5.3

The bird maintained its gaze on me, seeming for all the world unaffected by my call, though perhaps that was only the impression you would get if you weren't paying attention. If one were to squint, you would recognize that the thing's stillness was not so much from its nature as a familiar, but from some smug superiority, possibly inherited from its mistress. Head slightly inclined upwards, chest puffed out like some noble eagle with an eighth of its stature, it seemed to take a semblance of joy that its Master had deigned not to respond to me. Keeping a firm hold on the thing, I shook the bird in my hands, earning an outraged squawk as I spoke once more.

"Miss Einzbern, the children are safe now, as we had discussed. I would like to speak with you."

Still nothing, beyond a resolute gaze that transmitted a haughty indifference tinged with inhuman satisfaction. It seemed to almost dare me to destroy it, which I resolved not to do. This thing wasn't really a living creature, it was closer to a program inhabiting a crystalline shell, more than anything else. Breaking an inanimate object because of an irrational impulse was rather pathetic as far as a possible reason for doing so would go, and I was beyond such petty things. The initial satisfaction might be nice anyway, though not nearly enough to offset the cons.

I let go of the bird, which dropped a foot or two before flapping its wings and regaining some altitude. It flew directly into my face, barely managing to avoid crashing into me at the last second, and instead nearly upending my hat. I brushed it away with a flick of the wrist, the damn thing squawking in protest, before settling onto my shoulder like some knock-off parrot. I sighed.

Well, it was a long shot anyway. Even presuming she could hear through the familiars despite the active defenses, she would be foolish to reveal such an advantage to me; to expect something to come out of me asking was optimistic at best, foolish at worst. It was important to know, of course, but given the limited amount of time available, I couldn't afford to dilly dally around. If I wanted a chance to secure an alliance and perhaps avert the oncoming violence, then I needed to speak with Einzbern before either Lancer or her did something stupid.

My gaze shifted to the walls, or what was left of them in any case. Not every window had been broken during the attack, but enough had been destroyed that finding an exit out of this floor was easy enough. I brought the bird into my hand, the thing surprisingly compliant despite the near mutinous behavior earlier. My body hovered over the shattered glass, floating at the cusp of the aperture before my hands moved past the boundary.

The moment my hands left the safety of the Tower, I felt a great sense of unease; a growing sense of dread as I felt myself become…..indistinct as I strayed from my domain. The combination of my Territory Control and the grasp I had on Galliasta's magic circuits allowed me some degree of autonomy, but it was clear that stepping out of the Tower would be fairly troublesome. It was doable, my visages could remain corporeal outside my area of influence, my body wasn't literally evaporating inches away from the border, but it certainly wasn't preferable. All the more reason to end this with minimal bloodshed

"Miss Einzbern." I began again, feeling like a broken record at this point. "Can you hear me?"

Whatever defenses Galliasta may have pursued, none of it would be active outside of the Tower's boundaries. It was never so much a problem of contacting the girl, as it was identifying the limitations of her familiars. I already knew that they were used as reconnaissance drones earlier tonight, but I had no idea of their specific capabilities. I could possibly break it apart and dissect it in greater detail, but I risked permanently damaging it, and thus losing convenient access to the Einzbern magus. What's more, if Galliasta's spell matrices were capable of blocking out Einzbern's magic, then that could be adopted to shroud me from further observation. If Einzbern, the strongest of the Three Families, wasn't capable of piercing through it, then none of the other combatants probably could either.

Moments passed in silence as I waited for the girl's response, the familiar restless in hand as the ticking seconds of the clock transformed what ought to have been an immediate response into an awkward wait. Eventually, as the bird began to peck at my hands again, I had to concede that something had gone wrong somewhere.

I double-checked the boundary, my domain- any of the particulars that may interfere with the familiar's connection, before finding nothing. I was no great expert in magic, either in the conventional, computational device, sense, or in the esoteric means that magi employ, but I was fairly certain that there was no longer anything pertinent sabotaging me. No great malfunction in the bird, no expansive defense of Galliasta's systems. Just a refusal to answer my call.

A frown crossed my face. This was a problem. If I couldn't even acquire Einzbern's ear, then a significant portion of the plan couldn't possibly proceed to any significant degree. For a moment, I considered utilizing my Noble Phantasm, before dismissing the thought. Beyond the fact that it was actively being utilized to keep me alive, allowing Einzbern any degree of understanding to my capabilities was unacceptable. On a much less substantial note, it felt vaguely tasteless to me- much like using a sledgehammer to crack open an egg, utilizing my more esoteric abilities to facilitate a call with her seemed….unnecessarily forceful.

The bird looked at me with a bored expression as I considered what to do. There was no practical reason for her to be unable to hear me, which means that she was either unable to receive me, or chose not to. There was a slim possibility that she was being occupied right now by other matters, but I doubted it. Given her announcement to challenge Lancer, I doubted she'd be so foolish as to allow her familiars to slip from inattention. She was listening, it was just that for some reason she'd opted not to engage me for now. Part of some ploy perhaps? As powerful as she might be, assaulting a reinforced position like ours was no small thing, perhaps she was-

I frowned, a stray thought catching. The Einzbern Master, despite her eccentricity, was a remarkably straightforward individual. In such a case as this, if there was a reason she wasn't talking to me, it wasn't due to some grand design- more like it was due to some quirk of her own sensibilities. My gaze locked onto the bird, the thing looking at me with an innocence and guilelessness that inspired only suspicion from me.

