Silence filled the large tatami room up in Hashimoto house. Everyone - apart from Archer, who had relieved himself from the upcoming conversation - was present in the room. On one side of the room sat Yuriko, Tokiomi, Kirei and Risei, on the other side was Caster.
Caster looked nervous, she had no idea what was going on. After introducing herself the air became tense. Had she already done something wrong? Before she could ask, her Master instructed her to follow them and that's how she came to be in this room. Now she was waiting for her Master to start talking to her.
Yuriko took a deep breath to compose herself before facing Caster.
"Caster," Yuriko started off. "I must inform you that I wasn't trying to summon you but another. I hope you understand summoning you have to cause some minor problems to our plans,"
"I understand. I guess you would like me to tell you about my skills?" Caster asked.
"Yes. It would help us to adjust our plans," Tokiomi told her.
Caster looked at Tokiomi hesitating for a moment before telling the group about her abilities.
"I'm skilled in many different forms of magecraft. But I specialise in illusion, healing and controlling plants. I use my hair as a weapon, a bit like wires. I possess clairvoyance," Caster told them.
"I see," Tokiomi mumbled. "I can you tell me the nature of your clairvoyance?" Tokiomi inquired.
"My clairvoyance can be split into two abilities. In battle I can use it to see roughly five minutes into the future, allowing me to alternate my plan or set up a spell to defend myself. The other is I can see important event two days in advance," Caster explained.
"That could be very useful for us," Tokiomi mumbled.
Tokiomi stood up followed by Risei and Kirei.
"I think we should be leaving you now," Tokiomi said. "I will contact you with the updated plan," he told Yuriko.
Yuriko stood up as well.
"Let me show you the way out," She said.
Caster was now alone in the large tatami room. She could still hear her Master talking to her allies about how she could be useful to their plans.
'Why does it feel like I've already failed?' Caster thought to herself.
Caster waited in silence until her Master returned. The sound of the door sliding opening then closing told Caster that her Master was back. Yuriko retook her place in front of Caster.
Yuriko released a sigh that she was keeping in for a while. She looked down at her right hand, staring back at her was the red command seals. The command seals were shaped to look like a tree with roots branching out. Yuriko shook her head to sort her thoughts out.
"I'm sorry for disappointing you Master," Caster apologise.
Yuriko's head shot up to look at Caster. She was staring at her lap in shame. Yuriko reaches over to her, slowly stroked her head.
"It's not your fault Caster," Yuriko told her. "It's my fault for not choosing the best catalyst to summon Merlin," She explained.
Caster looked at her curiously, tilting her head to the side.
"What did you use as a catalyst?" Caster asked.
"This," Yuriko replied, pulling out the oval sapphire from her blazer pocket.
Caster took the blue jewel from her Master. She studied it, looking for anything special about it.
"From my search, this sapphire once belong to Merlin, part of a pendant he always used to wear," Yuriko informed her.
"It's definitively one of the jewels in the pendant," Caster told her.
"One!?" Yuriko loudly said.
"Yes. This is only one half of the sapphire pendant," Caster explained. She held up the sapphire that Yuriko give her. "It was my knowledge that the sapphire was split at some point. One half disappearing into the world," she continued explaining. "And the other half," pointing to the dark blue jewel around her neck. "Was given to me as a gift," Caster finished, giving back the jewel to her Master.
Yuriko stared at her in amazement. She didn't think about how Caster obtains the jewel but her knowledge about it was impressive.
If what Caster was saying was true then Yuriko would have never had the perfect catalyst to summon Merlin if not for her wearing the other half.
"Also you will never be able to summon Merlin," Caster informed her Master.
"What do you mean?" Yuriko inquired.
"From the information that I was given from the Grail, only heroes that have died can descend to the Throne of Heroes can become Heroic Spirits. Merlin is still alive. He's trapped himself in a tower in Avalon," Caster explains once again.
This news shocked Yuriko. Merlin was still alive? She would have to do some research into this after the war. For now, she had to focus on the war. The first task was to inform Caster of the plan.
"Enough of this for now. I must tell you about the plan we have set in place," Yuriko told her.
"Does it have to do with the men you were with earlier?" Caster asked.
"Yes," Yuriko replied. "The man who was on my right was Tokiomi Tohsaka, the current head of the Tohsaka family, he is also the Master of Archer. The man on my other side was Father Risei, he is the Overseer for this war. The man next to Father Risei was his son, Kirei, the Master of Assassin. The first stage of the plan is to fake Assassin's death. He will sneak into Tohsaka residence then Archer kill will him. After that Assassin will spy on the other Masters and servants," she explained.
