It is not like I have no feelings
Emergency!!
Big Trouble in Little Fuyuki!!
Her fortress was under attack, Caster knew this, yet she didn't find it to be of much concern. She counted three enemy Servants total, one was fighting Assassin on the stairs, another seemed to be lurking in the forest, presumably watching the pair fighting and then... there was the third one. This one had initially made Caster rather nervous, skillfully slipping past Assassin, and the boundary field, making it to the temple's courtyard before appropriate countermeasures had been taken... Frustrating indeed, however it soon became clear that the summoned skeleton grunts Caster commanded was enough to halt the intruder's advance, so Caster could continue her experiment undisturbed, at least for a short while longer.
Although the situation might seem bad from an outsider's perspective, Caster had her enemies... well not exactly where she wanted them, but this was good enough. She had been able to clear out all the temple's inhabitants with a fake lottery ticket, winning them all a trip to the Official Grand Buddhism Event Gathering (naturally no such thing exists, and the people she had tried to trick did not believe it for a second, but that had been easy to correct... magic is great) so now she could use whatever magical spell she wished, without having to worry about it being wasted on innocent bystanders!
As luck would have it, not even her Master was here... he had been held up at school, something about a student neglecting work, at the moment it did not matter much to her, the only thing that mattered was the result... she could use full power, without restraint, and not worry too much about the consequences! Sure if the mountain got blown away that might be bad... but even so! She'd show everyone! Everyone who had laughed, saying that Caster had to be the most useless class ever! This was the day that marked her revenge!
It was, after all, within her power to summon a powerful dragon! Well, some may argue that she has no idea how to actually do this... and they would be correct. However, it's not like she can't learn! She is Medea, the first tragic heroine ever (at least recorded, she never properly thanked Euripides for that) not just some random hussy, it's not like she got by in ancient Greece on her (stunningly) good looks alone, although they certainly did help.
Back on topic however. This town had more than enough people living in it to fuel her magic for ages! That doesn't help on the whole "doesn't actually know how to summon the dragon" front, but Caster was a self-appointed genius after all! All she had to do was create a spell that allows her to learn how to summon the dragon, cast it, and then summon the dragon once it has taken effect! What a roundabout way to do things, you think? You're an idiot! Magic is awesome! Magic can do anything! Something like this is the natural chain of thought for a magus! Medea guarantees it!
Caster let out a loud laughter, certainly evil enough to send chills down the spine of anyone who heard it... shame no one was around. Realizing this, Medea clicked her tongue, and went back to casting her spell. She did not have much time left, those skeletons wouldn't last forever (although they had lasted unexpectedly long... whatever Servant was out there had to be more useless than Caster herself, only that Caster wasn't useless of course!) and when those defenses fail the trespasser is sure to burst in here and interrupt her work. People have no respect these days.
Some kilometers away a certain priest was leisurely enjoying his evening in front of the TV. While usually a rather... stiff person, some would say, he too had his relaxing moments. He was currently watching two petty politicians arguing about very petty things that had absolutely no implications upon the world at large. Granted the few people who would be affected by the outcome of this debate might think of this as important, but Kotomine could not help but be slightly amused by the fact that even if a winner was declared, it was not like he would be able to put his plans in motion before the end of the world anyway, not considering the way this Heaven's Feel was progressing.
"Regarding which..." Kotomine mumbled to himself, as he was reminded by the large amount of clothes that needed to be washed... It was Lancer's turn to do it, but Kotomine had sent him on a scouting mission for the night... bad scheduling on his part. Besides, it's not like whatever information he brought back would change much... that Servant wasn't much of a spy... nothing compared to what he used to command. Kotomine sighed at the memories of Assassin. It had been a weak Servant, completely useless in the few battles that it had taken part of, but unparalleled in its ability to relay intelligence on the enemy. He wouldn't mind swapping out Lancer for something akin to that, with Gilgamesh he had more than enough brute force, Lancer just seemed... redundant.
Perhaps killing Bazett had been a mistake... She would have made an excellent partner for Lancer, the two of them could have cleared up quite a few enemies, he was sure, only to be ultimately swept away by Archer. In hindsight, that may have been a more suitable plan, rather than waiting for the War to progress naturally, the current Masters were moving far too slowly... almost without motivation. Kotomine could feel a slight feeling of irritation building up, and decided to go make himself some tea before it manifests into something serious... his feelings were to be bottled up for as long as possible, and then released in a moment of kickass and awesome, to waste them in an empty room was unacceptable.
He had made it halfway to the kitchen when the shocking event of the night began. A sudden sensation ran through his left arm, his Command Seals to be exact... Lancer's Command Seals. His first reaction was the natural conclusion that Lancer had somehow messed up his scouting mission, and gotten himself killed, but he soon noticed that this was... different. It was not anything like the sudden pain of the time when Assassin had perished, this was something else entirely. It wasn't even pain, it was more like... discomfort. Like someone poking you in the ribs in order to wake you up.
