My eyes fluttered open once again, and I was elated to find out that I hadn't woken up in the ungodly hours of the morning. Instead, the clock on the bedside read 9:45 A.M. I rose to my feet, my body feeling slightly weak for whatever reason. Arabella and Kiara were already awake, and had ordered breakfast. They smiled at me as they saw me walk over to them.

"Good morning," Kiara greeted, preparing a plate for me. The food itself consisted of things I didn't recognize but I knew for a fact to be delicious nonetheless.

"Thanks," I replied, smiling back. Despite the fact that they were virtually strangers to me, I still felt close to them. Maybe it was this body's memories. Maybe I had actually begun to grow attached. Whatever the case may be, her smile warmed my heart, as did Arabella's when she came near too. Nobunaga had already materialized, and had begun eating her own plate as she watched the T.V. She appeared to have been watching Naked and Afraid, and seemed fascinated by it.

"I see...so even in the Modern Era Humanity has the urge to revert to the wild...interesting…"

I sighed at this. "Not really…" I said. "Or at least not most of us...them. Not most of them."

"Then why are they doing this." she asked. "To reject everything that Humanity has strove for in the past several hundred years, just to go back to the ancient times. Entertainment? To test their skills?"

"Money probably," I said. Nobunaga laughed at this.

"MONEY!" she bellowed. "They do this for money! That's hilarious! To forsake all Human invention and genius, just for the sake of gain!"

I chuckled at her, rubbing the back of my head. She stopped laughing, and soon began another topic.

"I wonder how I'd fare in this...as a Heroic Spirit I'm sure I'd do well, and yet it would also depend on the type of environment…"

"What if there were mythological creatures," I mused. "Like Oni?"

Arabella piped in as well.

"For that matter, why not Lions? The Nemean Lion in specific?"

Nobunaga placed a finger on her chin.

"Nemean Lion...I can't say I've heard of that before? Where across the seas does it originate?"

"Greece," said Kiara. "It is said to be impervious to blades of all kinds, and the great hero Heracles had to strangle it to death."

"I see…" Nobunaga said. "I heavily doubt it could resist my Noble Phantasm...however...now I wonder what one would taste like...well, It matters not!"

And with that, Nobunaga continued eating her food as she watched it. She was still in her armor, for whatever reason deciding not to change into her normal clothes.

I had to remember the fact that I technically wasn't even Human. Kiara and Arabella seemed to notice me correcting myself, but didn't say anything about it. However, that didn't mean they wouldn't bring up another thing.

"Young Lord," Arabella began, looking at me. "About yesterday, when we confronted Saber and her Master-"

"-Why did you hesitate to attack," Kiara finished, looking at me as well. "You were told about the difficulties this War would bring. Had her Master been anyone else, we might've been killed."

Nobunaga looked at me, curious at what my response would be. I remembered her earlier words, about how I'd need to resolve to kill if I wanted my wish granted...but…

I just couldn't.

No matter what powers I gained, no matter what these new memories may indicate or tell me, I'm not Clay Myrn, Not deep down. I'm still me. And I can't bring myself to do that. I just can't…

"I...I didn't want to fight if it wasn't necessary," I replied. Kiara raised her brow at this.

"Young Master, I know how young you are-"

"-And I know how this may be for you," Arabella interjected.

"-But you must realize that this is no time to keep your morals in check. I understand wanting to avoid combat whenever necessary, however in that instance it would be easier to simply attack as soon as Saber's Master revealed herself."

I nodded.

"Yea...you're right," I said. "But...that's not something I would do. It's something the Magi in the Clocktower would do, and we're in this War to spite them, aren't we? To prove them wrong, that bloodline isn't worth everything."

Nobunaga looked taken aback by this, but continued listening. The twins seemed shock as well, but they soon smiled.

I continued on.

"I...I know that I can't go on the entire War like this. I know that some Masters will want to kill me regardless, that I won't be able to reason with them, but...but do I have to become them?"

I clasped my hands together.

"I know that I might have to kill, but I don't want to do it unless there's no other choice. If I'm in combat with a Master, fighting for my life, I know I'll have to kill them. I know I'll have to fight Alice after our truce is up. I know I'll have to fight Ingrid to end that truce all together. I...I just wanna make sure I don't lose myself in the process."

Kiara grabbed my hand.

"I understand, and I hope you know we'll be here for you, whichever decision you choose."

Arabella nodded. "We exist to help you. Should you wish for it, we'd do anything for you. We only...we only want you to make it out here alive."

"Truth be told, we don't even care if you choose to make your own wish instead of what your family wants you to make...we just want you to be happy."

I smiled, and felt my eyes grow hot. I wasn't used to this...people caring about what I wanted…

"..Thanks," I said. Kiara pulled me into a hug, and the tears slowly made their way from my eyes. I just relaxed there, in her embrace. I...I had to make sure the both of them made it out of here alive. I knew it'd be hard, but I couldn't let them die. I refused to.

Araballe placed a hand on the top of my head, ruffling my hair. She chuckled as she watched the two of us. I looked up to her, and saw she was smiling as well.

It was moments like these that I wished I had in my first life. I knew that I had to do anything I could to make sure moments like these lasted. I knew that, but...I also knew that it would be hard for me to do so.

