Chapter 5
It is said that when a person dreams, the majority of these dreams are quickly forgotten when the person wakes up from their slumber. However, there are a few instances where the person awakes and is aware that they experienced a dream and that they can recount the experience in that dream.
Bree was experiencing neither one of those dreams. She was somehow well aware of the fact that she was dreaming. After all, she was very much aware that she was in the warehouse while Lancer was fighting outside. Lancer had instructed her to remain inside while he repelled the attackers. Not too long into the fight, however, she was engulfed in a blinding flash, whereupon realising she was in danger, she was also aware of Lancer attempting to use his body as a shield to protect her.
She remembered little after that save for the fact that she is now in a dreamlike state, but she was fully able to walk around and interact with her dream.
"This must be one of those lucid dreams many people talk about," Bree mumbled to herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of it.
That tall stone tower.
She's seen it numerous times in her previous dreams.
She was very sure of what she would find there, and therefore decided to walk there.
As she approached the tower, she began to hear the sounds of babies crying, along with the muffled sobs of a woman. Bree stopped for a moment to figure out what was going on up there, and quickly stepped away to hide behind a tree when the door to the tower swung open.
From within the tower emerged a woman clad in long robes and a headdress made of deer hide. She clutched onto three bundles wrapped in cloth, and despite the attempt to hide them, the sobs from the babies were evident.
Bree continued to watch for a moment and follow the woman until she arrived at the harbour, where the woman made preparations to throw the babies into the water.
Bree really felt like stepping out to stop the woman from killing the babies, but she was somehow restrained by an unseen force. Perhaps, her dream was not so lucid after all.
The woman looked around furtively, and noticed that there was a group of fishermen approaching the harbour. Panicking, the woman quickly began throwing the babies into the water, but she failed to notice that the first baby she threw did not land in the water, but instead, it landed in a reed basket that was floating on the water. Having failed to notice it in her haste, the woman completed her task of throwing the babies into the water to kill them, she hurried away just moments before the fishermen arrived at the harbour.
The unseen force that held Bree back quickly whisked her away from the harbour and she was brought to a hilly place which reminded Bree of her native Ireland.
Taking a deep breath to savour the feeling of being in her homeland, she began wandering around aimlessly before she heard the clash of spears.
Her ears were perked immediately as she quickly ran towards the sound. Approaching the crest of the hill, she could make out the figures of two warriors sparring with their spears. One of them was very much unmistakable; his long hair and red eyes gave his identity away. The other, a young woman, who was probably in her teens, held a black spear which had a demonic vibe emanating from it. Her long, deep purple hair was flowing gracefully with every twist and turn of her body as she sparred with Lancer.
Bree continued to watch for a brief moment before Lancer finally lost the upper hand to this young woman, who ended the match by thrusting her spear at Lancer's temple, stopping short of skewering Lancer's head.
"Good job lassie… princess," Lancer chuckled. "I believe my tutelage has been of good use to you."
"Thank you, Master," the young woman replied, thrusting her spear into the ground. "Please spare me from the title "princess"," she continued, exhaling after a moment. "The kingdom I'm inheriting is not even of this world. Here, I am just Scathach."
"Whether of this world or not, you are still about to inherit a kingdom, and you have learnt much in your years of preparation," Lancer answered, walking towards a long leather bag. He slid his spear into the bag and pulled out another spear. The demonic etches on the serrated spear glowed with a bright red hue and a growling sound was barely heard emanating from the spear as Lancer spun the spear around effortlessly. "A parting gift for you, lassie."
"Eh?"
"I have nothing more that I can teach you, for you have surpassed me in skill," Lancer said quietly. "You will go on to teach my art to others as you see fit."
"But this spear…"
"This is Gae Bolg," Lancer said, all the while spinning the spear around with ease. He finally tossed the spear at Scathach, who caught the spear. "This spear may not have the destructive power of my Brionac, but it is still a very powerful spear in its own right."
"Won't you continue to teach me, Master?"
"I'm afraid not, lassie. I have much to do from now on," Lancer said, frowning. "I have some family business to take care of."
"You have a family?" Scathach asked. "I never really heard you speak of your family."
"Indeed I do," Lancer replied, a wry frown forming on his brow.
"You don't seem very… happy about your family," Scathach replied quietly.
"Don't mistake my expression for a lack of happiness," Lancer replied calmly. "I have business with another person who lay with my wife." Picking his leather bag up and slinging it across his bag, Lancer turned to face his now former disciple. "I have children too. And I may send at least one of them your way. Teach him everything I have taught you, and some more."
"Will we ever meet again, Master?"
