Disclaimer: Okay, not owning characters or song. Owning this story, though.
Shout Out: Another dose of our terrible kitty brat and his shenanigans. I swear, Xanxus was utterly impossible to write. But story is going ahead more or less. Bitter reality of updating: Was up to 1 AM because of a certain kitty brat. I could've strangled him. Argh, the dubious joys of being an author... In addition, text in square brackets is there because Irisviel doesn't have an apt uderstanding of those words yet.
Warnings: AU on multiple scales, kitty brat being utterly impossible and Harry finally using his inner Slytherin.
Plain talking (plain talking)
Take us so far (take us so far)
Broken down cars (broken down cars)
Like strung-out old stars (like strung-out old stars)
Plain talking (plain talking)
Served us so well (served us so well)
Travelled through hell (travelled trough hell)
We know how it felt (we know how it felt)
Lift me up, lift me up
Higher now up now
Lift me up, lift me up
Higher now up now
("Lift Me Up" by Moby)
Harry had a headache. Scratch that, he had multiple headaches. And the one, who had oh so generously provided them with was currently protectively curled around his newest tro - ahem, family member on Harry's bed.
Xanxus, that little brat, had outright demanded that this… whatever it was… was his sister.
Yes, the homunculus looked like a little girl. No, it didn't help at all that it was naked, even if that was alleviated a little via it - her - being partially shielded with both Xanxus' body and Harry's cloak made into blanket.
Frowning, he resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, and instead, he gently massaged his right temple. Closing his eyes, he wished that everything was a dream and that he was back in the good ole England - hell, even Fluffy would've been preferable at that point.
'This is just a dream. A hallucination.' He firmly told himself. 'When I open my eyes, I will wake up and everything will be alright.'
'…Or not'. His gut fell even further when the disturbing picture hadn't changed one bit. Xanxus was still on Harry's bed, his eyes almost glowing as he stubbornly stared at both Harry and Kiritsugu as he clutched the - thing - to himself like it was some kind of a live teddy bear.
The thing in question was tiny - even tinier than Xanxus, but not by much, with long white hair that was still wet, and it's eyebrows and eyelashes were of the same color. If Harry hadn't known better, he would've thought that this was some kind of an albino, but the skin color was a healthy peach, even if the very lightest shades of it. If Harry hadn't known of its origins, he would've thought that this was only a little girl peacefully sleeping away.
However, Jubstacheit was clear on the issue. This - as human-like as it seemed to be - was the receptacle for the Holy Grail to materialize within when the time came. Harry shouldn't have gotten attached to it. It was moribund ever since its conception, strange as it were. But… Harry's eyebrows furrowed. It was unusual for Xanxus to become attached to the little doll - because that was what this thing was in an essence - so quickly.
"Xanxus." Slightly glowing red eyes zeroed on him, narrowing as if Xanxus felt Harry's opinion on the issue and wasn't particularly happy about it. Harry ignored both pang of hurt and irritation, and instead focused on something more important.
"Why did you take it from - "
"Her." Xanxus viciously interrupted Harry, his own voice on the verge of being guttural and snarling, as if he were some kind of a beast, hell bent on protecting what he deemed his own.
Resisting the urge to curse out the impossible brat in front of him, Harry forced himself to nod. Kiritsugu's arms wound around his waist and a warm body pressed itself against his back, steadying him and stalling his temper, if only for a little bit.
If Harry had lost it there, then Kiritsugu would've lost it even further, and that was the last thing they could afford in the middle of an enemy's territory. Kiritsugu's form was stiff with effort of having to hold himself back, and even if the assassin had improved in keeping a hold on his temper, Harry knew his friend was on a hair-thin trigger himself.
"Her." He acquiesced, not hiding a dismayed grimace. "Are you aware that you've made us for the main scapegoats in your little act of heroism?"
Xanxus blinked, as if not comprehending what Harry was trying to tell him. "But I had to take her." The red-eyed little boy argued, his mouth pressing in a stubborn mouse as he frowned. "I just - " He looked down on the precious one he held in his arms.
There were no words to describe this connection, this oneness he had experienced. It was just... "She is mine." He reiterated, feeling more than a bit foolish. "I saw her inside that glass and then she opened her eyes and called to me and I just had to get her out of this - !" He seethed as he remembered just how had he found her. Floating in that thing, numerous wires attached to her, a caged angel that called to him - him, of all people, so very desperate and lonely and - !