The twins and I had returned once more to the Faust Estate, with Alice and Edric being at the front entrance with us. She had a smug look on her face, while Edric still seemed to be somewhat hesitant. Shy even. She tried to make small talk, which I did my best to not bring crashing and burning into the ground.

As it stood, it was the most annoying conversation of my life.

"So, you've been taught magecraft, correct?" she asked as we entered the estate. Edric was off to her side, and the twins were behind me. Nobu was in spirit form, and I assume the same was with Altera.

I nodded at the question, my eyes wandering around to the surroundings. There were decorations there, but none of them seemed personal. No portraits, not like there was back home. Yea, there were paintings of landscapes and the like, but I could tell Alice didn't care much about them.

"And I assume Rune magecraft, yes? The Myrn bloodline has been obsessed with it for generations...as if that'd help their standing at all…"

It was obvious that she was trying to get a reaction out of me. Obviously she was gauging me to see how I'd respond.

I didn't.

I just ignored what she said and continued walking. She seemed somewhat pleased, probably mistaking my unaffected silence as refusing to answer out of anger or embarrassment. I simply continued on until we eventually came to a kitchen. It was large, just like everything else in the estate. There was a white countertop which had several knife racks on it. There was a cabinet, and a refrigerator as well. Alice walked to it, and pulled out a bottle of wine. She also took a wine glass from a hanging rack above where the knives were. She poured a glass for herself, then looked to me.

"Do you drink?" she asked. I shook my head. She didn't seem bothered to ask the twins, and simply began to drink. Edric was silent still, looking off to the side. I noticed Arabella glancing at him. What was on her mind, I had no idea.

When she was finished, Alice had placed the glass into the sink and turned to the rest of us, smiling still.

I wanted to punch it off her face.

"Will we continue with our strategy?" Kiara spoke out, with me turning to her as she did. "How will we face the Servant of Ingrid?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "This is a matter between Masters. People of your...ilk, are not involved in this." she spat.

I narrowed my eyes as I stomped toward her. There was an anger swelling inside me. I felt like I was about to strike her, but instead I just glared at her.

"Don't you DARE talk to them like that!" I said. Her eyes widened in shock, however returned to the ever present look of smug mocking.

"Oh, that seemed to take a reaction from you. Do I need to insult your maids to get that more?"

My blood boiled inside of me. But I did nothing. I couldn't. Not with the effect of the Geass. I simply sighed.

"...Now I know why my mom never talked about you," I said. "She probably thought, knew rather, that you're just a person not worth remembering."

This seemed to get a reaction out of her, and she glared at me.

"You insolent little-"

"-ALICE!" yelled a new voice, Edric. "Just...please stop!"

She took a deep breath and turned around, face now calm. "Right...Ingrid. It's highly likely she'll try to take out as many Masters and Servants as possible. Her strength and her Servant's strength will make it easy to take out the others, especially the Tohsaka, given his age."

I raised my brow at that. Just how old was Akise? From what I remember him looking like he seemed to be around my age…

"You look confused," she said as she looked at me. "You have seen him without his disguise, have you?"

I shook my head, and she sighed. "Great...now I'll have to explain it to you. Listen clearly, Akise Tohsaka has the ability to change his appearance," she said. "His actual age is just ten years old, however he has the ability to change his appearance to be of someone more your age, roughly six to seven years older.

I nodded in recognition. It would make sense I suppose. If Rin was the same age here as she was normally, then if Akise was my age, then Rin would've had to have given birth to him back when she was in high school. But...how did she know that?

"Now, although I don't know his Servant's identity, I can confidently say she's a member of the Rider Class. This specific one hasn't been summoned much in past Wars, so I don't have a clear idea."

"What do they look like?" I asked.

"Pink hair, black dress and a blindfold," she said. "She used chained daggers to fight."

"And I take it you've fought her before?"

She nodded. "Saber was holding her own well enough against her, however she escaped before she could kill her."

I nodded. So, I'm positive this could be Medusa, given her description. If so, then I'd need to make a plan. I don't think Nobu's NP could compete with Bellerophon, nor with Medusa's agility. And since her master is a Tohsaka, she would be roughly around the same level of strength as she was when Sakura was her Master.

"And what about the Makiri? Enrico?" I asked.

"I myself haven't come across his Servant," she said. "However, I believe we may be able to whittle down the possibility of their Class. We can rule out Saber and Lancer. Given the strength of Akise's Servant, we could also say she's not an Assassin either. And your Servant, what class are they?"

"Archer," I lied. She nodded in response.

"Then the confirmed Servants are Saber, Archer, Lancer, and possibly Rider," she said. "It's possible that the bands of light may be a Servant's Noble Phantasm, most likely a Caster. However...they'd need an immense amount of Magical Energy to fuel it if that was the case."

"Then there's just Berserker, Assassin, and Caster left." I said. I knew Caster was possibly Solomon, but not who the other two were. I also didn't know who the other Masters were either. Heck, for all I knew Kiara Sessyoin herself could be a Master.

"Indeed, however I have a plan," Alice said. "We could stake out Ingrid's base of operations, formulate a way of attack."

I nodded. "Right...we should also make sure to keep ourselves hidden."

"Indeed. As it stands, we may be able to survey her place within a day or two. When the time comes, I'll let you know."

"...How?"

She simply smiled. "I have my ways."