Disclaimer: I do not own the Fate franchise it belongs to Kinoko Nasu and Type-Moon.

Three Jewels

Chapter 13

Luvia was taking evening tea on a balcony, looking out over the sparkling skyline of Fuyuki City when Marika entered the parlor. The younger girl had taken off her dress for her usual clothes: a white, collared, and long-sleeved blouse, a knee-length midnight blue skirt, dark grey leggings, and pearl white boots. She wasn't wearing a ribbon or a brooch right now though, and the top button of her blouse was undone.

Marika was carrying a thick folder and several rolled-up maps with her, and had Luvia raising an eyebrow as the younger girl sat down opposite her. The blonde politely emptied her teacup, set it down on its saucer, and glanced at Marika. "So," she said. "Is there a problem?"

"Wolf Recon has identified something of concern along the waterfront." Marika said, placing the folder on the table. She opened it, and standing up spread several, glossy and recently-developed photographs on the table.

Luvia blinked, and regarded the photos. The colors therein sharply contrasted with each other, a bloated, ring-like objects or objects colored red, orange, and yellow in the center against a largely grey and black background. Smaller figures or blobs in yellow, green, and blue were scattered inside and about the ring, and after several moments Luvia recognized what they were.

Infra-red pictures.

The blonde sighed. "Tell me more." She said.

"Wolf Recon's assigned sector is here, along the waterfront." Marika said, taking a map from where she'd placed them on a nearby chair, and unrolled it on the table. Lines, circles, grids, numbers and commentaries among others in grease pencil marked said map, Marika's right index finger pointing at a particular part of the map. "And at first glance, there's nothing out of the ordinary there: just lots of warehouses, some factories, cranes, dockworkers and vehicles, and the like. Whether it's the familiars' magical or mundane senses, there's nothing unusual at all there."

"But?" Luvia prompted.

"Elsa noticed something on the records." Marika said. "A minute, near-undetectable prana bleed, so much so in fact that the detection functions of the familiars' sensor mysteries disregarded it as trivial. Elsa however, didn't think so. She had checks run on the familiars, to see if the sensor functions were perhaps picking up the prana of the familiars themselves. They were not. She then checked if the ley lines ran near the area, and as it turned out they did. But there's still nothing there, be it to magical or mundane eyes. Or at least, to 'normal' mundane eyes."

Luvia tapped a finger against the table several times in thought. "Have you considered the possibility it's just natural activity on the part of the ley lines?" she asked.

"I considered that as well." Marika admitted. "But on the smallest chance there might be something there leaking the prana and leaching off the land's energy, I decided a deeper than usual look was warranted."

"Prana use generates excess heat." Luvia said, and Marika nodded. "The more prana is used, the hotter whatever or whoever the user becomes."

"Precisely," Marika said. "So I outfitted Wolf Recon's familiars with infra-red cameras, and lo and behold: there's something there."

"Could it be a mundane facility?" Luvia asked, still playing the devil's advocate. "And you never mentioned if there's proof or not that something's interfering with the eyes or magical senses of our familiars."

"You're right, there isn't proof." Marika said. "And I did consider if there was a mundane facility in the area, and the prana bleed into the environment from the ley lines. But…"

Marika trailed off, taking another map and unrolled it before pointing at the photos. "Take a look for yourself." She said. "There are no factories in the area the pictures are of, and what buildings there are don't match the profile of the structure in the photos. Something's hidden there, and whatever it is I don't doubt one of the other Masters has his lair there."

Luvia now stood up, studying the pictures and maps, as well as written reports from Elsa included in the folder. The maid might only be a second-generation and a spell-caster to boot, but she had good sense.

Finally, about ten minutes later, Luvia made her decision. "Caster," she called, and after a few moments reality twisted nearby and spilled the young witch out, having teleported from where she was managing their prana pool in Ryuudo Temple.

"Yes?" she asked.

Luvia indicated the materials on the table. "Can you observe what's hidden here?" she asked. "There's something blocking the eyes and senses of our familiars, and while specialized equipment can go around the masking it can only do so much. And while we can adjust our familiars accordingly, that'll take time. Time we may not have, one way or another."

"Alright." Caster said with a shrug. She glanced at the maps, and after another moment held up her hands. A glowing sphere appeared above them, a magic circle slowly revolving around the middle.