It was not like whatever he had with his turista. If Harry's … feeling... was like a scarf or shield of warmth wrapping around him, then this little one was like finally getting back a long-missed limb he didn't know he had existed without it until then. Something within him that had been hollowed out until then, had been filled - so instantly, wholly and completely that he just had to do whatever it took to get to the one that had induced this wonderful feeling.
He didn't know how he had released her. He just knew that he couldn't have left here there for a second longer - because she was his, dammit - and then he proceeded to do whatever it took to quench the urge.
He remembered those moments as if he were submerged in a mixture of water and fire, the images swaying in front of him like desert mirages as he stumbled through the hallways with his burden on his hands as if drunk. He felt warm - so very, very warm -
- and then he was in front of Harry's room, with turista opening the door, ready willing and able to verbally tear Xanxus' a new one -
- only for Xanxus to Claim this little bit of green light for himself.
She was his. Harry - and his merry band of assassins - will just have to deal with it.
A fist crashed on the top of his head, causing Xanxus to yelp with shock.
"Ow!"
"You impossible brat." Kiritsugu's voice was wrath and flames and destruction and Xanxus involuntarily shrank back into himself, gingerly feeling the throbbing bump on his head.
Kiritsugu's previously black irises were now an unholy mix of dark violet and jagged red lines. Xanxus' blood chilled at the sight. He had seen Kiritsugu like this only once - when they had launched that rescue mission in Freccia's stronghold. He had sworn to himself - then and there, to never, ever do something that would piss the assassin in question to the degree the black of his eyes would change into that.
"Are you even aware just how much trouble did you cause us with your idiotic stunt?" Kiritsugu's voice was at a normal volume, but it may have been a thunder to Xanxus' ears.
"No one knows you are here. Who, do you suppose, will they think responsible for disappearance of their most valuable artifact?" Kiritsugu seethed, the energy crackling from him snapping and snarling like a hellhound on a fraying leash. It was not the question of if, but of when the least would snap and then Xanxus would be in a very deep shit.
Blinking, Xanxus opened his mouth to refute the assassin, only for Kiritsugu to rap him on the head once again.
"I don't want to hear your excuses!" The Magus Killer snapped at him.
Gulping, Xanxus squeezed his little sister to himself like a teddy bear, the glow in his own eyes subsiding when he began to think of ramifications his idiotic little act would cause for Harry.
Kiritsugu could usually handle unusual situations. As a Magus Killer one could say he specialized in unusual, considering his ways of dealing with whatever dangers life threw at him. But Xanxus had a wonderful - not! - ability to make him completely unhinged faster than one could say 'Clock Tower.' The kitty brat got on his nerves. Maybe it was because he had similar colors to Kiritsugu's own, only his shade of red was more of a reddish orange, the colors mixing like tiger's stripes -
Kiritsugu blinked. And blinked again as he looked at the brat. Or more accurately, his colors.
Oh. Dear fucking heavens. He made an inarticulate sound as he roughly rubbed his eyes as to make sure they weren't deceiving him.
But there it was.
A tiny tint of emerald green.
Almost unnoticeable, if one hadn't known what to look for, but to Kiritsugu's eagle eyes, it was so obvious it was almost painful.
Kiritsugu didn't want to know or acknowledge its existence. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't given any choice in that matter. He felt his shoulders slump in defeat and he emitted a strange half-groan half-whine of desperation.
"Kiritsugu? Are you okay?" Harry's concerned voice floated to his ears. Kiritsugu wanted to resist looking at him - because this would've been the last fucking straw confirming his stupid hypothesis - but he was helpless in face of Harry's worry.
Dual colored eyes looked at his green-eyed friend and it was there, as sure as the sun was rising.
Harry's colors were brighter and warmer, but unlike Xanxus' own, they were threaded with four dual-colored threads. One of them, Kiritsugu knew as well as his own hand. The other two didn't take a second guess either, but there was an irritatingly colored fourth one… with a tiny spot of green within.
"That troublesome little shit had found a Lightning - " He long-sufferingly jerked a nod at Xanxus' newest...playmate? Thing? " - and they've spontaneously bonded to each other." Kiritsugu finished as he looked down at his friend helplessly.
Green eyes widening and jaw involuntarily slacking for a moment, Harry looked like humanized goldfish.
"Oh. Oh, holy fucking Merlin." Harry groaned, covering his eyes. If he had thought he had a mother of all migraines before, he now had the distinct and excruciating honor of experiencing its very ancestor. He began to massage his temple and why, oh why was his life a joke of cosmic proportions again?