The moment clicked, and I frowned at the absurdity. Surely it couldn't be that simple, could it? I leaned in for a moment, feeling somewhat foolish for doing so. "Ilya, can you hear me?"

The crystalline familiar twitched, its beak twisting open in imitation of an actual bird; bright, energetic, joy shining through. "Tanya!" the girl cried out. "I was wondering where you were!"

I blinked, a sense of irritation and bewilderment falling over me. Surely she hadn't been waiting for me to say her name, had she?

Before I could possibly respond, the Einzbern Master chattered on. What momentary joy she'd shown me now eclipsed by the mercurial irritation of a child. "It's so rude, you know. I mean honestly, leaving an innocent little girl in such a dangerous, suspicious, looking place? What would have happened if I'd gotten injured, or worse? Sella would have never forgiven you!"

"I believe that-"

She barged onward, immune to rhyme or reason, unloading her thoughts on me. "Honestly, were you never taught manners in that orphanage of yours? You always have to bring the lady home, otherwise, some terrible brute might take advantage of my innocence and ravage me! That's exactly what happened too; some rude little dog boy came barking up to us, and Berserker was almost forced to go all out for once!"

Ilya glared at me, seemingly stopping her tirade as she expected some response from me, a grimace naturally falling on my face. Whoever was raising this girl up was doing a terrible job of things. "I had no intention of letting your efforts go in vain, and I sought to prioritize the safety of the children over everything else, especially considering the time that you'd bought for me. I hope you would understand."

"Hmm….." The girl hummed suspiciously, seemingly unwilling to let the gripe go. I wasn't particularly inclined towards being the passive subject in a given conversation, but it was obvious that she was just making a show of it. Even her familiar was playing along, hopping and skipping upon my hands with unusual energy. Ilya had the benefit of momentum at this point, and in such a situation silence was the better move.

Eventually, she nods. Or rather, her bird nods, flapping its wings in a vaguely conciliatory way. "I would have wanted you to take care of the children first, it's not very roma- that is to say, appropriate, for you to bring me back home with a gaggle of brats after all."

It was always an interesting challenge with the Einzbern Master- keeping a straight face at the...well, face of such ridiculous assertions was rather difficult after all. "If you would like, I could bring you back home tonight."

A curious sound emanated from the bird, halfway between a leaking gas pipe and a stuttering plane engine. It was inspired in a moment, and gone just as quickly, with Ilya coughing in a rather unlady-like fashion so as to clear her throat. Her subsequent words were tinged with pleasantness just at the border of smug satisfaction.

"Ohohoho- ahahaha," Einzbern giggled uncontrollably, before coughing lightly, her voice turning light and pleasant, though the satisfaction remained. "Well, I couldn't possibly resist such a generous, chivalric, offer. Holding a grudge for such a silly, simple, thing seems almost childish in comparison, wouldn't you say?"

"If you would say so, Miss Ilya."

The bird nodded vigorously at that. "Hmm, hmm, I do say so! One can't be expected to be upset at someone for acting out in their own nature, right? If you pull out a fish from the ocean and get upset at it flopping all over you and ruining your night- well, that's just your own fault isn't it?"

I did not allow the frown to reach my face. Mercurial temperament aside, there were times it was rather difficult to actually understand the girl. Occasionally, I imagine that it might even arise from some kind of language barrier, if not for the fact that she spoke in fluent Germanian with me. Though perhaps a degree of cultural drift was involved insteadl- I wouldn't be so blind as to say that I was keeping up with the recent trends of the youth for most of my career, nevermind near the end of the life.

Which was not to say that her temperament wasn't a significant issue. The primary difficulty in negotiating terms and conditions with Ilya was that she did not operate under conventional logic. She was irrational and capricious by nature, every instance of our interaction had proven it, and to rely upon her to make a decision based upon mutual benefit and agreeable terms was a fool's errand. She'd brushed off what was an obvious assassination attempt at the beginning of our meeting, yet rushed out of her bedchambers in a fury at the merest hint of harm befalling her brother. She'd tortured the men so foolish as to kidnap her but accompanied me in rescuing those very same children.

Admittedly, there was an advantage in that. It was not outside the realm of possibility for her to accept an alliance with Lancer, but approaching it as one would with a rational actor was extremely foolish. A different sort of leverage was necessary, one that fed to her impulses and own twisted rationality. But to proceed in such a direction, as we currently were, was untenable. I would need to establish the foundation first.

I sighed. It was unpleasant, but far from the most unpleasant thing, I've ever had to do to reach an accord.

"Is there something wrong, Tanya?"