"I guess it's up to me and Archer to fight the other servants until Assassin find out their weakness or kills their Masters," Caster assumed.
"Yes," Yuriko confirmed.
"Was Archer the man dressed in golden armour?" Caster asked.
"Yes. Please be careful about what you say and do to Archer. He is a servant of the highest level as well as great king," Yuriko warned Caster. "Caster, what is your Noble Phantasm?"
"My Noble Phantasm is a type of sealing spell. First, it restrains movement, then drains mana and energy, the next step is to destroy the body. The final step is to seal the soul into a crystal or a wooden doll. It's called Séala Deiridh," Caster explained.
Yuriko nodded. She stood up and signalled Caster to follow her. Yuriko took Caster to the back of the house to the guest house.
"You can use this room for your time here," Yuriko offered.
"Thank you for your kindness, Master," Caster thanked her. "Master is it possible for me to get a map of the city," she asked.
"A map?" Yuriko echoed.
"Yes, I would like to get to know the city's layout. It would give me an advantage in the war," Caster said.
"I understand. I'll go and get one for you tomorrow," Yuriko said. She then left Caster by herself to settle in.
Now Caster had proper time to think about what she had gotten herself.
"It seems like I've got myself into another situation, Marie," She mumbled to herself as she took off her boots.
Caster took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing mind. She took a seat in the middle of the room, sitting crossed-leg. Caster took a few more breaths, readying herself to gaze into the future. Closing her eyes about to begin.
She then felt a presence make itself known to the room.
Caster reopened her eyes then looked behind her. Archer was standing behind her, lending on the wall behind him. He had one arm crossed his chest with the other arm in front of himself, nursing a glass of wine. Archer had change out of his golden armour into more modern looking clothes. These consisted of a plain white v-neck shirt with three-quarter sleeves, and a pair of trouser with python print on them. Around his neck and wrist was matching golden jewellery. His crimson eyes were staring right at her.
"May I help you, Archer?" Caster asked politely.
Archer's presence made Caster uncomfortable. It remained of her of mages from established families from the clock, the ones who seventh generation in their line. They were confident, self-righteous and looked down on people who weren't on the same level as them, just like Archer.
"I came to see the mongrel that would be serving me," Archer said.
His comment greatly annoyed her. Out of habit she turns her head away from him, not allowing him to see her reaction.
The room became silent for a moment before Caster heard Archer move. He was now standing right behind her.
"Stand up," He ordered.
Complying with him, she stood up and turned around to face him. Caster's eyes met Archer's chest, reminding her how small she was compared to him. Caster took a step back to put some distance between them and so she looked at him properly. He reached out and grabbed her face, looking at her in great detail while he casually held the wine glass.
"You don't look half bad," Archer commented.
His comment finally ticks off Caster. She slapped away Archer's hand which annoyed him.
"I would like it if you didn't judge me like a piece of meat," she told him.
Caster went to walk away but Archer roughly grabbed her hair then pulling her close to his face. Caster didn't fight back she just let it happen.
"I don't know what that Master of yours has told you about me, you worthless mongrel. But I am a king and you shall treat me as one," Archer demanded her.
Archer shoved Caster to the ground like a piece of rubbish. Caster sat up just in time to watch him disappear into gold dust. She remains silent until she felt his presence leave the ground of Hashimoto house.
"Asshole," she mumbled.
From what her Master's had told her and Archer's words and how the servant was dressed Caster figured out who the golden servant.
'How I am supported to win against one like him?' Caster thought, as she began to think about ways to beat the other servant.
At the same time as Archer and Caster were having their disagreement, their Masters were having a conversation about the unexpected situation. Yuriko sitting in the underground workshop speaking through a large magical speaker.
"This event hasn't set us back that much," Tokiomi confessed. "There only a couple alterations to the plan. Thou I am quite interested in Caster,"
"What do you mean my Master?" Kirei asked.
"He's talking about Caster's surname, Kirei," Yuriko told him. "The name Ambrosius comes from Aurelius Ambrosius, depending on source he's either war leader or a prophet. But what's important to us is that he main inspires for Merlin," She explained.
"So Caster has some kind of contention Merlin," Kirei assumed.
"Yes," Tokiomi answered. "It would explain how she acquired the sapphire and why she so knowledgeable about him," There was a brief pause before Tokiomi continued on. "Kirei continue with the plan to attack Tohsaka Manor tomorrow evening. Yuriko has sent a familiar to watch. Let's not have the other Masters knowing that we are working together yet,"
Now everything was ready for the start of the 4th Holy Grail War.