Xanxus, who now felt that he was out of the danger zone, looked from one to another with confused curiosity.
"What?" He asked, tilting his head like a curious puppy.
Harry paused in his temple massage and glared down at his adopted son and apparently soon-to-be-adopted daughter.
"Xanxus." His voice was curiously flat, but he really was out of any fucks to give in this particular moment.
"Consider her adoption your Christmas gift in advance. And no, you are not getting another one this year."
Xanxus looked like his Christmas came early… and gone in the very same moment.
Kiritsugu's eyebrows quirked at the kitty brat's heartbroken face. If nothing else, the Magus Killer now kind of understood Kirei's penchant of giving people hope and then crushing it in the same breath.
It was kind of refreshing, really.
Besides, kitty brat deserved the comeuppance for all the trouble he had caused with his little rescuing operation.
"You want to do what?"
Jubstacheit Acht von Einzbern was sure that his hearing was failing him.
He was sitting in front of his writing desk, with Kiritsugu's assistant in sitting front of him, both of them drinking cup of an evening tea, as was Jubstacheit's habit and secret vice.
This completely unremarkable - and dare Jubstacheit think soft - assistant of Emiya's had proposed something completely outrageous to the Head of Einzberns.
The first day hadn't been over yet, and this person had the utter gall to request of Jubstacheit to give his greatest creation to them for Harry to 'humanize' it.
Jubstacheit's brain, usually always on the top of things and happenings - how could he not be, he was the leader of Einzberns for more than a half of millennia - hit an invisible wall.
He simply couldn't comprehend.
"I want to adopt it and teach it about humanity." Harry's face was blank, but his green eyes, such an unusual color for a human, burned with determination. Jubstacheit's elegant snowy white eyebrows quirked in interest.
This human was stubborn. Jubstacheit knew just how intimidating he was, but Magus Killer's assistant didn't budge even under his heaviest stare.
"And what do you intend to accomplish with your little… education spree?" He asked slowly, his sharp eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Bear in mind that all homunculi are already equipped with all the knowledge needed ever since their inception."
Harry made a face at the last word, and Jubstacheit's sensitive ears caught something like "I so didn't need to know that." grumble, but he pretended not to hear it.
Then, the young man took his breath. "I am aware of that. But…" Harry paused.
"You've undoubtedly created something exceptional. I can't and won't refute that." Inwardly, Jubstacheit puffed up with pride, but outwardly, he gave only a short nod of acknowledgement. For one such as him, it was a foregone conclusion for his creation to be exemplary after all.
"But even if your creation is perfect, it lacks in one crucial component - its own experience." Harry continued ruthlessly, disregarding Jubstacheit's warning glare at his person. "A person - or a homunculus in this case - can have all the knowledge of this world, but that knowledge is useless if it isn't further augmented with personal experience. You can show and tell it how to defend itself from its enemies - even who its enemies are - but because it won't experience it for itself, it won't properly evolve. And because it won't properly evolve, its responses will also be sub-par or even dismal against its enemy." Hard green eyes stared into Jubstacheit's own dark ones.
"If you want to win, then it's unreasonable to leave a gap in your creation's defenses. Moreover, it's completely unforgivable." Harry concluded, his voice completely sub-zero.
Jubstacheit gave a slow blink as he crossed his bony fingers in front of his mouth as he pondered the youth's impudent theory.
"Humanity is not needed." He finally retorted. "Machines are superior to humans. Humans are irrational, prone to subjective decisions and having irrational feelings, which makes them fail in critical moment." The edges of his mouth lowered in a bitter sneer. "If it weren't for human interference, the Einzberns would've won this war three times over and more!" He snapped out.
Harry raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. "If humanity is not needed, then machines don't have a reason to exist, either."
Jubstacheit stilled.
"What. Did. You. Say?" His words were deathly quiet. Anyone in Harry's place would've begged for mercy then and there. Harry, however, didn't budge an inch.
He had faced scarier.
(Basilisk, Dementors and one big spiky dragon came to mind.)
"You heard me." Harry's voice was even as he leaned back into his chair, as if everything was right in the world.
A tense silence breezed between the two as Jubstacheit contemplated the youngster's words. And much to his disgruntlement, he found them to be true.
"It's true that humanity is ridden with faults, but it's because of those self-same faults it's allowed to prosper as it is." Harry concluded. "If your creation is as perfect as you say it is, then adding something as trivial as intimate understanding of how humanity works won't harm our chances of winning." Harry finished, leaning back into his chair.