A smile. It would not do to be rude at this stage. "Merely thinking. I greatly appreciate the effort you've done on my account. Considering the circumstances, you did not need to assist me, and so I found your cooperation to be incredibly timely."

"Aww." Ilya crooned. "It's okay Tanya! It was difficult for me to learn how to thank people properly too! I'm still kinda bad at it, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it eventually."

I suppressed the twinge of annoyance. "In any case, I was merely considering the events of the last few days. You could have killed me back at the cafe, even I know that. That you stayed your hand allowed for all this to be possible in the first place."

If possible, she grew even more smug. "Tanya please, I just met you then! To kill you just when I finally got the opportunity to meet you, before the war even really started? That's not only unconscionable and rude but boring too."

Boring, yes. She hated that, didn't she? It was something she always valued, more than any serious consideration towards her own safety. That gave me a little bit more confidence moving forward. "Oh no, not that."

"Hmm?"

My head tilted, smile widening slightly. "It was our second meeting at the cafe, after you brought in that mage you tortured. You had me dead to rights, surrounded in an area of your choosing- but instead of killing me then and there, you decided to see what I'd do. I'm quite thankful for that; if I'd been in your situation, I don't know if I would have been even half as gracious."

"...what do you mean?" she asked, confused, though I didn't let that stop me.

"I know, Ilya," I said. "I know that you know, and engaging in our polite little fiction is no longer a comfortable arrangement. An outside observer might see you as naive and childish, being strung along by forces outside her control, but I know better. This war has accelerated, will accelerate, to such a point wherein this idyllic little peace we've all briefly enjoyed would no longer be possible. When that time comes, I would like for us both to stand together as one in this."

Silence, the familiar still maintaining its innocence and I sighed. The timing of all this relied entirely on Ilya's….perhaps not cooperation, but a certain emotional state. I had to drill this into her head.

"The Einzberns have, from the start, exhibited a great deal of information control." I began. "From your maid arriving at Fuyuki in your place and luring in the other combatants into a pre-prepared death trap, your family has always been a few steps ahead of the rest of the competition. That you chose not to kill me at the time was your own prerogative, but that doesn't mean you were blind. If the Einzberns were knowledgeable enough to establish bait for my Master to bite on, then that in itself meant you had actionable intelligence on Galliasta himself. Specifically his fascination with computation magic, which he was not shy in espousing in any case."

A pause. "From there, the pieces are easy enough to string together. Galliasta made extensive use of contracted mages, but never informed or trained them into anti-magus techniques, specifically how best to dodge their sight. I have your familiars to thank for that realization by the way- in a situation where mages would not even be aware of the flexibility and efficacy of your little birds, you would have been able to comprehensively study them at your leisure. I imagine that at least some of those familiars would have been deployed around the city, my own mages incapable of realizing they were being watched."

I shrugged. "In which case, that Galliasta was behind the mobilization of those mages seems like a no-brainer, especially since there wasn't anyone else in this war deploying mages in any reasonable numbers. Then, considering my own lurking about at the airport, connecting me to the mages would have been the natural next step, made all the easier once you had one of Galliasta's men in your grasp. Even presuming that the men you recovered were ex-military of the best stripe, possessed of training to resist interrogation, a magus would have ways around that, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh my, I never expected you to have such flights of fancy Tanya," Ilya remarked innocently, though the edges of her performance were frayed with rising agitation. "Such rude fantasies too! I almost feel like I'd have to send Berserker after you to teach you some manners!"

I'd been keeping count of Ilya's countdown, the one she'd mentioned in her announcement earlier, and I was fairly certain it had already passed. The girl was now sufficiently distracted away from her assault, judging from the lack of screams and destruction in the grounds below me. A manifestly good thing- Berserker seemed incapable of operating independently from his Master, he would not move without Ilya's say so.

I bowed slightly towards the bird. "I apologize greatly for any offense I might have caused, but we cannot move forward in good faith without putting all our cards on the table."

She sniffed. "Oh don't lie, Tanya. Your Master must have heard of what happened tonight, hasn't he? Chained you up in command seals to limit your potential, I can feel you from here you know. You feel diminished now, so much weaker than you were before. Such a shame too, to be broken down by such a pathetic man."

For a moment I considered leaning into Einzbern's version of events, it would certainly be a convenient lie, and could shroud some details of what I'd done. I dismissed the thought more or less immediately however, avoiding the truth would just defeat the point of this entire exercise. I had to be seen as honest and eas earnest as possible, and the inclusion of a convenient lie like that would only poison everything around it.

"No. Galliasta no longer has any significant degree of influence regarding the outcome of this war. You could say he was benched, if that would make things more palatable to you."

"Oh?" Ilya remarked, skeptical. "And what did you do to him?"

"Less than he deserves," I remarked coldly. "But the fact of the matter is that Galliasta bloc- of the Clock Tower enforcer Bazett McRemitz and her Lancer, has agreed to his disbarment. We stand united on this front, and I am moving to suggest a formal alliance with you. With you by our sides in a united front, we would be able to brush away the other competitors with minimal effort."