Marika whistled at what was being shown in the middle of the sphere. "My commendations to Elsa," Luvia said. "Good call."

Located in the middle of the waterfront was a massive building, about three stories high, shaped like a truncated octagonal pyramid. There didn't seem to be windows they could see, though at three points around the pyramid spindly metallic structures lanced up into the sky, lights flashing at regular intervals.

"What the hell is that?" Marika asked.

"I don't know." Luvia said before turning to Caster. "Can you show us what's inside?"

Caster nodded, the sphere flashing to show the interior of the building. It was well-lit, and largely empty space. Massive cylindrical structures ran along the walls from floor to ceiling at eight points, scaffolding running around the interior and also going from the floor to the ceiling.

Men with goggles and masks dressed in white smocks and with white gloves bustled to and fro along the scaffolding on all levels, working at periodically-positioned workstations or checking computer displays and control panels here and there. Cables and pipes ran between the cylindrical structures, down to the ground floor which was a veritable forest of machinery.

"Talk to me, Caster." Luvia said. "What is that…those, things?"

Caster didn't reply at once, instead studying the building's interior with narrowed eyes. Images quickly flashed through the sphere, Caster in particular taking note of large cables running out in eight directions from the building, through a series of small blockhouses, before vanishing down into the ground.

And then she looked back inside, into the heart of the building, at a large, ring-shaped construct with eight gleaming pipes that fed down into a black pit in the very center of the floor. "I don't recognize the machinery or whatnot," Caster finally said. "But I can discern their purpose quite well. This place is meant to produce, store, and manage magical energy in large amounts. It's very crude, but at this scale the crudity is excusable."

"So those cylinder things are prana generators?" Luvia asked incredulously.

"Most likely, yes." Caster said with a nod. "I cannot be certain until I study them in detail, but that is almost certainly what they seem to be. With that said…"

Caster gestured, several icons on her magic circle flashing. "The magi's mysteries are very crude." She said. "The fields keeping the building hidden are inefficient, using too much prana to achieve their effects, and the defensive mysteries meant to snap closed like a trap against any enemy that attacks rather…tacky, and excessive. Not to mention the way the latter stores prana is flawed: they constantly leak a small amount of prana, necessitating they constantly draw on the nearby ley line lest they run out of the minimum amount needed to properly function when needed, and the leak is easily detected. Not much, but anyone with a good head for something amiss would certainly notice and take it as a sign."

Luvia and Marika shared a glance at that. Though she wasn't present, Elsa it seemed had earned the favor of one of the most famous women and magi in history.

"But," Marika began. "Even if they're rather inefficient, I doubt the massive amount of prana being produced by those…things…"

Marika trailed off to shake her head. "And I thought father and I used modern technology too much…" she muttered before shaking her head again and continuing. "Anyway, as I was saying, I doubt those prana generators are meant simply to provide power to hide and protect that building. And while it could just be to provide more than enough prana…"

"Understatement of the century…" Luvia muttered.

"…for the enemy Master's Servant," Marika said. "Somehow I get the feeling that's not just the case."

"I think so too." Caster agreed, showing images of the cables running into the pit inside the building and out of it. "These tube-like things, I think they're connected to something. Maybe more of these places."

"More?" Luvia said, wide-eyed. "There could be more of these things? Why? I understand a lot of prana is needed to keep a Servant at their best, but there's such…a…thing…as…"

Luvia trailed off, biting at a finger with narrowed eyes as she considered the worst. "…no…it can't be…" she muttered. "…but what if…if he needed so much magical energy, why not just tap the ley lines like we have? I suppose he could have predicted that the Caster would have done so even without knowing it was us, but…"

"…unless he couldn't tap the ley lines because of his purpose." Marika said with narrowed eyes. "The ley-lines after all, are connected to the Grail. There's a limit as to how much they can be exploited, without risking destabilizing the delicate concepts and mysteries they support."

"A fucking Grand Ritual…" Luvia muttered. "Son of a bitch, one of the other Masters is trying to use a Grand Ritual to gain a strategic advantage, and possibly win this war in a single stroke!"

"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Caster said with a grim look on her face, unknowingly looking very much like her older self would have been in a fell mood. "Even taking the inefficiencies in the enemy's mysteries into account and reducing their effectiveness by say, twenty to thirty per cent, even for me a Grand Ritual's power is not something to laugh at. If I had to guess, this…place, is a nexus, one of many around the city, forming the Grand Ritual's array."

