CHAPTER 9:

KAY

"So, was your meeting with Ruler fruitful?"

Arturia didn't know why she was allowing EMIYA to follow her like this. The man had been her enemy in the Fifth Holy Grail War. First, he attacked her Master, his past self, after a confrontation with Caster. Second, he betrayed his Master, Rin, and defected to Caster, albeit for his own ends. Third, he made his intentions of killing Shirou clear. So she was understandably unhappy with him, and wasn't sure whether she wanted to talk to him, let alone trust him.

"I'd imagine it wasn't, given the look on your face, save for the fact that the last time we met, we parted on bad terms. Would it help if I said I helped your Master survive Gilgamesh's attempt to drag him into the Grail before I dissipated?"

Arturia wouldn't give him the satisfaction, so she found herself further vexed when he put on a burst of speed, appearing in front of her, his arms crossed. "Sullen silence does not become you, Arturia."

"I have nothing to say to you, Counter Guardian," she said contemptuously.

"Then listen to me. I need you to come with me to my room. There has been…a rather annoying development, and bluntly, I need your help. And before you ask, it mostly concerns Astolfo and someone he's found. He's very much like my past self, only with less sense, if that's at all possible."

Arturia considered this, before she nodded. "Lead the way. And know that I will repay any treachery with steel."

EMIYA chuckled darkly. "I have no doubt, Arturia…"

They were soon in another room, one belonging to EMIYA, with the effeminate form of Astolfo present. However, there was a fourth person present, lying on the bed, an apparently teenaged boy with light brown hair and pink eyes. One of the Homunculi, she realised, similar to those all around the castle.

"Oh, hey, you're here, Arturia!" Astolfo yelped. "Good…listen, this kid here isn't in a good way."

"What happened to him?" Arturia asked.

"He woke up," EMIYA said bluntly. "Did you never wonder why you had a good supply of mana, probably the best you have ever had in a Grail War? The answer is simple, as I discovered when I went for a brief walk, Astralized. They have tanks filled with Homunculi, acting as living batteries for we Servants to draw upon, so we may use our Noble Phantasms with impunity. I found Avicebron and that creepy little Master of his checking on them. Until recently, this boy was one of them. He somehow escaped, and Astolfo brought him here rather than to his room, as his Master has a bad habit of barging in and dragging him elsewhere to have her wicked way with him."

"She's freaky, and I'm over the licking, but she hasn't gone that much further," Astolfo complained. "Yet, anyway. I've got a sneaking suspicion, though, that she intends to use a Command Seal to rape me, and I'm not okay with that."

Arturia looked appalled. She thought back to Irisviel and Illyasviel. "The depravities of Astolfo's Master aside, you mean to say that we are powered by these Homunculi?"

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying, Arturia," EMIYA said. "This boy only has another few years left to live. They don't make the Homunculi to last. Which is why I thought of you." EMIYA looked at Arturia. "My Master spoke of your Master using Avalon as a catalyst to summon you. Do you still have it?"

"I do. Are you suggesting I use it on him?"

"What's Avalon?" asked the Homunculus, speaking for the first time.

"A Noble Phantasm capable of healing the bearer, and boosting their power," Arturia explained. "Do you have a name?"

"…No."

"He was literally born from that tank this morning, his 'conception', so to speak, notwithstanding," EMIYA said. "Arturia, I'd suggest not haring off and attacking our Masters. For the time being, we are outnumbered, and Vlad Tepes gains a boost from being on Romanian soil. If you intend to rebel, then pick your moment. In any case, my own Master and her brother are decent people, even if they condone this. Your Master is arrogant and entitled, but he is not evil by any means. I'm more worried about Astolfo's Master, as well as those of Heracles and Vlad."

Arturia gritted her teeth, but she understood EMIYA's counsel. This Grail War was already shaping up to be problematic. Two teams of Servants facing each other, and one of her opponents was her own child. Had this been immediately after Camlann, she would not have hesitated to cut Mordred down. But she had experienced much since then, and found herself reflecting on her actions. Would Mordred be willing to talk, or would she be only willing to cross swords? And the Masters of Black were condoning this?

Still, she knew what EMIYA was suggesting: give up Avalon to this Homunculus. Even though it would cause a disadvantage to her later. In truth, it was no decision at all. She took Avalon out of herself, and looked at the Homunculus. A name occurred to her, of her foster brother, and she smiled. "…Do you want a name?"

"…I'll take one."

"Then you are Kay, after my foster brother. May you be as chivalrous and honourable as he was," Arturia said solemnly, allowing the Homunculus' body to absorb Avalon, Astolfo cooing in awe. The newly-dubbed Kay gasped and spasmed briefly, before he settled, panting. "How do you feel?"

"…Better," Kay said, looking amazed that he even said that. "Thank you, Saber."

"I can provide a copy for you if need be," EMIYA said quietly to Arturia. "Anyway, let's go. I need to talk to you about other matters anyway…"

They convened in Arturia's room. Arturia, reluctantly, shared what she had discussed with Darnic, as well as her encounter with Karna and Ruler. "So, the von Einzberns summoned Ruler instead of Avenger. That explains a few things," EMIYA said. "And the current Ruler is Jeanne d'Arc. Saber of Red is your child, Mordred, and the girl we saw through Avicebron's golems was Jack the Ripper, originally intended as the Assassin of Black."

