CHAPTER 12:

SEARCHES

Harry, now that he was in full command of his memories (well, mostly full: he actually remembered most of his time at Hogwarts now), understood why he trusted Kairi. The man reminded him of Sirius, the same confidence, but also the same weariness he hid. The next morning, after they had gotten some sleep and some breakfast, the necromancer was examining a map of Romania, while a bizarre device that could only be described as a magical fax made from bones sat at the ready. Harry had explained what he had learned about Shirou, and what he knew of the Red Faction.

Kairi had eventually shared his Servant's identity, which caused a ruckus, as did the revelation that Assassin of Black was Jack the Ripper. Harry found it hard to believe that such a little girl was the most infamous serial killer in Britain, while Sirius made a snarky remark that all the Servants they knew were genderflipped. That nearly got him castrated by an irate Mordred.

Kairi was shaking his head. "A goddamned Ruler Servant, left over by the von Einzberns from the Third Holy Grail War. I doubt my contacts at Clock Tower would believe me, and even if they did…well, they'd hope he would be working to ensure that the Greater Grail was being taken away from Yggdmillennia."

"That aside, Shirou hinted that Semiramis' Noble Phantasm would be the key to his strategy," Altera said. "However, I don't know what that is."

"We also don't know for sure that Shirou is our enemy," Sirius pointed out. "If he treated Harry so well…well, if he had something to do with the other Masters of Red being absent, why single out Harry for preferential treatment?"

"He got to know Harry before the Masters of Red came along," Altera said. "In addition, Harry is not a Magus, and many Magi are amoral in their pursuit of Akasha. Am I wrong?"

"…You got me there," Kairi said. "Hell, I've taken down more than a few Sealing Designations." On their looks, he explained, "Look, some Magi go too far in their experiments, so they have what's known as Sealing Designations slapped on them. Their research is generally valuable, but it's either immoral, or, in cases like looking into Reality Marbles, dangerous, or, when it comes to Dead Apostles, vampires to you, both. While most of the time, they are to be captured alive and taken into custody…well, sometimes, you can't…or shouldn't do that."

"And are your bosses on the level, Mr Sisigou?" Tonks asked.

"Call me Kairi," the grizzled necromancer said. "Rocco Belfeban may be an eccentric with way too many pickled magical creatures in his office, but he's decent enough, and my main contact with Clock Tower, Lord El-Melloi, is probably one of the most moral high-ranking Magi in Clock Tower. Sorry, that should be Lord El-Melloi II, real name, Waver Velvet. And you guys said you know Zelretch, right? That damned vampire may be infamous for trolling people, but he's easily one of the more righteous Magi around, never mind one of the more righteous vampires. I can only really name two other vampires with anything like a decent attitude towards humanity, Merem Solomon of the Burial Agency, and Arcueid Brunestud."

Remus peered down at the map himself. "Getting back to the point, Shirou's base is a church in a town near Sighişoara. Yggdmillennia is in Trifas. Now, another Ruler is here, correct? We should try to find them."

"Easier said than done," Kairi said. "From what Harry said, Ruler might have had to possess a compatible body due to Shirou already being present, and they may not have arrived in Romania yet. But let's assume she is."

"We'll start by searching Sighişoara," Remus decided. "That's the closest town to the action, and…" He was cut off when Kairi's device activated.

As Kairi took the page that had been written on by his 'fax', Mordred scowled in thought. "There's a problem with last night. Yggdmillennia waited until we were right in the middle of town before they attacked. When I unleash the full power of my Noble Phantasm, it's an Anti-Army type, and of a pretty destructive kind. It's one thing to let loose on a battlefield, but getting subjects in the way…"

"Is not what you want, right?" Kairi asked. "I'll try to keep it in mind, Your Highness."

Mordred stared at him in astonishment. "…What did you call me?"

"Your Majesty. Calling civilians subjects is the prerogative of royalty. You've got a problem with that?"

"…None whatsoever," Mordred said, blushing.

"…You actually care about civilians?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Mordred Pendragon, the killer of King Arthur?"

"Oi, dog-breath, I actually lured my Father away from the big towns when I went to war!" Mordred snapped. "Besides…what would you know about how I felt about Father? Anyway, I may not adhere to chivalry much, but I won't feed on civilians to replenish my reserves. I doubt Altera would, and you seem to have the murderous munchkin under control."

"Mummy's mana is so warm," chirped Jack the Ripper, from where she was seated on Tonks' lap. "Why would we want anything else?"