Luvia growled in her throat, before gesturing sharply at the maid present against the wall. "Get Adrianna and Elsa in here." She ordered. "We need to hold an operational meeting."

"Is it wise to move so soon?" Marika asked after the maid bowed and left. "It might be more prudent to find out more about what and who we're dealing with before taking action."

"I agree." Luvia said. "Which is why we're taking action: long-distance reconnaissance will only provide so much information. And if nothing else, knocking out one of the nexuses should disrupt the enemy's timetable over the completion of his array and performing the subsequent Grand Ritual."

Marika raised an eyebrow, blinked, and then nodded. "Certainly," she said. "It is so."

"Alright," Otoko 'Neko' Hotaruzuka said, glancing at her clipboard as Shirou finished unloading the lemon crates into the vegetable refrigerator. "Good work, as usual, finishing ahead of time. Well, since that's the case, why don't you take a break?"

"No, I'm fine." Shirou said cheerfully and with a polite if casual wave of a hand. "And if I have some spare time it's better to use them to get started on other things that need to be done, right?"

"Hey now," Neko said. "You shouldn't push yourself, you know?"

"I'm not really pushing myself, Hotaruzuka-san." Shirou said with raised hands, the older woman leaning chidingly at him. "I…"

"I?"

"Well, that's…"

Neko sighed. "Really," she said. "You're a really hardworking guy, aren't you?"

"I…guess, I am. So…"

Neko frowned at Shirou causing him to step back, but after a moment sighed and glanced back at her clipboard. "Well if you insist." She said. "Go help the guys out back load the beer crates inside, and then once that's done, stack them inside the fridges. Oh, and have the other guys help you out as well. I don't want to come out here later to check how things are going, and find you doing all the work while those guys just laze around smoking."

"But, Neko-san, I can't really…"

"No buts!" Neko said, playfully if seriously bopping Shirou on the head with her clipboard. "You're hardworking and all that, but while that's not a bad thing what's bad is when you let other people use those wonderful traits of yours to take advantage of you. Got that, Emiyan?"

Shirou sighed, rubbed the back of his head, and nodded. "Yeah, I got it." He said. "I'll do what I can."

Neko sighed, nodded and walked off. "Honestly," Shirou heard her mutter as she walked away. "I know this country pushes an all work and no play mentality, but this is just…"

Shirou laughed weakly to himself, and then rinsing his hands at a nearby sink and wiping them off, went out back to help two other coworkers bring beer crates inside the bar. "Finished already, Emiya?" one of them asked.

"Yeah," Shirou said. "It wasn't much, anyway."

There was some laughter at that. "Only you would say that." The second man said. "There might not be as many crates, but when unloading those lemons, you've got to check each and every fruit before actually putting them in the fridge, don't you?"

"Well, yeah…"

The two men looked at each other, and laughed. "Only you Emiya, only you." They said, and causing Shirou to laugh weakly himself.

"No really," he said. "It wasn't too much trouble at all. And I mean, it's all part of the job isn't it? So I might as well put my all into it, and do the best I can."

"Well," the first man said. "At least no one can say you don't earn every coin you're paid with. But, you shouldn't push yourself either, boy. You'll burn yourself out if you do, and at your age that's no good. Boys your age should have problems with girls and friends, not their health and promotions and future prospects and all that shit."

Shirou coughed. "Satoru-san," he said with a note of protest. "That's not really very helpful. And while I don't really care much for things like promotions…"

"I know." The older man interrupted. "You're going to say that there's nothing wrong with planning in advance for the future, caring for your health, and that you've got no problems with your friends and you've no interest in anyone else right now…you've said all that before. But, Emiya, I've said it before too and I'll say it again: don't waste the best years of your life. They only come once after all, and better to enjoy them and make some good memories with them, instead of wasting them now and regretting it all later on."

Shirou sighed, and nodded. He'd heard it before, and while he was inclined to take it under advisement – and indeed he would – he knew it would be too rude to say so. And in any case, it's not like Satoru was wrong, even if Shirou couldn't really accept his advice in entirety.