The silence that fell before us was longer now, not so much from shock as it was from the deliberate calculation. The bird tilted its head, studying me closely, before eventually, Ilya broke the silence with a cross, rather put upon tone.

"Hmph. How rude."

It was difficult to determine body language through the context of a magical familiar, but even I could tell that there was genuine irritation in her voice- different from the pretend outrage of before. "Rude in what way, Miss Ilya?"

"Here you and your collaborators stand, requesting- no, demanding an alliance with the Clan Einzbern, right after so arrogantly presuming our methods and motives," Ilya spoke, tone resembling that of an outraged princess. "My, I can't recall the last time someone had the temerity to do so. The last time anyone lived afterwards, anyway."

I shrugged. "It was necessary."

"Necessary how? Antagonizing me is not at all wise, Caster."

"Necessary in that you needed to treat us, treat me, seriously," I noted. "I'm sure that my antics were amusing to you, the recently dead Chancellor, stumbling her way through this war with charming foolishness to her steps. Such a perception is not befitting an ally, not even a subordinate- more a fool or a toy than anything else. To be disposed of when your curiosity was sated or when I proved to be more of a liability than a benefit. Am I wrong?"

All true, but it was more than just that. This entire affair was intended as a way to pique her interest, to irritate and antagonize her away from the comfortable interplay she enjoyed. To throw me at her mercy, to beg her allegiance, was not so likely to succeed that it proved palatable. If Ilyasviel von Einzbern was someone whom I could simply ask for assistance, and for it to be given with no strings attached beyond a wounded prise, then none of this would even be necessary. She'd proven it earlier, by extracting terms from me so as to secure her assistance- it had proven necessary to acquiesce to her demands then, but I was determined not to be put in such a position ever again.

The familiar did a remarkably good job at snorting, despite the lack of a sinus canal. "Just rude," Ilya responded, quite cross. "You're lucky that you're not right in front of me right now, otherwise I'd have Berserker slap your head off."

"I fear that I would have to try my very best to deny you that, Ilya," I noted, which earned another harrumph of irritation.

"Honestly, you've got a lot of guts to ask for an alliance like this." She remarked, still irritated. "The Clan Einzbern would not kowtow to anyone less than a Lord of the Clock Tower, if even that. Were I my grandfather, you'd be skinned alive before you had the chance to die for the Grail."

"A lucky thing then, that I'm talking to someone so reasonable."

"Oh, now you're definitely mocking me." She pouted. I laughed.

"Certainly not, Ilya," I noted. "I'm sure that most would think of you as a child, but there is a distinct difference between acting like a child and actually being one. I don't believe you a foolish person, I believe that you are actually a remarkably clear-headed individual, when you choose to exhibit such behavior to others. I'm sure you understand that the war is all but won if we band together."

I was, perhaps, overstating her capability a tad, though that in and of itself was part of the performance. Along with her mercurial attitude came a distinct degree of pride and childish glee at being perceived as the best of something. As long as I don't overstretch the truth, don't truly paint her as something she was not, I figured that she'd go along with the rough edges of my design if for no other reason than that she'd be secretly pleased with being considered so highly.

There was also the possibility that she'd snap and set out to split my spine in twain and prove me wrong, but I'll cross that bridge when I got there.

"The war is 'all but won' with Berserker on my side," Ilya argued fiercely. "He's all I need, and if I decide to tell him to slaughter everyone in that building, then there's nothing you or Lancer could do to stop me, is there?"

The bird was remarkably steady now, no longer as playful or as ridiculously lifelike as it'd been earlier, proof positive that the act was something Ilya instructed it to do. It raised itself from its perch, drawing itself upwards until it was magically floating inches away from my face. I matched the familiar's gaze with my own, though I kept my ears on Ilya's words, her tone calmer and more considering.

"That'd be fun, wouldn't it?" Ilya wondered aloud. "I'd tell Berserker to ignore Lancer, there's nothing that mutt could do to stop him anyway, and claw his way to you. He'd carve out your home, disassemble that building brick by brick until you have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Then the moment you'd run he'd be there, shadowing you every step of the way, chasing you into the ocean until his hands crush your neck and choke the life out of you at the bottom of the sea. Wouldn't that be a sad end for you Chancellor? For all the things you've done? Maybe after Berserker drags your bloated corpse back to land, I might even forgive you for how rude you've been tonight."

A smidgen of aggression, the impulse to lash back at the homunculus, was briefly considered before I dismissed the thought entirely. It was well within reason, and completely expected, that the girl would be compulsive and violent- to entertain the same thoughts would be less than helpful. "Oh in all likelihood that would be true. I imagine that I'd be able to pull off some degree of resistance, though not enough should you go all out and send Berserker in with everything he's got. It'd be quite disappointing though, I'd much rather select the option where I not die, after all."

"Tough."

I chuckled, which seemed to draw more of the girl's ire. "True. But I still wouldn't suggest it, for both our sakes. There are those conditions you've stacked on since you helped with the children, allowing me to operate with those conditions is to your benefit, isn't it? Plus, I wouldn't be watching over your brother anymore, would I?"