Kotomine stood still for a few minutes, trying to figure out what this meant. As an ex-Master (and secretly current) as well as the mediator and supervisor for the Grail War he considered himself quite an expert on Command Seals, yet this was... unfamiliar. He finally made the decision that the current status of Lancer was worth checking out, unfortunately, Gilgamesh was not present this night, either.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! LOOK AT THIS KOTOMINE!! I WON A TRIP!! A TRIP TO THE OFFICAL GRAND BUDDHISM EVENT GATHERING!! TRULY THIS COUNTRY KNOWS HOW TO PLEASE ITS KING!!!... What's Buddhism anyhow?
The loud, boasting and confident voice of Gilgamesh echoed inside Kotomine's head. Anyone with common sense would have realized that prize was a hoax, so just as expected, Gilgamesh had fallen for it instantly. Kotomine hadn't felt too inclined to tell him about it, either. He did enjoy seeing people suffer after all, and the crestfallen (or enraged, actually most likely enraged) look on Gilgamesh's face when he realized he had been had was sure to be amusing.
Being out of options, Kotomine realized he would have to enter the fray himself. He wasn't particularly worried about that, he knew he had no chance in an honest battle against a Servant, but he should at least be able to flee for a few seconds, long enough to use a Command Seal and summon Gilgamesh to his side. Problem was that he would rather not be seen by certain other people... Tohsaka Rin and Emiya Shirou, to be exact. Should his cover as "neutral" be blown, he might miss the chance to see their ambitions culminate in sorrow and betrayal.
Still, investigating took priority at the moment, this strange sensation was still present, although slowly dulling. He knew Lancer would be atRyudou Temple tonight, so location was no issue, a quick run, nothing exhausting. Anyone who saw him would probably just see something flash by in the darkness, and quickly dismiss it as a trick of the light... the local priest dashing around at superhuman speeds in the middle of the night? Unthinkable. So after putting on his robes, making sure he had some Black Keys with him, just in case, Kotomine locked up the church and disappeared into the night.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, and as far as he could tell, he had gone unnoticed. Kotomine was standing at the bottom of the unnecessarily long stairs, leading up to the temple itself. If he went beyond this point, whoever had taken up residence in the temple was sure to know of his presence... and the already farfetched excuse of "an evening stroll" would have to be completely discarded. Kotomine had hoped to be able to make contact with Lancer from here, before fully shedding his disguise became a necessity... no such luck.
He began climbing the stairs. He had been expecting something to happen, a magical countermeasure to keep intruders out, but so far, he couldn't sense a thing... even the air itself seemed... calm. He wouldn't say it was eerily silent, though. He could hear muffled voices just up ahead, still too far to make out what they were saying, or what tone their conversation was in, but the knowledge that living beings were waiting somewhere up ahead made Kotomine quicken his pace a little bit.
The moon had been temporarily hidden behind a cloud, something Kotomine was not sure if it was fortunate or not... it reduced his sight, sure, but it would probably have the same effect on anyone else who might be watching... unless that person was a Servant, but Kotomine's chances of survival did not increase by that much, sight or not. He had other senses, equally as sharp, that could be relied on. His hearing, for example, was finally living up to the prestige of a first rate Executioner, and he was able to make out parts of the ongoing conversation. "U...uweh... I'm scared... Where's dad?"
That voice seemed familiar somehow... although a whole lot lighter than usual. But surely that pathetic whimper could not belong to whom he suspected? Had he misjudged that boy completely? As if on cue, the sky cleared, bathing the stairs in moonlight, making the scene in front of Kotomine clearly visible. A bit further up the stairs was two small children. Unusual, Kotomine would have thought in any other situation, but this time it was actually outright shocking... wasn't one of them... "Emiya Shirou?"
Kotomine hadn't actually meant to call out to the boy, the name had come out in pure surprise. Still it was probably the correct way of progressing, as the boy turned towards him, clearly responding to the name. "W-who are yo-" the miniature version of his rival's child called out meekly, however before he was able to finish his sentence, a hand was thrust out in front of him, causing the boy to shriek and shrink backwards.
The owner of this hand was a small girl, the other child he had spotted. "WHO GOES THERE!?" she demanded, in a voice that sounded a lot less menacing than the little girl had probably intended. Kotomine recognized this one too... although she was a lot smaller than he remembered, she had definitely fought in the previous Heaven's Feel. "Servant Saber..." Kotomine made to move forward, towards the couple, however the girl did not seem content with that action.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" she clumsily moved her hands around in the air, and Kotomine realized she was probably holding that invisible sword of hers... although it must be much too large for her to use effectively now, as evidenced by the fact that she was holding it with both her hands, and the wild swinging nearly made her lose balance. "Calm down, Servant Saber... just what transpired here to make you... so strange?" Kotomine was probably rushing introductions, although she should be able to recognize him from the last time they met...
"Stop calling me that! My name is Arturia Pendragon! King of the Britains!" she proudly puffed out her chest, an act that was proving comically hard, as the weight of the sword kept making her switch her weight from one foot to another, risking to fall over if she leaned too much to either side. Kotomine kept on advancing towards the couple, not feeling very threatened by the legendary King of Knights in her current form. The Servant did not approve. "Fine then! If you refuse to cease your movement, I will force you to do so! Prepare to die!"