"I don't think I'm wasting the 'best years of my life'." Shirou thought to himself. "I've got plenty of good memories already, with my dad, Fuji-nee, and of course my friends like Issei or Mitsuzuri and even Shinji…even if he is a bit gloomy. Anything more…well, I'll just take things as they come. And besides, even if things will get harder as time passes, I'm sure that even in the hardest times there'll be things to smile and laugh about. That's why…"

"…say, but somehow I get the feeling that I'm not really making an impression here." Satoru was saying. "Well, I suppose in that way you're like kids your age, not listening to your elders. Honestly, of all things you…"

Shirou just smiled as the older man ranted about kids not listening to their elders' advice, and just focused on his work. Between the three of them, they finished bringing all the crates in in about ten minutes or so, and another ten minutes to put them all inside the fridges.

Shirou was inclined to ask Neko for what else there was to do, only to be told off and made to take a break with Satoru and their coworker. The three of them stepped outside, Satoru and their coworker lighting up cigarettes as Shirou stretched his arms overhead.

And then he blinked, as he…smelled, something on the wind. "Hey," Satoru said moments later. "What's wrong, boy? You look like you've got something heavy on your mind. Did you forget you had a date with your girlfriend tonight?"

Shirou shot them a look as they burst out laughing. "It's just that," he finally said, looking back out at the sky in the distance. "Well, don't you think the air feels…heavy, all of a sudden?"

There was silence at this, but after a moment Satoru looked up at the sky and sniffed a few times. Dabbing a finger in his mouth, he lifted it up into the air and nodded slowly. "Now that you mention it," he began. "You might have a point there. Looks to me like there might be a thunderstorm tonight."

Shirou grimaced slightly. "Oh man," he said. "I don't have an umbrella."

Satoru chuckled at that. "Can't be helped, these things happen." He said.

"Yeah, I guess they do."

But…somehow…this doesn't feel like just a thunderstorm to me.

"Fuel cells operating at fifty-eight per cent power."

"Array uplink is disconnected."

"Prana flow is normal."

"Deviation from synchronization is at point zero-zero-zero-nine per cent."

"Secondary cooling systems active."

"Energy converters are active."

"First ring coordinates input."

"Second ring coordinates input."

"Third ring coordinates input."

"Feeding power to Zeus Array. Forty-eight seconds to charge completion."

"Target is set."

Atrum Galliasta smiled as he stood in the node's control station, watching on screens as his workers prepared to test the nexus' ability to control the weather. By itself it was rather limited in power and flexibility, but all together…

…once all eight nodes were ready for use and synchronized he would have the power to raze the city to the ground if need be, and win the war in a single – or seven – strokes.

The blonde man smirked at the thought. And then his smile soured, remembering his Servant's disdain for his strategy, finding it 'cowardly', 'banal', and 'uninteresting'. And while Rider hadn't forced Atrum to use a command spell – yet – to bring him to heel, Atrum suspected this was only because Rider expected Atrum's strategy to either fail completely or in part, either way providing him – Rider – an opportunity to cross blades with an enemy Servant.

Mindless savage…

…well no matter, once we win he'll have no complaints.

Still, if only I had had the opportunity to summon Caster…I'm sure she'd have appreciated my strategy better than that brute…damn Edelfelt…

The thought of Edelfelt brought a smile to Atrum's face. "Once the array is complete," he thought. "I'm going to burn those impudent little Finns from the face of this city."

In truth, he dearly wanted to do it with the first shot, but ultimately decided against it. First of all, this was a test shot, and he didn't want to frustrate himself by rushing and failing to destroy Edelfelt should the test fizzle out.

Second, there was a possibility, given the limitations of a node, that even at full power Edelfelt's bounded fields could hold up against its power. And even if they didn't completely or in part, it might tip his hand to other Masters and draw their wrath, or worse, Edelfelt might survive and come after him in revenge.

Either way, he couldn't risk exposing his strategy before his trump card was ready in full.

And ultimately, victory – and revenge – grew sweeter with anticipation.

Atrum's smile grew predatory as he watched on a section of the screen the ringed sections of the node's roof slide into position, arcane symbols falling into place as they did so, the thunderclouds overhead rumbling as mysteries shook to life as concepts were invoked and prana saturated the zone of operation.

"Releasing safety."

"Final warning issued to all duty personnel."

"Preparations for test firing complete."

"Safety is released."

"Five seconds to charge completion."

"Connect the trigger."

