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FICTION

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Chapter 7: Of Revelations and Conclusions


Trials and errors were essential for breakthroughs to be made.

That was a simple concept that existed in both simple science and Magecraft. The need to test the limits that nature has given us, to expand and reach the greatest heights.

The Small Grail was something born from traditions and flamboyant alterations to properly filter the prana of a Master used to sustain their Servants.

Jeanne was safely detached from the Greater Grail and her lifespan now depended on her willingness to remain in this plane of existence. Sure, she could be summoned once again from the Throne but for now the Altered Servant had decided to stay around.

It was all in the name of conquering the endless boredom that the Throne of Heroes would provide to her if she was to return to it.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu decided to actually 'call a day' and return back to the Throne, as the reasons to truly keep around were zero. The Lancer would have been keen to study more how nature had evolved after his passing, but his concerns about his only friend's current state were legitimate.

The body created by the mud was dangerous, a minor compulsion to 'survive and sow chaos' was present on the King of Heroes' mind and only Enkidu's speaking about it seemed to bring this up to attention.

Anger was understandable, but since Ea would fail to properly destroy the Grail, the King merely decided to remove the corruption out of himself and let his 'supposedly' dying body return to its previous state of degradation. Yellow mist started to appear as his entire being was turned into particles of gold, soon leaving nothing behind but just the echoing laughs of someone with a revenge plan.

A plan that was possible because of the King's clairvoyance skill and massive treasury.

The War concluded quite easily. A group of Mages from Clock Tower reached Fuyuki just two days after Gilgamesh's decision, led by Zelretch himself.

Illya had mixed feeling of the Wizard Marshal, the known deeds of the Vampire clashing with Justeaze's biased opinion of the elder.

Centuries ago, the man was quite the prankster as he found it entertaining to pester around the various classrooms in London. Justeaze was sadly one of his favorite targets, the prime homunculus a subject of fascination for the Owner of the Third Magic as he would find it interesting to test her emotional capacity while dealing with stressful situations.

Headaches over headaches, the fragments the Einzbern had of her ancestor were displeased by the fact that the man had to be called into action, but there was a general consensus in her mind that it was a necessary 'evil'.

The vampire had been here and there while the Grail was being created, giving his own suggestions about certain rules and limitations to insert within the construct. Too much power would have raised some unneeded attention, too little power was not acceptable for their objectives.

And yet as the old Magus appeared to her sight, Illya couldn't but frown at what she was looking at.

Zelretch looked… older that she had imagined, his hunch was more prominent and his ever-joyful smile seemed to have lost a shade or two.

Gone was the endless drive of the man, replaced by the weariness of age caused by his unique condition.

The Wizard Marshal actually came to visit the Castle, announcing that the group from the Association was here to properly disband the Grail. Part of her wanted to prolong some act and fake outrage at this development, but Juste had asked her to behave civilly with the man.

The reasons for this request were evident the moment the Wizard Marshal glanced with his red eyes onto the young man.

A small smile arched in his face, a studious glance trying to discern whatever he could from the youth in front of him. "You are an interesting fellow."

Juste returned this all with a slightly bigger smile. "You are a perverted old man."

Sella almost lost her composure at that comeback while Leysritt looked confused at the wording.

But it was Illya that looked the most scandalized. Such a reverend figure in the Moonlit World was… a pervert? But why?

'Justeaze' was chuckling at the human's words, deeming them worth of agree to as she knew much of the seemingly serious Magus.

Zelretch frowned. "Now, that is a very strong claim and-" "Kaleido Ruby and Kaleido Sapphire."

Kaleid… Ruby? The words were related to the Kaleidoscope, that was quite obvious, but what they meant eluded Illyasviel.

And yet, surprisingly enough, the elder's face lightly reddened at the comeback, eyes looking away for a moment.

"I-It's not my fault that the red pest is that much prone to non-descript things."

...What?

"You created them, sir, I don't think they just developed a personality from nothing."

He didn't comment, nor refute this and he preferred to continue to the next point of the discussion, alerting that the Tohsaka representative had been informed too.

Rin knew that the Grail was being dismantled and… she was opposed to it.

The tsundere was so much opposed to this situation that she deemed rightful to follow the Clock Tower's entourage back to the Einzbern home.

The lunchroom was occupied by Illya, Juste, Rin, Zelretch and the two Einzbern maids, the rest of the Magi provided a room to wait for this discussion to finish.

The Tohsaka was particularly irked, more than usual, as she snapped right as the chat began.

"I don't know what you are planning to accomplish with this, Einzbern, but I will not let you win-"

"A rigged competition, a dumb misunderstanding or Zelretch's prime amusement?"

The Wizard Marshal shifted nervously as several eyes were on him at that last bit.

"Anyway no, the only thing 'we all gain' is that the End of the World is prevented."

… "What? This- This is rubbish!"