That provoked quite a reaction, more so than insulting the dignity of Clan Einzbern ever did., The bird flared up, nearly gouging a hole into my cheek as I caught the offending familiar in hand. It struggled against me nonetheless, the familiar seemingly reflecting some of its mistress's rage.

"What was that!?" Ilya screamed out petulantly. "Are you threatening my brother? You are, aren't you! I'm really, really, really going to destroy you!"

Despite myself, I snorted. "You're just riled up tonight, aren't you? No- I have no intention of threatening your brother, though someone certainly is."

Ilya huffed in irritation. "Yeah right, I don't see it-"

"Kotomine Kirei."

It was, of course, difficult to determine Ilya's reaction to that name through her familiar- it's not like the damn bird was a television, broadcasting its master's reactions and whatnot. Despite that, the past few minutes allowed me the opportunity to read Ilya's emotional state through the bird in some degree. That it was tied to her in some way, expressing her emotions through its cartoonish antics- the odds were good that Ilya was doing this deliberately of course, but that just meant another avenue to guess at her emotional state. Was she deliberately getting the bird to irritate me a symptom of her own irritation, or intent for her to get me irritated, to force me into a mistake?

In that context, her reaction to the name was interesting in that there was barely any reaction at all. The familiar stilled its resistance in my hands, a brief pause in its act, before continuing on in greater fury. A brief stumble, a hint of genuine surprise. The name meant something to her, because of course it did, but she was deliberately doing her best to appear as though she hadn't been affected.

"So?" She remarked, aloof. I ignored the forced detachment, continuing on.

"It was a brief conversation, I'd brought the children to him as I judged him the best fit to return them to civilized society. I'd intended to ask him about that in more detail, but considering the recent circumstances, we got drawn into various conversations. What an embarrassingly skilled old man, he must have been quite the smooth talker in his youth-"

"Tanya!" Ilya interrupted, obviously irritated, and I suppressed the smile that threatened to break through my mask. For all that she pretended otherwise, her interest was obvious.

"Sorry, I do have a tendency to wander into tangents." I smiled, which seemed only to infuriate her more. "What was I saying?"

"What did you and Kotomine talk about?" She responded immediately, intently. I shrugged.

"That he was surprised by me," I answered honestly. "At my actions and perspectives throughout the war, it was a fairly long conversation, and I can imagine that you would like to hear about it in length-"

A pause here, to allow the girl to speak. To my slight surprise, she did not. In fact, if anything, Ilya's attention seemed distracted, the bird nearly lifeless in my grasp, beyond the occasional twitches of attention. A mystery, though one I was in no position to solve for the moment. I adjusted my inflection, continuing as though I hadn't paused there.

"-but alas, we don't have time." I finished. "Though ultimately the man's words were rather worthless. They couldn't be trusted to carry the weight of a feather, for how flimsy and meaningless they are in reality."

A little bit of that anger of her's seeped through, the bird jerking its head up, the tone of frigid winter emanating through the familiar. "You're not trying to hide anything from me, are you Caster?"

Disdain. Suspicion. Spite. The very topic of Kotomine Kirei into the conversation seemed sufficient to kill any of the childish antics that Ilya enjoyed indulging in, inspiring only a cold, alien, creature in its wake. An outside observer, as much as one could be one while still involved in this war, might consider that reasonable enough. Considering the crooked nature of the war, as well as the influence Kotomine seemed to hold in at least three of the seven participants in this war? From the outside looking in, such a loose alliance was an intimidating challenge. Certainly, it would have to be a problem snipped in the bud, lest it becomes a problem too great to handle later on. That such a problem was caused by the supposed neutral arbiter of the war, equally infuriating.

I maintained my poker face. But in truth, it was not difficult to surmise the relationship the Einzbern had with Kotomine Kirei. Rider had said, and considering his nature I had no reason to believe him to lie, that the Archer of the previous war had butchered the previous Einzbern Master.

Which was to say, that the other version of me had killed Ilya's predecessor in the previous war. It certainly gave a reasonable cause for the discomfort that the Einzbern's mortal servants had retained for me, beyond the fact that I was a Servant anyway. That family's competence would not allow them to be blind as to what had happened to their efforts in the last war; they would be aware of what I'd done, that I'd somehow outmaneuvered them and sent them home packing. Logically speaking, with the awareness that I was in this war as well, they should be doing their very utmost to kill me.

But this girl wasn't operating with that kind of mindset. She saw me, conversed with me and, her recent words notwithstanding, hasn't tried to kill me yet. Then again, with that mercurial attitude of hers, even mentioning my awareness of what had happened in the previous war might be sufficient grounds for her to kill me outright. Best not to shed any light on that subject, not any more than I had to anyway.

Though considering her current mood, keeping quiet on the matter might not even matter really. That I and Kotomine had conversed, no matter how briefly, was sure to trigger some alarm bells. That I was infuriating her was part of the plan, but if I failed to actually direct that in a meaningful way….well, Berserker might be the least of my problems, then.

