It felt more affectionate than lustful. Plus, there was something about her smell, warm and yet animalistic, that was comforting.

Over the past little while, Tamamo had told him her story, and in return, he told her his own. They learned about each other's abilities for battle and normal abilities. She had Territory Creation and Item Creation (the latter at a low level), as was fairly standard for Casters, as well as a shapeshifting ability and an expertise in a form of witchcraft. As a wizard, with a fairly strong supply of mana, Tamamo could actually fight to her full potential (as much as she could without needing her full divine power), with her Noble Phantasm, the Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu, the true form of the very mirror used to summon her, at a potentially high ranking of power.

"I guess we have a few things in common," Tamamo mused as she ran her fingers through Harry's messy thatch of black hair. "We gained a fame that proved to be double-edged, and yet, our deepest desire was only to be loved."

"They'd love you these days," Harry said. "Japan's really into stuff like catgirls, and its spread. A sexy kitsune would be right up their alley."

"As amusing and heartening though that is, I'm not into random nerds," Tamamo said softly. "In truth, my wish is to find love, and to be loved in return, for what I am. I'll admit, I can be mercurial and selfish at times, but that's the way I am. Scars aside, you're a fine catch. Handsome, compassionate and passionate, but with just enough of a dark side for my liking. While I would like a knight in shining armour, someone who understands pain is also desirable."

"I don't think I ever got shot full of arrows, though," Harry muttered.

"I don't recommend the experience, Husband. I'm a kitsune, not a hedgehog. Of course, the pain of a broken heart is a powerful thing. The Emperor and his court blamed me for his illness, even though I was the very deity they worshipped. Well, part of her. Irony abounds."

Harry laughed bleakly. "A shame. You look beautiful, Tamamo."

The kitsune blushed. "Heavens me, you really like to spoil me, don't you?"

"You're the one giving me a lap pillow when we barely know each other, Tamamo," Harry said. "Love at first sight doesn't exist. Lust at first sight, true. But love?" Another bleak chuckle wormed its way from his lips. "I'm surprised I even have the capacity anymore. I love Mum, but we also argue a lot. She's too overprotective at times. And she doesn't approve of me wanting revenge."

"Because it will be dangerous for you. I've read the reports on what happened, with the Lancer Servant Vlad Tepes killing all those Enforcers. Yes, I know, they have your godfather. But…well, while I'm a good Caster for combat, we Casters are at our best with a home base, a territory to make our own. We are patient, waiting for our foes to enter our domains, to trap them. Rushing in half-cocked will only serve to hasten your demise, and thus mine."

Harry knew this, at least on an intellectual level, but he hated being reminded of it. He gritted his teeth, before he said, "Promise me one thing…"

"Maybe."

"When we meet James Potter…you use that Castration Fist thing as your first attack," Harry said. "Only, I want his balls to be pulped."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho…" Tamamo chortled. "What a nasty-minded Husband I have. Oh, don't worry, I'll do just that. Though I'm curious…what will you do about your brother?"

Harry scowled at the thought of Charles. "He's no brother of mine. While I'm not sure I want to kill him, I do want you to use the Castration Fist on him at least once, on the same level you gave Gordes. I want him to feel something of my pain."

"…Have you ever been kicked in the testicles, Husband?"

"You've never lost a game of Harry Hunting, have you?" Harry said, thinking back to more than a few times when Piers and Dudley would get him in the groin. "Anyway, there's more in Yggdmillennia to worry about than my brother…"

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. We have some insight into Yggdmillennia, and some bonding time between the Evans family and their Servants. In the original story, this chapter had Mordred's summoning instead of this preamble involving the Servants. The next chapter will have Mordred's summoning, as well as some look into what Charles is doing in Yggdmillennia…

No numbered annotations this time.