"The young man is actually correct, young Tohsaka." The vampire rebuffed calmly. "The current state of the Grail, at least after some controls from our trustworthy devices, says that the construct is in critical conditions."

Gawking at the elder's words, the Einzbern's red eyes noticed the soft blue light of Archer's astralized form condensing into his body.

EMIYA looked relatively calm, merely glaring at the now-grinning Juste.

Zelretch spared just a glance at the Servant, his smile returning back to his face.

"Can I ask you one thing, Archer?" EMIYA didn't reply at this, keeping staring. "Is it truly necessary to kill your target? He is still 'dangerous'?"

The Counter-Guardian was right to not answer the bait, knowing perfectly that this Shirou Emiya had been safely dissuaded from his hopeless dream, the Saber's death and Sakura's confession being enough to usher him to reconsider his current life.

For the first time in a long time, Shirou Emiya woke up with a simple thought that was completely the opposite of his usual ones about swords. And that was getting some extra hours to sleep in with his girlfriend.

Some aspects still persisted, evident in his submissive manners back at school, but the patient care that Sakura was going to show him will yield results and… the distortion will fade.

Gone the mental scarring, gone the need of prove something to someone long dead, gone the sense of worthlessness that had been nagging his mind for so long.

Shirou Emiya broke the shackles and now it was a matter of time for his recovery to come into fruition.

But Archer would never say this. He would never call it a victory until his counterpart was removed from this world.

It was deep in his psyche, the need to satisfy a 'wish' of redeeming the world by sacrificing the 'very cause' of its degradation.

Indoctrination, that was what Juste considered the illness stunting the Servant's capacity to comprehend how drastic his ways were. Alaya had long played the man like a puppet during his life, suggestions being slowly coaxed in his mind.

Death was the quickest of means to solve threats. How do you solve someone like Shirou Emiya, a threat in Archer's eyes? He needed to die.

But he couldn't now. He couldn't dare to disobey the logic that made sense on his head, while also couldn't desist to think that killing the boy would be the best answer to his problem… but it wasn't.

No matter how many Shirous he could have tried to kill, reality couldn't be bent to that extent. When you try to go this much to alter history itself, Fate will screw you the worst way possible.

Illya was reminded of Artoria's foolish idea of rewinding time and not taking the duty of forming Camelot, to create the bulwark for humanity. Fear is a horrible monster, but Saber was stronger than that.

Deprived of affection and humanity, the King of Knights died an empty husk as her 'son' perished before her eyes, cold hatred denying her the sweet taste of the ultimate victory.

"Okay, what is going on with Archer? How do you know this much about him?"

"While I think the ways are different from my own ones." Zelretch stated. "I am fairly sure this youngster is a man of culture as I am."

In layman's terms, he knew about the timeline as much as the Vampire knew but not because of the Kaleidoscope.

"T-That is ludicrous!"

Juste sighed and relaxed his expression in a tired one. "You should tell her."

There was a brief moment of silence and the strange human continued.

"You aren't sure that she was there when you died, why don't you ask her if she would want to go?"

More confusion for everyone but Illya, Juste and Archer.

Finally, the tanned man sighed. "I will… tell her."

The discussion returned to detailing the plan of action to deal with the corrupted Grail and Zelretch was quite informed about the Avenger Servant lurking inside of it.

The group left two hours later, an agreement reached as Rin prepared her mind to face a moral defeat.

She had been so ready to achieve a rightful victory in that competition but…

You cannot win something rigged from the start.

At least she still had Archer, she mused grimly, he could cook, clean around and was there for her than that dumbass Emiya was with his sudden dislike for her.

H-He was an idiot and… and she wasn't caring about that or she was hurt and-

Rin gulped down a sob. Why was life so cruel?


"And with that the War is over, I suppose."

Illya giggled as Juste yawned. They were both sitting in a single couch, the Einzbern nuzzling her head on his chest as his arms were wrapped around her body, keeping her from falling off as she melted in the embrace.

"Still, we have lots to do. Especially about Caren and-"

A kiss in her forehead silenced her and she blushed in embarrassment at that sudden intimate interaction. "I know and-" He sighed. "I also have something to show you."

Red eyes blinked at that. "Something important?"

He nodded. "Something very important. A gift."

Now her attention was fully taken by him. "Really? Is it a car?"

A sweat drop rolled off his forehead as he walked out of the seat and towards the hallway, taking Illya in a bridal hold through the whole path.

Finally they reached a large room of the castle, one that Illya felt familiar too. "Isn't this a room for rituals?"

"It is usually used for that, yes, but this time it will be for your gift."

She blinked and tilted her head in confusion. Sella and Leysritt entered inside few moments after, the former holding the Small Grail in her hands.

Why it was glowing?

"I have tested properly the means to pull a relatively small wish out of Grail-chan-" Small Grail! "And I am managed to create a working minor wish-granting feature that we can use now."

… "Juste, are you saying that-"

He merely smiled and nodded, eyes widening in wonder as Illya decided to trust him on this.