"Yeah, this was definitely not how I expected to have children," Tonks said. "Anyway, what's with the message, Kairi?"

"It's from the priest," Kairi said. "Spartacus has slipped his leash and is making his way to Trifas. He's sent Atalanta to intercept, but wants either Mordred or Altera to assist, as he needs Karna to protect Semiramis' project, and Shakespeare is useless in combat."

"I shall go," Altera declared. "When does he want me to rendezvous with Atalanta, and where?"

"As soon as possible," Kairi said. "He's given map coordinates of the area both Atalanta and Spartacus were in." He pointed to part of the map between Trifas and Sighişoara. "Can you find them?"

"Yes. Harry, will you be all right with them?"

"Of course, Altera. Just be careful. Give updates over our link when possible."

As Altera Astralized, Kairi said, "Meanwhile, we will start searching Sighişoara for Ruler. If we're lucky, they'll make themselves known to us…"

Unfortunately, they weren't so lucky. Either Ruler wasn't in Sighişoara when they got there by Portkey, or they weren't making themselves known. Jackie was keeping watch from the rooftops for any potential attackers from Yggdmillennia, while the group had split into two. Kairi, Mordred, Harry and Hermione were in one.

"That's one thing we should consider doing," Hermione mused as they walked down the streets. "If Yggdmillennia really are using Homunculi to power their Servants, maybe we should consider removing them from their tanks. We've got your Invisibility Cloak, Harry, and Notice Me Nots can help, assuming they don't have countermeasures. Assassin could help infiltrate. How much do you remember the layout of Yggdmillennia's stronghold?"

"Quite a bit. Admittedly, most of that I learned while I was their…'guest'," Harry snarked. "Caules and Fiore…they were nice, and I think that, while they're magecraft users, they're not exactly evil. Roche…I wouldn't say he's evil as much as he doesn't know proper right or wrong. Apparently he was raised by golems."

"Roche…must be one of the Frain bloodline if he was raised by golems," Kairi observed.

"Yeah, but he was also excited about using me as the core to Caster's Noble Phantasm," Harry pointed out in annoyance. "So he's definitely got psychopathic tendencies. I'd kill a Homunculus if they wanted me dead, true, and I had to when I escaped, but I wouldn't go out of my way to treat them like, well, objects or spare parts. Celenike, though…" Harry shuddered. "Gordes was an arsehole of the highest order, and he helped Celenike with her experiments on me, but that was only in procuring materials and advising her. In truth, I think that fat fuck was scared of her. But Celenike?"

"How bad is she, Harry?" Hermione asked. "You compared her to Bellatrix Lestrange, if I recall…"

"…Bad. She kept me alive while torturing me. She…got off on it. I think my mind is blanking out the worst of it still. But…I'm probably going to have nightmares of it for years to come. It's going to be what I'm experiencing whenever I encounter Dementors…assuming I go back."

"…You wouldn't go back?" Hermione asked quietly.

"…Hermione, think back to how our fifth year went about, starting with you and Ron and the others keeping me in the dark. If Voldemort is dead, and Dumbledore's dealing with whatever the hell is keeping him alive…then good. Magical Britain's pilloried me one time too many. Besides, if I came back, looking like this…how would people react? They'd view me as another Dark Lord for hopping bodies."

"…As much as I don't want to admit it, you have a point. And even if your body was still around, how can we guarantee that it's in any condition to transfer you back? And, of course, soul transfer is part of the Third True Magic, and we need the Grail for that."

"And you have every other Master and Servant to deal with," Kairi pointed out. "This may be a team battle, but once one side or the other falls, the winning side is meant to revert to a standard Grail War battle royale. Dunno why, the Greater Grail, from what I know of the ritual, is primed by the energy of six defeated Servants, and there are fourteen not counting Ruler…either of them. What's more, while killing Masters isn't in the rules, it's an unwritten rule that targeting Masters is fair game. It's easier than killing a Servant, after all, and Assassin is a class designed to kill Masters. That being said…while I'm a pragmatist, I also don't kill allies. If push comes to shove and we have to fight, I'll make sure to only remove your Command Seals. You'll be missing a hand, but you'll still be alive, right? Of course, you could do the same for me."

"Maybe. You're at least a decent guy, Kairi. Same with Saber, much to my surprise, given her reputation," Harry said. "Then again, my Rider doesn't have the best reputation, and neither does Assassin of Black." He then sighed quietly. "…Of course, I know what it's like to be lauded one moment, and vilified the next. Did they tell you much of my life?"