The trigger flashed red beneath the safety cover, which Atrum flipped open before pressing the button beneath. Outside of the building, the stink of copper filled the air to overwhelming, the arcane symbols on the roof flashed to blinding, and after a few rumbles in the storm clouds overhead, a massive blast of lightning arced down from the heavens towards a deserted block of warehouses, factories, and vehicle pools further down the waterfront.

It lasted only for an instant, but that instant was enough. In that instant, the entire and much of its surroundings were reduced to rubble. Across the city, the thunderous boom echoed, and citizens looked up and murmured in worry at the clouds overhead, and wondered where the lightning had struck.

"Test successful." The operator said, and Atrum began to laugh, even as reports began flooding in.

Shirou ran through the streets, making his way to the waterfront. He didn't know what had happened, but…but…

…but…

It was like I'd gone back in time. Back then…back in that hellish place…

Shirou grit his teeth as he remembered. He remembered the furnace-like heat all around him, singing his hair and clothes, scorching his skin, the stink and sharp burn of ash and soot as they choked his lungs.

He remembered the dead and the dying, the pleas for help all coming around him.

And he remembered ignoring them, remembered how he just kept on walking, prioritizing his own survival, and how he'd lived where they all died.

Shirou grit his teeth harder, and forced himself to run faster. A part of him knew it was stupid. He could barely call himself a magus, and yet here he was, running to where a magus had probably holed himself up, if the sharp stink of copper, of prana, floating through the air in staggeringly huge amounts were any sign, and then that blinding and unnaturally powerful blast of lightning…

…but that was exactly why he had to go do this.

Somehow, he just knew, that whoever was behind that blast of lightning was up to no good, and he would not just stand by and do nothing. Not this time…not ever again…

He would…!

Shirou staggered, his entire body shaking and falling on all fours as he felt his circuits burn white-hot and his body shaking from what seemed to be minor seizure of some sort. And they seemed to be getting worse, thought becoming harder and harder to do as his nerves slipped steadily out of his control.

Damn it…I…I won't…I won't let it…!"

The pain turned unbearable, Shirou shouting in defiance as everything seemed to go white…

…and then it was over, Shirou spitting out blood as he rolled onto his back, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. He stayed there, lying on the ground, breathing hard and heavy, for several minutes, and with a groan rolled back on all fours, and forcing himself to his feet staggered to the nearest wall.

Just…what was that…no, I know what that was.

Bounded field…

He wiped at the blood pouring from his nose, and supporting himself with a hand against a wall staggered along. A few minutes later and he was finally able to walk unsupported, if still with some difficulty, but that too disappeared after a few more minutes.

All that was left was incredible sense of soreness, as though he'd been beaten by a big, uneven stick all over. It would probably go away after a night's sleep, but first he needed to see.

He needed to see what had happened. He had to do what he can and should. And then, and only then could he leave.

No matter what, I won't let whoever this guy is just do as he pleases.

Finally, several minutes later, Shirou arrived to see a scene of desolation. The buildings around him all had massive cracks over their walls, and any windows were broken. More than a few had collapsed, while vehicles were lying on their backs and sides, many with crushed sections where they'd slammed against walls, and plenty had been blown through.

But that was nothing compared to what lay beyond, where nothing but rubble and shattered hulks filled the ground. "What is this…?" Shirou muttered. As he said this, two things happened.

First, he suddenly found himself unable to move.

Second, a magic circle appeared around his feet.

Shirou barely registered this, and then the world went white, and filled with nothing but pain.

And then darkness.

A/N

Stupid boy, poking your nose into things that are none of your business. But then again, if you didn't you wouldn't be Shirou Emiya, and you wouldn't meet the women who will own you for the rest of your life. And I suppose anyone who just hurls lightning around that powerful in the open is likely up to no good, and knowing you, you won't stand just doing nothing.

Don't worry, he's not dead. I've got plans for Mister 'I want to be a Hero of Justice'.

On another note, I remember watching UBW and seeing Atomic Gatorade (Atrum Galliasta) and his workshop, and found myself thinking 'seriously'? Is that really a workshop? It looks very much like those clone factories on Kamino in Star Wars.

So when I wrote this chapter, I thought to myself, should I go big, or not? And then I decided, 'meh, let's have some fun'. So go big it is…though it's very deceptive, since as Caster in UBW and Caster Lily here (and another magus in El-Melloi Case Files) said Atomic Gatorade's mysteries are ramshackle and inefficient.