"The woman with the fox ears and tail was unfamiliar to me," Arturia said. "What about you?"

"I tried to analyse her weapon, but it seemed to be a divine construct of some kind," EMIYA said. "Still, I'm certain she's a Japanese myth of some kind. In fact, given her dress and fox-like features…I'd put money on Tamamo-no-Mae. Probably a Caster, given what she did with the talismans, but she's more combat-oriented than Medea, it seems."

"Or Gilles de Rais," Arturia remarked, thinking back to the deranged, pop-eyed Caster who mistook her for Jeanne d'Arc.

"Speaking of which, how did you find Ruler? Did you two hit it off?"

"We were cordial, and she apologised for her former associate's actions. However, do you think the Red Faction would truly dare to attack Ruler?"

"No. Clock Tower in general wouldn't. That being said, there are Magi who would, and there may be someone in the Red Faction who believes Ruler to be a threat to their personal plans. I'd say that it was the Master of Lancer, but our experiences with Medea, to say nothing of Kirei Kotomine stealing the Lancer of our Grail War, shows that such an assumption could be a fatal one. Lancer could have been suborned by another Master, or indeed another Servant. In other words, this Grail War is shaping up to be an even worse clusterfuck than the one you and I went through, Arturia. Mordred's feud with you, to say nothing of the Potter family feud, are possibly trivial in comparison to what may be happening in the shadows. As of this moment, I believe the only other Servant we can trust on our side is Astolfo, and even then, he has a flux of the tongue. There's no guarantee that Heracles will be our ally, Vlad is very much like Gilgamesh with far more civility, but with complete and utter faith in his own authority and power, and I don't trust Avicebron. The man's focused wholly on completing that ultimate golem of his…and he's willing to use a human to run it."

"How do you know?"

"I heard him arguing with Heracles' Master. James Potter wished to…interrogate a captive we have, one Sirius Black. However, Avicebron claimed, with what seemed to be truth, that Potter was only going to torture Black, and Avicebron didn't want the core of his golem to be damaged. There was a major argument, and only Darnic forbidding Potter from approaching Black finished the argument, though it seemed that this was far from the first time Potter did this. I doubt it will be the last. He reminds me of a more competent version of Shinji Matou. And considering that this is one of the worlds where Magi and wizards co-exist, albeit barely..."

Arturia considered this. Eventually, she asked, "Rule Breaker…can you duplicate it?"

"Of course. Why? Thinking of betraying your Master?"

"Only if I find myself unable to continue with being under his aegis. Unlike with Kiritsugu or Shirou, I have not sworn as a knight to his service. If his actions are ones I take issue with, or else those of the higher-ups in Yggdmillennia, then I may consider taking my chances with the Red Faction."

"As glad as I am to see you becoming a bit more flexible with your ethics and honour, there's a couple of problems with that. The first is the most glaringly obvious: Mordred. I'm not sure she would want to ally with you. The second is finding a mana supply. Unless Clock Tower have fielded more Magi in the area, which I can't rule out, you'll be hard-pressed finding another Master. And unlike me, you don't have the benefit of an Independent Action skill. A powerful enough wizard or Magus could, theoretically, sustain two Servants, but it would still be a strain. I think your Master's worst traits is his intention on committing filicide, though he rationalises it by thinking of Harry Potter only as a thing, a robot, just as he does the other Homunculi."

"This coming from the man who wished to kill his past self?"

EMIYA glared at Arturia. "If you had to undertake the…duties of a Counter Guardian, you would have understood my situation more," he said, spitting out the word 'duties' as if it were an expletive. "In any case, we are both in a dangerous situation. If the time comes that I am able to allow you to defect, then I will. You could probably even contract Kay as your Master, he certainly has more potential to be one than my past self. But…be careful. He's a blank slate, and impressionable to boot. He is very much like my past self was, in the aftermath of the Fuyuki Fire. Be careful what ideals you put into his head. It's going to undo our work in saving him if he ends up as suicidal as my past self. There's also something that concerns me. I asked Fiore about what she knows about the enemy Masters, aside from the ones we saw. The Church agent sent to coordinate the Red Faction for Clock Tower has a rather disturbing name for us both."

"And that is?"

"Shirou Kotomine."

"…What?" Arturia hissed, the only word she could utter after such a revelation.

"No photos on file, despite Caules trying his best," EMIYA said. "However, he was adopted by the Kotomine family. I asked whether Kiritsugu had any family in this world, and it seems that he did adopt a boy answering to my past self's description, so it can't be him. The von Einzberns and Tohsakas are licking their wounds even seven decades after Darnic stole the Greater Grail. Rin and Sakura still live, and thankfully, Sakura was adopted to the Edelfelts rather than the Matous, who were wiped out. Still, the fact that the Red Faction have a Kotomine amongst their number is concerning, especially in light of Lancer's actions. I'm getting a bad sense of déjà vu."