With surprising agility, Saber jumped into the air, towards Kotomine, but the momentum did not carry her very far, and she was soon pulled back down by gravity and the weight of her sword, landing on the stairs face first. Kotomine was sure the girl had successfully killed herself, even as a Servant she seemed rather... weak, and that kind of a fall definitely looked fatal. However the girl quickly bounced back on her feet.
"Haauu... it hurts..." tears were clearly forming in the small girls eyes, and she was rubbing her forehead, where the early marks of a bump were making themselves visible. She noticed Kotomine had not stopped walking, and regained her composure. Realizing that the sword was useless to her, she decided to take on the man with her bare fists. "TOORRRYAAAAAA!!... hey!" in the midst of her not so frightening battle call, Kotomine had grabbed her by the back of her collar, and hoisted her up in the air.
"Servant Saber," Arturia protested by yelling at him to not call her that "I must say I am rather... confounded by all of this. I do not suppose you have any intention of telling me just what happened here?" Kotomine held her at eye level, quickly adapting to the situation, and the sudden difference in power level. "How should I know!?" she tried to punch him in the face, but found the length of her arms to unsatisfying. She wasn't stupid however, once realizing she wasn't able to reach her foe's face, she grabbed onto the arm which was holding her, and started trying to climb onto it.
Kotomine was growing weary of this. He was getting nothing useful out of this Servant, he never really had now that he thought about it, and Lancer was still nowhere in sight. He dropped the girls collar and swatted her to the ground before she could get a proper hold of his arm. He was not above child abuse, the basement of the church was a testament of that. "Y-you shouldn't hit girls! You big meanie!" at some point Emiya Shirou had gotten the courage to talk, not that Kotomine expected anything useful to come from that, either.
Ignoring the boy, Kotomine took a quick look around. Forest on both sides. Looks like coming out here tonight had been stupid of him... he did get to see something interesting, though. "Emiya Shirou, have you seen Lancer anywhere?" The boy paused to think for a minute before shaking his head. "I don't even know who that is." he answered truthfully. "So you are both suffering from some sort of memory loss, then..." Kotomine muttered.
Saber was once again starting to rise from the ground, probably intending to launch another assault upon Kotomine, so to put a stop to this, he put his foot on her back and pushed down lightly, pinning her. "Unfair! Fight like a man you coward! I have felled bandits more honorable than you!" she yelled at him, but he payed her little mind. He was currently debating what he should do with the two... just killing them seemed like the logical choice, he would rid himself of the most powerful Servant in this battle, not counting his own Archer, and would get some kind of revenge on Kiritsugu...
On the other hand, getting revenge on some kid who did not even know who he was seemed a bit dull, especially considering how pleased he had been when he found out Emiya Shirou would participate in the Grail War, only ten years after Kotomine's bout with the boy's father... killing him now seemed like an anti-climax, of sorts... Besides, he kind of wanted to find out what had happened to these two, a strange curiosity. A magical spell, powerful enough to break through even Servant Saber's defenses? A magical potion of youth? He'd have to ask Archer about that, he'd be more knowledgeable on the subject.
Suddenly, a loud rustling could be heard from within the woods, causing Kotomine to snap his head in that direction. The threat he had felt at first quickly vanished however, as a small boy clad in blue leather armor came waltzing out of the woods, dragging what looked like a long red stick behind him. "Lancer? This... thing got to you too then?" The boy jumped at the voice, apparently he had not noticed them standing there. "What did I do in the forest you ask? Why I certainly wasn't lost, or about to cry my eyes out of fear and loneliness! No way! I'm the brave CĂș Chulainn! I was merely... scouting! For wolves! I am a hound after all! Grr!"
The boy bared teeth, giving off a very realistic growl, before laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his head, looking rather embarrassed. This... was the Servant he had summoned? Or well, actually the Servant someone else had summoned, who he had then killed, stolen her arm and Command Seals and made the Servant his. Details. Lancer seemed rather unconcerned about the whole situation, until he noticed the girl underneath Kotomine's foot. "Hey! You can't treat girls like that! Girls are delicate you know!"
Grabbing the red stick with both hands, which Kotomine finally noticed was actually the famed Gae Bolg, he was able to swing it around and point it towards Kotomine... for a short while. The uneven weight of the spear, caused by the fact that Lancer was holding it with both hands at the very bottom, caused him to fall forward. "Ah! Crud! I have made a fool out of myself in front of the enemy, and in front of a damsel in distress! Woe is me!" Kotomine briefly wondered what had caused the personality change in the adult Lancer he had come to know...
Still, there was a very serious matter at hand. He had three very small versions of people he previously knew and despised, some more than others, and he had no idea what to do with them. "D-didn't I tell you to stop being mean?!" Shirou's voice once again echoed on the stairs. Kotomine noticed that somehow the option of killing them all and forgetting this ever happened was becoming more attractive with each passing second. Still... kill first ask questions later had never been his motto, he was more of a preach first, preach some more, and then kill person. He could feel a headache coming on.
It may or may not be continued!