"Perhaps, as a citizen of your kingdom," Lancer replied. "At that time, expect me never to address you as "lassie" anymore."
With that, Lancer casually waved goodbye and strode off, leaving Scathach with Gae Bolg in her hands.
Bree remained rooted to her spot as she marvelled at the scene before her.
Until she felt a very painful sensation in her lungs. It was almost as if someone set fire to it.
"What's this burning feeling inside my lungs? Water… I need water!" Bree thought in a state of panic.
Then, she realised it; she was submerged in a pool of water. The fiery sensation in her lungs was not caused by fire, but she was drowning.
Still in a disoriented state, she began flailing her arms and legs, hoping to find a way to the surface of the water. A sudden splash above her gave her an indicator as to where the surface was. Desperate for air, Bree began swimming towards the surface. However, her path to the surface was soon blocked by another flailing body in the water sinking down to the bottom.
The body that was sinking to the bottom was none other than Lancer, bruised and bloodied, and there was a large millstone chained to his feet.
Lancer and Bree continued to struggle in the water, but unlike Bree, who was able to get to the surface and take a deep breath of air, Lancer was not able to swim due to the weight of the millstone that brought him further down. Lancer's body seemed to emit a bluish glow which began dissipating from his body and Bree could somehow see Lancer's godhood stripped away from him by the magical properties of the water. Lancer's struggle soon ceased as his godhood - and his life - slipped away…
Bree gasped loudly as she awoke from her dream.
"Wait. Why am I still alive?" Bree wondered to herself. "Where am I?"
Bree turned to her left and was completely taken aback by the sight of Shiro sleeping in the futon laid out beside her. Bree shot up in surprise and began crawling backwards towards the wall as fast as she could, before bumping into something soft.
"I see you're already awake now," Saber's voice was heard from behind Bree.
"Guh!" Bree gasped again, turning around to find her face an inch away from Saber's face.
Bree stood up quickly in a flash and she backed away again towards the wall. "What am I doing here? What did you do to Lancer?" Bree demanded.
"Unfortunately, Lancer was defeated by Archer, Shiro, and Saber," Rin answered coolly as she swung the door open to walk into the room.
"Tohsaka Rin!" Bree exclaimed, jumping in surprise.
"Lancer insisted that we care for you now that he has been defeated," Rin answered, stepping out from the room momentarily to pick up the tea set that was arranged neatly on the tray.
"I could have sworn that I was either killed or severely wounded in that explosion," Bree wondered aloud.
"You were quite badly injured in the explosion, as was Viola," Saber replied. "Rin and Luvia healed the both of you once we were able to bring you here."
"I don't suppose that you are holding me and Viola hostage just so you can bargain with Sir Bram?"
Rin let out a long sigh. "There is nothing to bargain, mac Branain-san," Rin continued as she poured the tea. "We must destroy the Grail no matter what the cost is."
"Where is Viola anyway?"
"Konig-san was awake an hour before you got up," Rin replied. "She is having a word with Edelfelt-san and Lord El-Melloi II outside the mansion."
"I suppose you should be there too," Saber continued. "It would be preferable if you understood the problem that the Grail can bring to the world if it is not destroyed."
"I don't see why I should join forces with Lord El-Melloi," Bree replied dismissively.
"mac Branain-san!" Rin chided.
"I have nothing against all of you," Bree continued. "However, I believe that all of you are doing the Association a great disservice by attempting to destroy something so powerful when it can be turned over so that the Association can put it to good use."
"You don't understand, mac Branain-san," Rin replied exasperatedly. "And even more so since you are not from here!"
"Tohsaka speaks the truth, mac Branain-san," Shiro said weakly, groaning as he slowly got up.
"Shiro!" Rin exclaimed.
"You're all so noisy, nobody would be able to get any sleep here," Shiro complained. "I'm sorry I had to trouble you all again."
"It's nothing," Saber replied with a smile aimed at Rin. "Rin was quite worried about you when you passed out last night."
"I'm sorry, Tohsaka," Shiro mumbled apologetically, rubbing the back of his head.
"I won't forgive you if you keep calling me Tohsaka," Rin teased, handing Shiro a cup of tea. "It isn't going to taste as good as the one you always brew."
"I can brew some now if you wish," Shiro replied. "At least our guests will have something good to drink."
"You can save your efforts, Emiya-san," Bree dismissed, getting up. "Viola and I should be on our way."
"At least hear us out," Shiro pleaded.
"I stand by what I said earlier," Bree replied curtly. "You're doing the Association a great disservice."
"So you plan to let the Association have the Grail at the cost of this city?" Shiro challenged.
"I'm sure Sir Bram will be able to obtain it without any complications," Bree replied.