Jubstacheit stroked his beard thoughtfully.
Beyond mentally exhausted, Harry stalked back to his room. Even if he had played a complete hard ass in front of the Einzbern patriarch, it had taken all of his Slytherin cunning to keep the calm and collected face.
He didn't like the subterfuge - never had and never would. His encounters with Dumbledore, Fudge and Voldemort had left a bitter taste in his mouth. However on the enemy's ground he couldn't afford to play a foolhardy Gryffindor.
It was surprisingly easy and at the same time hard to slip into the mindset of a Slytherin. His mind flashed back to Xanxus' newest ... acquisition. Harry's face scrunched itself into an aggravated grimace. He had bartered for a… presumably living being like one would for a livestock they intended to slaughter for food.
'The things I am doing for that kitty son of mine…' Harry mentally grumbled to himself. Being a parent was truly a troublesome occupation.
Shaking his head at his own thoughts, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
It was a Pyrrhic victory at its truest.
His hand felt like made of lead when he placed them on a door handle and pressed it down.
Xanxus couldn't help but dread Harry's arrival.
After Harry had flat out told him that this she was his Christmas present, Xanxus had been promptly ignored in favor of Harry storming out of the room and leaving him alone with Kiritsugu.
Privately, Xanxus thought it would've been safer if Harry had left him to tender mercies of a starved tiger. Kiritsugu looked more like a pissed off dragon, what with Xanxus' latest family blunder
To avoid looking at the dragon in human form, Xanxus resorted to watch his newest 'sister'.
It was as if someone had intentionally inversed their colors. While Xanxus' hair was black, her long hair was purest white, reminding him of a newly fallen snow. Xanxus' skin was darkened from sun, while hers reminded him of the palest shade of caramel. Her skin was soft and warm, even if she felt cooler than him for some reason.
After the complete ruckus Xanxus had done to get her out of her shell, she was still sleeping like baby, her breaths deep and even.
"I hope she is worth it, brat." Kiritsugu's voice could be likened to a snarl of a demon, causing Xanxus to flinch at the pressure wafting off of the Magus Killer. It was less than that time in Freccia, but for some reason, it was just as much, if not more so, terrifying, especially because there was no Kirei this time to stop Kiritsugu from flat out murdering him if the assassin felt that Xanxus stepped out of line by a hair.
"She is." Xanxus mumbled back, his eyes still riveted to the girl's face.
Even if he was still feeling a little bit burned with the loss of a Christmas present, he resolved to suck it up and bear with it. This was his little sister and it was worth more than thousand Christmas presents, no matter how awesome they would've been for Xanxus to receive.
But what galled Xanxus even more now that he could think with semi-clear head, was turista's reaction to his little sister.
Shock. Horror. Dismay. And when Kiritsugu had told him about Xanxus being spontaneously bonded to his little sister, Harry's face crumbled with exasperated resignation, which then firmed up into grim determination as he marched out of the room. And Xanxus had a sinking feeling just what Harry had intended to do.
Xanxus' eyebrows scrunched with discontent as he looked at the little girl and wondered just what kind of price would Harry have to pay now to fulfill his foolish wish.
Fragile eyelids fluttered open, and Xanxus' eyes were riveted to the irises dyed with the life-giving crimson color of blood.
Pale pink lips parted, huffing out a small mewl of protest while those white eyebrows scrunched in discontent.
Xanxus' newly adopted little sister was awake.
Warm. Safe.
Those two were dominate feelings when she had been carried through the cold halls of the Einzbern mansion. True, the hold she was in was awkward and at times uncomfortable, but that didn't matter, not really - what mattered the most was that she was safe and away from that ice cold presence that bore down to her in its infinite [ice] [cold], [distance] and [cruelty].
But now, she was here, with the [puppy warmth], in its embrace, and in front of them, there was [cold warmth], not like that [ice] [cold] one, but she supposed if angered, this [cold warmth] could be… [dangerous] too. The cold warmth was [growling] at her warmth.
It was an unkind sound.
It made her want to hide within [puppy warmth], and stay there until the danger passed.
But on the other hand -
Emitting a sound of protest at [cold warmth] she opened her eyes.
Red met red, her eyes still fuzzy a little, while his own were a mix of shock and delight.
She blinked, her mouth opening a little.
She had seen the colors before, but not in this particular arrangement.
The puppy warmth was all warmth and dark colors, the [black] mess on his head spiking up here and there, and he smelled of [fire] and [lightning] ...