"I am not," I said, finally. Ilya pounced on that, her ire burning, the familiar a vehicle for her rage.

"Then why brush over what he said-"

I shook my head, my tone gentler now. "Because for a man like him, not a word from his mouth can be trusted. His words are meant to incite and antagonize, everything said having gone through some degree of consideration and care. He would not speak lightly of anything, which means that what he doesn't say is of vastly more importance than what he would say."

My gaze shifted away from the bird, over to the landscape the city afforded me. Even here, you could see Kotomine Kirei's influence at work. A battle occurring in the middle of a populated financial district, gunfire erupting in one of the highway skyscrapers in the district, yet not a single emergency response vehicle en route. The skies were clear and empty, the roads uncongested, the only sign that anything that had happened here was noted at all was a small crowd of people forming some distance away from the Tower.

It was dangerous to make any substantial moves against him, but I couldn't quite bring myself to care. The man was fearsome, had been the winner of the last war and now ruled this war like some personal fiefdom. More to the point, Kotomine Kirei had been the Master of my other self and had come out of it with a positive opinion of me. That alone would have nixed any possibility of peaceful collaboration. If I wanted to slip out of the noose that Priest was slowly tying around my neck, then there was no other way.

"I've been curious for a while now. Did you know that your brother works hand in hand with that priest?"

Silence at that, the bird frozen at my words. I continued on. "I'd thought him unimportant at first, but what with your explanation, the fact than an Einzbern was a willing apprentice to the Holy Church- well, one can't help but ascribe to him a certain degree of importance."

For a while, I'd also thought him some spy sent to infiltrate Kotomine Parish, though upon reflection such a possibility did not match Ilya's own intent. For one thing, the barest hint of danger to her brother had sent the girl out in a frenzy to protect him, not exactly the act of someone so willing to send him into the arms of a man as dangerous as that priest. Nor was she particularly inclined towards protecting his anonymity- if not for Ilya admitting it, I would have never known that Emiya was part of her family in the first place. Ilya seemed to possess neither the inclination nor capability for subtlety in that regard; I imagine that given the knowledge that Kotomine was an enemy, she would rather send Berserker to eradicate the threat than put those she so obviously cared for in harm's way.

Which meant that if Einzbern wasn't the one to send him, then Kotomine was likely the one to bring the boy into the fold, made all the more likely by the fact that Ilya didn't know. Mages might not be able to reliably shroud their presence from her familiars, but I doubted that Kotomine would have that same problem.

Suddenly, I felt it again. An overpowering sense of bloodlust and violence, like the rageful roars of a sun that refused to die. It emanated far below me, and even without amplifying my eyesight to confirm it, I knew that Berserker was staring straight at me.

"You are treading dangerous ground, Caster."

"Oh, I know." I nodded, which seemed to put the girl on the backfoot for a moment. "I doubt that Kotomine would be particularly enthused with the fact that I'm interfering in his game, much like how I put a damper on our own play. I just don't find myself caring very much about what he thinks, and I figure that this information would be of some value to you. I'd hope you'd find it an equitable trade, as thanks for your assistance. After all, if not for that, I doubt I would have gone as far as I did tonight."

I believed it too. For all that she was a problematic actor to manage for the war, she was still more helpful than not at this point. Yes, there was the danger that she'd snap and try to murder me, but considering the tightropes I'd walk in the past, even that wasn't a particularly novel concept for me. At least this time Ilya was remarkably straightforward to deal with, whose interests expanded only as far as her own entertainment. If I had to repeat my traversal to the political mire that was the Albion political body as a whole, I might as well just allow myself to fall to Berserker and spare myself the grief.

"You're not lying to me?" she asked, voice still suspicious. I shrugged.

"It's easy enough to confirm for yourself," I remarked. "Emiya Shirou is not a particularly deceptive person. I imagine that if you give him a call or confront him, he'd fold easily enough. At worst, he'd likely just seize up and refuse to answer the question- a confession all on its own, wouldn't you say?"

For perhaps the first time since I mentioned the man, the mounting rage that seemed to consume Ilya faltered. Berserker's overbearing presence upon me shifted, first by bits and pieces, then suddenly all at once as I suddenly found my breathing easier as the pressure dissipated. The bird stilled its resistance in my hands, and when I opened my palm the bird refused to move, simply staring up into the sky like my body was some kind of comfortable cushion it could lounge on.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ilya asked, her voice….difficult to place. There was still anger there, a burning ember of something hidden between the lines, but it wasn't exclusively directed at me. I wasn't entirely sure if that meant things were finally shifting over to the intended result, but I'd take what I could get at this point.

"Because I don't see us as enemies Ilya- at least, not until the end anyway," I remarked ruefully. "Violent threats aside, I do enjoy working with you and your assistance with the children was invaluable. At very least, I prefer your company to that man."

"Oh? And why's that?" Ilya asked lazily, though the edge in her voice was unmistakable.

"Because I don't trust him," I said simply. "He's a snake, and I doubt that he understands people as anything beyond tools to be utilized or puzzles to be broken. I have no intention to be utilized as a pawn in his little game, not if I can help it anyway. I've had quite enough of repugnant Masters with Galliasta, I don't need another one, thank you very much."