"Then Bram has severely underestimated the cost of obtaining the Grail," Shiro continued. His irritation was very much pronounced now to the point that even Bree could not ignore his tone. "What do you know of the Holy Grail War? You're only participating in this one for the first time! Tohsaka and I have participated in the previous War, and Saber here has experienced two!" Shiro's clenched fists trembled as he rebuked Bree. "This city has suffered tremendously and many innocent people died in a War that has nothing to do with them!"
"Shiro…" Rin whispered.
"Do whatever you wish from here on, mac Branain-san," Shiro continued. "But if you insist on putting this city in danger for the sake of obtaining the Grail…"
Shiro paused for a moment before raising his clenched fist. "I will stop all of you!" Shiro finally said, his voice trembling with anger yet loud with resolve.
"It's too bad, Emiya-san," Bree replied. "I always thought you were genuinely a magus who truly wished to help others through your talent, but it seems you're nothing more than Lord El-Melloi II's lackey now."
Bree left the room after delivering her Parthian shot, leaving a crestfallen Shiro, Rin, and Saber to ponder on what they could have done more to convince Bree.
"So I take it that you're not keen to rethink your position, like Viola here?" Luvia asked Bree as she exited the mansion.
"You're the one making a mistake, Lord El-Melloi II," Bree replied angrily. "Why should I believe someone who gave the orders to put my life in danger just so they can kill Lancer?"
"Hey now, that was my idea," Archer reasoned. "If we were really that hostile to you, don't you think that we could have just ignored you last night and let you die? My Master healed you last night, y'know?"
"Whatever you did still does not take away the fact that you're doing the Association a great disservice. Also, Emiya-san has tried rather passionately to dissuade me to the point of laying threats against us," Bree responded.
"Of course you would think it that way," Lord El-Melloi II replied. "Perhaps, if things went your way, you would finally see it for yourself, but none of us here can afford for a third such occurrence," Lord El-Melloi II continued. "Emiya is one to attest to it, hence his passionate reasoning to dissuade you from the folly of your ways."
Bree refused to remain there any longer to be a part of such a pointless conversation. "This is a waste of time," Bree muttered angrily, motioning for Viola to go with her and return to Bram's location.
"Ah, there goes the chance for my onii-sama and I to fight alongside each other rather than against each other," Archer lamented.
"What does it matter to you?" Luvia replied, scowling. "If that was so important to you, go on ahead and make a pact with Bree since she does not have a Servant now."
"Ah, please forgive my insolence," Archer replied jestfully. "Surely you were just kidding with me, no?"
"Those idiots!" Luvia grumbled. "How dare they take Lord El-Melloi II for a fool?"
Lord El-Melloi II paid no attention to Luvia's grumblings. Instead, he was already pondering the next step of the plans.
Lancer is already killed, but his Master is still very much in the fight. Caster and her Master has split from the Sophia-Ri faction and is now at large, while Matou and Assassin remains a constant thorn in everybody's side, as evident from last night's attack on Shiro. Much has happened over the span of roughly four nights, but progress has been at quite a slow, almost trudging pace. Out of the seven Servants summoned onto the battlefield, only one has been defeated.
There was also another unexpected event that he discovered when he went out to replace the regulators last night. It was something that urgently needed attention, and he was unable to convey the message to the others due to the presence of Bree and Viola. However, now that they were no longer in the mansion, he figured that the time was ripe to fill the others in on the situation.
"Edelfelt, come with me. We have something to discuss with Emiya and Tohsaka."
The Overseer of the War usually does not have much to do apart from ensuring that the rules are kept. On the outset, it seems like an easy job, but there were things that were not mentioned in the job description.
Whenever a battle is fought in any place within Fuyuki City's limits, the Church had to ensure that the secrecy of the War was maintained. This included working with the Association to manipulate press statements and issue gag orders, organising and executing a total cleanup and rebuilding of the affected areas (and charging the bills to the Association, since the Einzberns have given up their pursuit of the grail), erasing the short term memories of witnesses using subliminal messaging, mass hypnosis, or both, as well as the last resort of disposing of anyone who threatens to expose the existence of a battle royale between mages.
Once in a while, there are some emergencies to attend to as well.
Caren Hortensia grimaced at the report she held in her hands. One emergency would have been considered out of the ordinary. Two emergencies would have become a disaster.
Caren stared at the outline of the report, hoping that she was wrong. She counted the bullet points on the list, and counted it again to allow the situation to sink into her mind. One. Two. Three emergencies. Caren's heart sank for a moment and she tightened her grip on the paper, crumpling it slightly.
"This is beyond a disaster…"