How... curious.
She was greeted with a grin and a blush, those red eyes wide with wonder and that beautiful warmth.
"Buona sera, sorellina."
Little sister. She was called little sister. Not that she understood it, but the voice and most importantly, the affection held within it was… Good. Great, even.
Slowly the edges of her mouth twitched, tilting up in an imitation of the shape on [puppy warmth's] lips.
Slowly reaching up her left limb - arm, something within her noted – she placed the flat part of it on the [puppy warmth's] cheek, slowly soaking in the first positive contact in what seemed to be forever.
Soft. Warm. Eh… [Squishy]. She furrowed her eyebrows at the latest word, but dismissed it for a moment.
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Breathing the air in, she tried to imitate those sounds she was greeted with.
"B-Buona zera…z-zore-lina." The voice crackled and hissed out of her throat, causing her to wince at the unsightly sound.
The [puppy warmth] beamed at her for the first part of the greeting, but for some reason, it's jaw dropped when she addressed him as sorellina.
Behind her, she heard the [cold warmth] crack into small, snipped off sounds, but there were not sharp, but rounded out and warm and for some reason, they made [puppy warmth] bristle at it.
"Oi, you! I am your brother, not little sister!" The [puppy warmth] scowled at her half-heartedly as he poked her forehead with a pointer finger, making her blink at the offending appendage cluelessly. "Fratello! Fratello, damn it! Say fratello!"
[Cold warmth] chuckled louder at the [puppy warmth's] struggles. Her warmth growled at it, before returning back to her and demanding to repeat those words.
She was confused, but she could do that.
"Fra-tello dammit?" She squeaked out, her eyes wide with hope that she got it right this time.
She got it right, didn't she? She repeated it perfectly! Beaming at him [puppy wa - no, fratello dammit] she gave him the wider version of that strange lip-shape that was on his face when he greeted her.
'Fratello dammit''s reaction was half-proud and half-desperate.
[Cold warmth's] muffled cascade of rolling sounds became louder and continuous.
"G-Good job, Xanxus." Kiritsugu wheezed at the kitty brat's despairing face. "Only you. Only you could get a little sister and teach her to both call you and curse in the same breath." He had to pause to wheeze out another guffaw of laughter. "Just wait when Harry hears about it."
Xanxus mouthed out more curses, forgetting his attentive audience of one.
But Kiritsugu didn't - he just happily let the kitty brat to dug his grave even deeper. Let him suffer through straightening his little sister's etiquette so hah!
When Harry came back, he was greeted by a pouty Xanxus glaring at Kiritsugu, who was red in his face from laughing too much, and it innocently looking from one to another, it's burgundy red eyes wide with confused innocence.
Raising his eyebrows, he blinked. "Do I really want to know?" Xanxus' panicked face and Kiritsugu's unholy grin were telling enough that his absence had generated a… interesting situation.
"Do tell him how your little sister calls her beloved big brother." Kiritsugu cajoled, dark eyes sparkling with mischief. Blinking owlishy, Harry peered at the panicked boy sitting on his bed. "Oh?" He mumbled disinterestedly. Whatever it was it could wait until later, really, but his cruiousity already raised its ugly head and demanding to be sated.
Xanxus began to wave him away frantically. "It's nothing, really – "He looked at Harry, beseeching him with a look to believe him. if Harry hadn't been interested beforeh, Xanxus' desperate reaction definitely intrigued him right then and there. So what -
"F-Fratello dammit!" A tiny voice piped out, causing Xanxus to turn wide, betrayed eyes at the white-haired rascal besides him. Harry coughed out in surprise.
The said white-haired rascal was wearing an angelic smile, like it just didn't cuss Xanxus out.
"You little traitor." Xanxus' little brotherly heart was positively crushed. How could it be that his cute little sister could betray him so very cruelly? Had she no loyalty and mercy for her big brother?
Nodding cutely as if agreeing with Xanxus' horrified statement of her person, she crossed her small, thin arms across her naked chest - just like Xanxus had his own a few moments before Harry had entered the room - and cheerfully piped up again, the words cracking through the room and further breaking Xanxus' brotherly pride and dignity from previous rubble into smithereens.
"Fratello dammit!"
Scribble
Nobody knew just what exactly had happened in Fuyuki. After death of Father Kotomine and Tohsaka Tokiomi along with disappearance of Kotomine Kirei there had been no one able to send reports to parties invested in the ordeal- that is, mainly Clock Tower and the Church.