There was another reason for saying this all out loud. If she was aware of the past, which she almost certainly was, then the notion that Kotomine and I did not get along was important. That meant a possibility that we would not collaborate, that we could be turned against the other. For the Einzbern, the idea of the former winner of the Holy Grail War, as well as that winner's Servant, no matter the form, returning to prominence was a scenario they would try their very best to avoid. Ilya had to at least pretend to cooperate now, if for no other reason than failing to do so would leave me no other choice but to stand side by side with Kotomine.

She could ask me about that, about the relationship between me and Kotomine, why it was so bad, but she probably wouldn't. If I was already aware, and I already hated the man's guts, then there was no need to rock the boat. If I wasn't aware, then telling me threatened to shift my aggression away from Kotomine, and could theoretically reforge an alliance between us two again. An unacceptable risk- she had to maintain this as long as she could, at least until she could position herself to kill either one of us.

At the very least, that's what a rational actor would do. It was dangerous to presume that with her, better to call it loose assumptions than anything else, lest I fool myself into thinking it was anything more concrete than that.

"Ugh, I have a headache just talking to you." Ilya groaned, the bird placing its wings over its head. I couldn't help but smile at that. "I should have just gone back home and watched some tv after all that stuff at the docks."

"I've been told that in the past." I nodded sagely. "The headache part, not so much the tv."

"I'm sure." She remarked dryly. "I suppose I'll have to wrap this up quickly then. I told Leysritt that I'd be back early tonight and I can't get past my curfew. If I do, she's gonna delete all the shows she recorded while I was gone and I will not wait for a rerun."

The idea that Ilya, a Master of the Fifth Holy Grail War, needing to go back home early due to a curfew of all things was an odd one, though perhaps she was only making a joke at my expense. Beyond the content of the words, there was a determination in her voice now; the fatigue and frustration melting away to a focus that seemed vaguely concerning, all the more so for her having bounced back so quickly. "Finish what up?"

"You said you wanted to be allies, correct? I suppose I can entertain that." Ilya remarked idly. "At least only until I understand what's happening with my brother and what game Kotomine is playing with."

Her tone was thoughtful, considering. Ilya's compliance towards a potential alliance seemed almost secondary, a necessary step to the growing concern in her head regarding Kotomine himself. I didn't particularly mind that- it was obvious enough that we were playing a rigged game, and while I'm sure that Kotomine would be fairly troublesome to kill permanently, the Einzbern would probably be the closest to managing that in any realistic timeframe.

There was the potential issue of what would happen after though. With Emiya released from his bonds towards Kotomine, that meant Ilya and her brother could turn against me. In such a situation I doubted I'd survive, which meant that I should ideally eliminate Saber, Berserker, or both during that process. Oh, I'd been genuine in my goal for an alliance with Einzbern, but such an alliance had little to nothing to do with whether Berserker was alive or not. A closer relationship with Ilya was always preferable to the other alternatives, and a proper alliance would mean a better opportunity to divorce the two and slip in through the cracks. That Ilya's hyperactive desire for vengeance on behalf of her family could be hijacked to further bring that all to fruition? A fairly elegant solution, all things considered.

In the worst-case scenario that I would fail? Well, I could simply neutralize Ilya at my leisure, now that a formal alliance has been agreed to. Regardless of the enemies around me, Berserker was likely to be one of the biggest problems I'd have to face one day- judging by Lancer's inability to significantly hamper the beast anyway.

There was a little feeling of unease at the idea, but I dismissed the thought. It wouldn't due to dwell on it, and I'd try my best that such a situation need not come to pass.

"I do have one issue though." The familiar remarked a faux innocent tone that did little to ease my anxiety. "Nothing particularly troubling...but you said you wanted to be allies, didn't you?"

I narrowed my eyes. It was remarkable, the sense of impending doom one could impart with the right inflection and selection of words. "Of course. That you, me, and Lancer could continue operations as a unified group-"

"Oh, wonderful! I was worried that I misunderstood." Ilya laughed an angelic sound that sends an uncomfortable crawling sensation up my spine. She continued.

"You see, Berserker's the strongest in the world." She beamed proudly. "No one can really stop him, and I'm pretty sure that he could fight every other Servant in the war and win! He's kind of awesome that way. So when you say that you want to be allies or partners or whatever, that implies that you think you're just as strong as Berserker right? You can't be allies unless you're roughly as strong as each other, otherwise, that means you'd just be slaves to the strongest one, right?"