"As am I," Arturia said.

"Hmm. I think we'd best get ready before long. The Berserker of Red is heading our way, and a couple of his comrades are pursuing him, trying to bring him to heel. I think we'll be sent to intercept them, along with Astolfo…"

In the chamber containing the tanks of Homunculi, Avicebron and Roche were examining the destroyed tank. "I'm surprised you are remaining calm, Teacher," Roche observed as he held up a thick piece of broken glass.

"I may be surprised by this turn of events, but it does not mean I can't maintain my calm about it. While this incident is certainly unexpected and abnormal, it is not at all a setback. Before we had captured the wizard Sirius Black, that Homunculus was one of the candidates I intended to test to use as the core of Golem Keter Melkuth, but Black is a far more enticing candidate. A wizard surpasses a Magus in terms of sheer power and capacity, and I have modified my golem accordingly to deal with the efficiency issue." Avicebron frowned behind his mask. "Still, if Black proves to be a failure, then we may need to find this Homunculus anyway. And finding him may be desirable. I'm curious to learn how he broke out."

"So where could he be, then?"

"He's still in this castle. None of the Bounded Fields were tripped," Avicebron explained patiently. "For now, we'll just heighten security. Our main concern is making sure Black doesn't escape." He looked over where Black's form floated, mostly naked, within one of the tubes. "And yet that fool Potter keeps coming to try and interfere!" Avicebron's usually suppressed emotions nearly broke through, before he calmed himself.

"Uncle Darnic will be able to keep him on a leash, Teacher," Roche said with utter conviction.

"Will he? A leash is little good for a rabid cur, Roche," Avicebron said. "The same goes for wilful, intractable hounds. And while he may take the form of a stag as an Animagus, James Potter is very much an untrainable dog. He's chosen a strong Berserker and a strong Saber for his son deliberately…because I am sure he needed such Servants to go against Lancer. Vlad's main advantage is the power he draws upon from being on Romanian ground. I've warned Darnic about this, of course, and he's trying to ensure that Charles Potter's loyalty is to us. And, of course, there is the Archer Fiore summoned."

"Yeah…who do you think he is?"

"No ordinary Heroic Spirit. He and Arturia know each other, as I was watching the summoning from here. She seemed wary of him. If a Heroic Spirit as powerful as King Arthur is wary of someone as obscure as that Archer, then it stands to reason that he may be powerful, or at least capable of matching the King of Knights."

"Maybe we should ask her, Teacher."

"Hmm. Perhaps. But I can't be certain that she will answer. Still, enough of that. We still need to produce more golems to make up for those destroyed last night, and we've spent enough time worrying about this anomaly…"

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Sieg has gained a new name and a new power…and Arturia is thinking of jumping ship.

Now, before you say this is too OOC for Arturia, consider before you flame me what she's been through. In Fate/Zero, she basically had her honour, chivalry, and idea of kingship shat upon by all and sundry, well, Kiritsugu, Iskandar, and, by dint of his appearance as a Berserker, Lancelot, to say nothing of Bluebeard and Diarmuid. And then, she's gone through the Unlimited Blade Works route. Aside from dealing with Shirou being a suicidal idiot, as well as the son of a man she despises, she has to face a girl who could be the daughter of a woman she admired and watched die (Illyasviel and Irisviel), she got kidnapped by Medea (and, if what I've heard is correct, she gets molested by Medea in the original version of the visual novel), nearly ran out of mana, watched Archer target Shirou multiple times, get her ideals chewed out by Archer…yeah, Arturia goes through quite a bit.

That, on top of learning about the Homunculi (given her empathy with Irisviel), Sirius Black, and the situation in general, Arturia has basically got to make a choice between doing the right thing, and sticking to her duty as a Servant. She's going to do the right thing. She may not be able to save the other Homunculi or Sirius (yet), but she's going to try and save Kay.

Review-answering time! rmarcano321: If you pay attention to the Cauldron or Zelretch's Collection of Alternates, you'll know I have one potential story in the works, a Harry/Altera story called Beautiful Destruction. Also, by the time you read this, I'll probably have the first chapter of yet another Fate/Apocrypha crossover with a Fate/Extra character involved uploaded to those two collections…called Of Empresses, Saints, Heroes and Wizards. No prizes for guessing who the Fate/Extra character is…but for those who need an extra hint…well, it's pretty obvious, umu! It'll have Harry getting involved in the Holy Grail War in a different way, with no WBWL elements, although fans of Knight of Betrayal and Taiga Cub will note a similarity in the opening premise.

Guest (regarding various issues): Jackie's viewpoint, as mentioned before, was inspired by TheMaster4444's story The Third Faction, namely the latest chapter, at least to date. I wanted to show her childish and alien mindset, but also show that she is loyal to her new family. Unlike Alma or Lucy, Jackie's not quite as unstable or alien in her mindset. I actually think of Jackie as being closer to Mariko from Elfen Lied, not quite being malicious because she truly is evil, but because she doesn't know any better.

Dragon Man 180: While I have no plans to bring in Tamamo Cat…never say never.

No numbered annotations this time.