What had been known, however, was that there erupted a terrible fire that had destroyed most of the city and was, for some reason, extremely resistant to most of the methods of extinguishing it… until, for some reason, it had gone out… just like that.
The losses had been enormous - not only in the city infrastructure, and lives, but also with the participants of Holy Grail.
The survivors were few and far between.
And one of them was Waver Velvet, the Master of Rider.
Whispers and covert glances followed him ever since he returned back to the Tower. Waver stoically bore it - before, that kind of attention would have been crushing enough to render him a blubbering wreck.
But that was before, when he was stupid, stubborn, immature and cowardly idiot who though that Grail War could be used to solve his stupid little problems with idiots that formed organization called Clock Tower.
Before, he would have thought that just thinking of that esteemed organization in such context as a heresy - sure, they had their flaws, but hadn't they all? .
That, however, was old Waver Velvet. The naïve one, who thought that he could change the world for the better with his words and discoveries. New Waver Velvet thought differently.
New Waver Velvet had gone through unimaginable things, seen great acts and legends and done through unimaginable things. New Waver Velvet didn't care that his lectures had a crushingly tiny amount of pupils. That new Waver Velvet picked up the research of the deceased Kayneth El Melloi and turned it into a splendid Encyclopaedia, thus reviving the name of declining El Melloi family.
"I recognize your deeds to the Archibald family, but since you were only making up for what you caused in the first place, you better serve me for your entire life." Waver stared at the girl who spoke those words that could condemn him into life of servitude.
Her appearance could be likened to that of a bisque doll - long, brilliant blonde hair, pale white skin and blue eyes, clad in knee high ultramarine blue dress with small black cap on her head, her long legs covered with black leggings for modesty sake coupled with low brown boots. Her clothes were almost too sophisticated for a fifteen year old girl.
The old Waver Velvet would've been crushed under those words. But this Waver Velvet had other things to do than to entertain a little girl's delusions of him owing her anything else than what he had already done for the El Melloi family.
"No." One word. A complete rejection.
The girl tilted her head. "No? What gave you any idea that you have any choice in that matter? Because you stole the artifact you've caused my family an immeasurable grievance. Thus it's only fair you atone for it." Reines El-Melloi Archisorte accused him, her voice soft and completely unthreatening for such a serious subject.
Waver snorted. "Correct me if I am wrong, but Lord El Melloi participated in the Grail War out of his own volition, with his own Servant. Is that true?"
Fine blonde eyebrows scrunched as Reina glared at him. "Yes. But you've stolen his artifact - a priceless artifact, which could've ensured him to win if it weren't for your interference." She stated, her voice becoming colder and more contemptuous.
"Can you prove that?" Waver volleyed back ruthlessly. "Can you prove your statement without any shadow of doubt?" Reines opened her mouth, but Waver didn't let her speak. "You can't. You can argue that you are right until you are blue in the face, but you weren't a Master or even an active participant in this War." He glared at her. "War means that final victory is never a foregone conclusion. In this war, Kayneth had been so outmatched and outgunned it wasn't even funny."
Reina's cheeks flushed at the perceived insult of the deceased patriarch of her family. "That is because he was forced to summon Lancer with its terrible luck!" She spat out, incensed. "And you still dare to say you've paid your debt!"
"Oh, I dare," Waver glared at her. "Tell me something, Lady Reines. Could you go against Emiya Kiritsugu and win?" His voice was dark and raspy, as his dark grey eyes bored into the girl's own blue ones insistently. "What would you have done, if you had to contend with Gilgamesh, King of Heroes himself and his infinite armory?" He stepped closer to her, forcing her to back away, her eyes blinking with trepidation and the smallest amount of fear. But Waver was on a roll "How would you deal with Kotomine Kirei, an Executor with the skills of Magus? Or maybe, if that particular opponent is not to your liking, would you rather go against an insane duo of murderers that relished in deception and torture? You wouldn't have known that it was them, until it was too late." He sneered at the girl, letting the steel hold on the entity within him a little bit loose "And perchance, if you were lucky enough to conquer all of them, how would you deal with the Prize itself?" He saw he blanch a sickly white as she stumbled back.
Golden cat-slit eyes glared at her as the shadow behind Waver wavered and stretched into something truly monstrous. "Well, Miss Reines El Melloi? What is your answer?" His whisper was not his own whisper anymore, but a shriek of blades and curses intermixed with vile deeds too monstrous to be described.