A moment's foresight, an understanding at where exactly she was leading with this. Before I could open my mouth and attempt to waylay the incoming avalanche, however, the girl continued. "But then it occurred to me, I've never actually seen you fight, right? Oh yes, I've seen you butcher all those silly little men at the docks, but that hardly counts. I want to see a real fight! A battle among legends! It'd be a pity to see Berserker splatter some random Servant all across the pavement, but I'm sure that the Kaiserin of Germania would be more than capable of handling that right? Since she's our partner, our equal even-"

"Perhaps not so much an equal in stature, so much as a contributor of-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Einzbern tutted with relish. "Enough of that, I won't hear my ally disparaging herself like that, at least not in my presence. You and Lancer should fight Berserker, all the better for us to figure out each other's strengths and weaknesses, right? It's convenient enough already after all- I'd intended for him to beat that blue mutt into the ground by now, the fact that you're here as well just makes things easier, wouldn't you say?"

A flare of magic below me, the roar of some feral beast so ravenous and primal that I could feel the air around me vibrate in his rage. Ilya giggled.

"Oh don't look so glum, Tanya! He's not going to kill you, not unless you make it too easy for him! You'd probably need a few days' bed rest in the worst case, but that's okay too! That just means Berserker can eliminate the competition, and by the time you'd recovered, you'd have just enough energy for round two? Isn't that great?"

This...this was a problem. A big problem. For all that I knew Berserker was a threat, I'd not yet had the opportunity to actually sit down and plot out a viable means to neutralize him. A significant problem to this was a lack of information- I hadn't had the time to pin Lancer down and force him to tell me everything he knew about the Einzbern Servant, but a much larger problem was the Servant itself.

If McRemitz and her Servant could be believed, Berserker was Herakles. It was an….unimaginable thing to even consider, for a hero of that stature and might to be brought into the modern world to fight. That one of the founders of this entire war would bring an intimidating hero to the fore was a given, but I'd still not properly processed the sheer magnitude of what they'd done. He wasn't like me, some puffed-up politician with a few cheats hidden in my sleeves, but the real deal. A Hero with a capital h.

A regular person might find a scenario such as this to be demoralizing, perhaps even morale-shattering, but I didn't see it that way. I felt…..excited, I suppose. Interested. Even if Ilya said that this would not be a fight to the death, the sheer weakness I currently exhibited, versus the sheer strength that likely overflowed from Berserker's form, might mean that the Servant would kill me accidentally. With or without Ilya's direct input. I felt energized, to be faced with such a potential foe, even if I likely could not realistically do anything about him.

"Oh wow, that is something."

I blinked, turning back to the bird. Contrary to the teasing tone from earlier, her words just now seemed genuinely surprised. Ilya was watching me, the familiar studying me intently and I suddenly felt as though I'd been stripped bare. As though she was seeing something beyond the mask I wore, like her attention had slipped through my defenses. Not for the first time, I wished that she was here. Without being able to read her body language, I was reduced to trying to decipher the tone in her voice.

It had sounded like fascination. Disquiet. Concern.

"What is?"

"...hmm, nothing," Ilya remarked, the moment passing quickly. "I'm leaving this familiar to you, in case you want to chat with your trusted ally. Berserker shall be barging into your little fort soon enough, I do hope you can keep him entertained."

Then with that, I felt the magic turn dry, the crystalline thing toppling over in my hand. I placed the bird back into my inner coat pocket, even as I settled my gaze down below me.

The entrance to the Tower was fairly wide and indefensible as far as typical building layouts went; street-facing walls made of glass, a large atrium intended to entertain a large number of guests. Strictly speaking, there was very little that could be physically reinforced so as to deny an invading enemy an advantage. It was why the multitude of defenses installed within the Tower were intended to disorient and confuse. There was never any doubt that the enemy would breach the atrium, it was every step after that which was the real challenge. At the same time, I also doubted that when Galliasta had spent the millions, possibly billions, of dollars to fortify his domain, that he intended to entertain a Servant quite like Herakles to be the one doing the invading.

Bits of dust and concrete fell from the ceiling as Berserker threw himself at the entrance hall, shattering glass and steel with equal ease. The Servant had moved so fast, so savagely, that I'd barely even manage to register his assault. I would have thought the blur of black motion be something more reasonable, like an out-of-control rail car or a speeding artillery shell, if not for the savage roar that followed.

Ah, there it was again. That twitch of excitement, the mounting anticipation. I dismissed the thought, my focus ever forward as I allowed a flicker of my power to distort the space around me. Holographic projections enveloped my vision, data streaming in from a dozen different sources as I came to terms with the current strategic situation. In my mind's eye I open my thoughts, my voice sent out simultaneously into the thoughts of my Tresillo lieutenants.

"Status, report now."

It was going to be a tricky thing, impressing Ilya such that she would call off her dog, but it was still reasonable. I had a feeling that things were finally going to work out.

Author's Note: The delay on this chapter has been somewhat embarrassing. Beyond the prior mentioned IRL responsibilities distracting me, a combination of trying to restore my writing flow as well as an unexpected difficulty in even writing this chapter further delayed me. I believe this would be the fourth iteration of this chapter, and the first to actually go live.

Beyond this, the anniversary of the launch of this fic is in a few days. I'd intended for this chapter to launch last week but- well that didn't work out. Certain works are on the oven, so to speak, at the moment and the current goal would be to try to pile them out in time. Have a lot of catching up to do in the next few days.

Hopefully, everyone enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.