"Then… can we start?"

The main reason why the Greater Grail required Servants to achieve the Wish-Granting function was… it didn't need it. The Servants' essences were meant to properly calibrate the Wish-Granting function to realize the original Wish, a path to the Root.

And since remodeling a body to a human one was less draining and less complex than creating a breach through Space and Time, the only requirement for the wish to be granted was a large amount of energy stored in the device.

Grail-chan had been siphoning from the Einzbern's leylines for a long time and now… it was he-it's time to shine!

The two maids were careful in preparing the instruments ready in case of complications and soon the process began.

Illya stood by the room's center as a blinding light encompassed her whole being.

At first it was warm, then the heat increased and she felt a bit distressed by it.

Soon it grew unbearable, light pain rising as her nerves were burning and her body started to go numb.

Gritting her teeth, the Einzbern girl endured the pain as it hardly compared to the experience she had to face back in Germany so many years ago.

Finally… it ended.

The light softly went off and she felt her footing shaky.

Juste rushed towards her as he could see her form, some bed sheets ready to cover her new modesty.

The alteration had shredded her clothes and the few pieces hardly covered her visible skin.

She blinked, noticing something very interesting first thing first. She was standing almost as tall as the young man and she was standing properly.

The cloth pressing on her chest gave her a proper estimation of something fully conceptualized.

She had boobs!

A smile twitching in her face as she brought her arms around Juste's neck bringing his face close and… giving him a peck.

He blushed a storm, but he smiled widely at her sudden reaction.

She then realized that her hair was no more pale white. It was… a light blonde, close to white but… humanly so.

The Grail was being dismantled, she had a new body and now it was time to claim her final victory.

Now it was time to plan how to bed her love interest.


AN

Yes, Illya is a pervert but within reason. She will lewd just one being… and she has boobs!

Been a long time, but finally got the time to resort my schedule (which is different now) and I decided to adopt a 2-Weeks updating method.

What does it entail? I will updated from 2 to 4 chapters every two weeks. So yes, there is going to be another chapter today! :)

Also fun fact: I had planned for the next arc to be Prillya but, since I am doing this already in Crawl Like a Worm (Which I suggest people to read cause it 'seems to be good'), I decided to switch to another section of Fate. I will reveal it in the next AN.

P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin

REVIEW Q&A!

Reishin Amara: Prototype!Arthur could oneshot it easy-peasy, lemony-squeazy. I wonder if we will ever receive Zelretch as a Servant in FGO…

Blake Tourdner: Oh, I will not do that. The only ROB thing I will do is teleport them in two chapters from now in a different space and time.

Captain Orion Zete: Really? That sucks, but I suppose that the government was incredibly scared because… what is happening in America. I mean, I don't want to do politics nor I wish to disrespect people but I decided to never travel there because… burning flags, bashing cops and a party condoning violence for trying to keep the law going… That is why I prefer staying in Italy. I heard Japan is nice during Summertime (maybe next year).

Guest Q: And Kotomine fully influenced that by 'encouraging' her need to satisfy the legacy of his Pops. Sad thing that her mother was brain-dead after Kariya went ape-shit and pulled a Shinji Ikari on her (not the creepy thing, the choking thing).

Guest 1 (Chapter 6): Archer Gilgamesh is the prime version, the one starting the journey to save Enkidu after his friend's dead. He is a bitter thing mostly because of that (note that Cas!Gil is still snarky, but never overly murderous about it) and so bringing in Enkidu is a major bargaining chip. That is also why I decided to have them return to the Throne, the King of Heroes still a little too 'weak' to deal with the Grail (He could destroy it, but the mud would still persist.).

sugoijack9: They got the Throne! XD

Matze96: Thank you!

PasiveNox: Yep! Canon, begone!

Guest 2 (Chapter 6): I don't meant this as a disrespectful advice, but I suggest you read some material on your free time. The reason why I put that premise is… Illya is actually 20 years old. The reason why her mind goes from childish to adult like some mad swings is because she is mature enough about some things but also sheltered about others, plus she got parts of Justeaze's mind in her own courtesy of her German family. In my opinion, the reasons that truly forced the scrapping of the Illya Route is connected to two major issues back at the time:
1) While Illya is legally an adult, her body resembles too much one of a child;
2) Shirou is the adoptive son of Kerry and Illya is the biological one. It would have been 'legally-speaking' incest if there was a romantic relationship between them;
Still, we got Prillya and- no, the manga doesn't have that much fan service.

Hashirama 1710: It is one of the possible ways, but also UBW could make things got that direction. Still I think it was truly a botched ShirouXSaber route. That sounds like a fun way to greet each other, but then everyone would have to run for their lives and… lots of madness would ensue. XD

Guest 3 (Chapter 6): Ayep! Illya is now fully legal now! (But no lemon because the rating doesn't allow it, still I will imply that something is happening!)