"Yeah," Mordred said. "If it's any consolation, your life sucked." She put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "I know how that feels. Okay, I was raised by the evil witch, rather than having her oppose me, and my parents were still alive, but…I was lauded a lot, hunting down and slaying traitors to my father. But when I revealed my parentage…my reputation went down the crapper. And you guys know what it's like these days. But…the stories don't say a lot about how cold and inhuman Father was. Anyway…my wish is to prove that Father was wrong, so, I want it to give me an opportunity to pull Caliburn from the stone. That way, I can show Father that I was worthy."

"What if you can't?" Hermione asked.

"Hey, I can," Mordred retorted. "Still…we haven't spotted Ruler. I mean, we'd have sensed their presence before now, right? She must be in another town or something. Plus, this place is so boring. I'm still not convinced it's been over a thousand years since my time."

Harry rolled his eyes. She had a point though. He hoped Altera was involved in something more interesting…

Once she had arrived in the forested area where Atalanta was pursuing Spartacus, Altera took a moment to summon one of her Noble Phantasms, the one that qualified her for the Rider class. Etzel, her steed. A magnificent horse. Altera had few loves in her life as Attila the Hun, but Etzel was one, named for the name the Germanic people gave her. A name she would have preferred herself.

Riding through the forest, she felt a thrill run through her. Horseriding was perhaps one of the few non-destructive things that gave Altera joy in her life as Attila the Hun. And even though a dense forest wasn't exactly conducive to horseriding, that only made it more fun, to ride through at speeds race cars would envy, avoiding branches and trees and logs.

But she soon sensed the signature of what had to be Atalanta, so she leapt off Etzel, dismissing the horse as she did so, and landed on a branch next to the cat-eared Archer, who whirled and aimed her bow at her, before lowering it. "Rider. So, the priest sent you?"

"Yes. Berserker's slipped his leash?"

Atalanta rolled her eyes, before she waved to the distance. The hulking mass of Spartacus was there, howling about oppressors and rebellion and his love, as was his usual idiom. "He's taking what passes for a breather. I was told to intercept any Servants from Yggdmillennia who try to attack and intercept any onlookers to protect them and the secrecy of magecraft. The priest was worried about you and your Master, as well as Saber and her Master. You fell off the radar after you went to Trifas."

"It's a long story. The short version is, we're currently with the Master of Assassin of Black, who wants nothing to do with Yggdmillennia. You'll forgive me if I do not elaborate. We've been finding ourselves disquieted by Shirou and his Servant, so while we will cooperate to stop Yggdmillennia…"

"Understood," Atalanta said. "…And while I understand Magi love to work in the shadows, I myself am disquieted by the lack of contact with my Master, save for orders down our link. There is something about the priest that troubles me too."

Altera briefly considered warning Atalanta about Shirou being a Ruler. However, they weren't completely certain that Shirou was their enemy. Instead, she said, "We hope that we are wrong about him. He seems genuinely decent."

"Perhaps, but as the modern idiom says, the road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions," Atalanta said. "Speaking of idioms, or rather, idiots, it was Caster who apparently encouraged Berserker to head this way. And with the ritual for Assassin's Noble Phantasm at a critical stage…"

Altera nodded in acknowledgement. "It's a distraction they don't need. Archer, his Noble Phantasm or Phantasms…should we be concerned about them?"

"Yes. His main Noble Phantasm is Crying Warmonger, converting damage into magical energy which he can use to heal," Atalanta said. "But…if enough damage is done to him, it can be weaponised. And as he is a Berserker who delights in rebellion and finds it hard to tell friend from foe…"

Altera got the implication that Spartacus was as much a danger to his allies as he was his enemies swiftly, and sighed in irritation. "What possessed his Master to summon a Berserker specifically like him?"

"He's a Magus. He probably thought he could control Berserker with the strength of his sheer arrogance," Atalanta said. "Even though that Berserker is one of the most infamous rebels in history. Many Magi would make Jason look tame."

Altera chuckled to herself. But then, the massive form of Spartacus loped away. "Well, it looks like we'll have to chat later."

"Can you keep up?" Atalanta asked.

"I'm a Rider, one of the most alacritous classes," Altera said. "I can certainly try…"

CHAPTER 12 ANNOTATIONS:

Well, there you go. I originally had them encountering Ruler, but I thought that might complicate things too quickly.

Review-answering time! Dragon Man 180: No. For all her murderous tendencies, Jackie has a strange innocence to her, so I'm basically saying that, while she knows a lot of expletives, she generally doesn't use them.

No numbered annotations this time.