A/N: I'm very sorry for the delay that I have caused. Thinking about board examination type questions for the students to answer in the review while laying down plot highlights for this fanfiction, along with an encoding job can be very exhausting indeed. But at least it takes off excess glucose contents on my mind. –insert evillaugh

Edit on chapter two. Added the timeline of acceptance of the situation

Italics: thoughts or emphasis

Bold: thoughts or emphasis

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I do, I would have made Type – Moon the most broke company and they will not be the sensation that they are today. Credits go to Hiroshi Shiibashi for Nurarihyon no Mago and Gen Urobuchi and Type – Moon for Fate/Zero

Chapter 3 Foolish, But Remedied Plans

Kejoro woke up to a day with the first rays of the sun shining on her room. Best to wake up early or she might not be able to make breakfast for the youkai. The fact that they have two additional guests right now in this household can be really unnerving for her. Adding to her distress is that her servant and their other guest are not exactly at good terms with each other.

That night after the summoning:

She looked dumbfounded but she muttered reluctantly, "Yes, I am."

Tamamo cheerfully announced "Then the contract is complete! Please take care of me, my Goshujin – sama!"

Kejoro just placed a palm on her face for the fanservice that she had seen with her servant. She really fell for the trick of the artifact having an ominous feeling. And so she made a mental note to dress her servant more appropriately to avoid the men that would ogle her for her curves. Bonus points for the men that would ogle are the fox ears and the fox tail of her servant, which can be mistaken for her cosplaying for an anime convention.

Wait, fox ears and a fox tail?

She mentally berated herself for not taking into consideration the big feature of her servant. She can't dress her servant the normal way if she has those ears and tail. While she was thinking again on how to dress her servant (and to disguise the fox ears and tail), a pale woman with long black hair and a black school uniform entered their clan house.

All the youkai who saw her there had mixed reactions. Some were still resenting, others fear her. But the night side of Nura Rikuo just dispelled all their doubts about this woman with a casual greeting:

"Hagoromo Gitsune, you're just in time," He smiled at her with a warm smile, the kind that sons will give to their mothers.

"Good evening, Rikuo." She smiled too while she was surveying the entire scene. She noticed a summoning circle with intricate markings, a spirit with fox ears and a tail in the middle of that circle, and Kejoro who was equally surprised at her coming to the clan house.

"Good to see you again, Hagoromo Gitsune," Nurarihyon lit up his pipe again.

"I think you should drop that pipe now, Nurarihyon. It makes you look older than 400 years," she said with an underlying hint of concern in her voice.

"Looks like the memories of Yamabuki Otome had been rubbing more and more into your personality," he just dismissed what she said and laughed.

Hagoromo just huffed at the stubbornness of the old man and it was just then that Tamamo exclaimed in an irritated voice when she saw her fellow nine tailed fox.

"Hagoromo Gitsune!" she made no effort in hiding her clear irritation for her fellow Kitsune.

Hagoromo turned to her and gave her a casual greeting. "Ara, if it isn't the spoiled Little Miss Almighty. I expected you to be more…regal." Hagoromo just dismissed her anger, which only infuriated Tamamo.

"Wait a second. What's your connection with her?" Kejoro looks more dumbfounded as she was the only one who can't relate to the centuries that those three were together.

"She violated the law of life by being reincarnated again and again! Different reincarnations of all things! And she's gaining powers through the indescribable things that she does on humans!" Tamamo fumed.

"Just let your anger simmer to nothingness for a moment. I'm sure she's changed with her present reincarnation of Yamabuki Otome, my former commander's first wife. Besides, she reincarnated with the same body as the last time that we defeated her." Kejoro reasoned out in a rational way, hoping that she would let this go even for a moment.

"Wait, former commander's first wife?" Caster pondered about this thought for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. "OKAY, but she better explain herself as to why she was here again, or else I might bring down a heavy judgment that will obliterate her existence! Wait, that's not right, too easy for her to get away with. I might reconsider a very long torture consisting of bugs crawling into her veins every now and then for maximum efficiency," she detailed every kind of torture possible for the offender and she gave off dangerous vibes every now and then while she said those things in a creepy happy tone and a hazed but glowing golden eyes.

Now that was WAY too scary for Kejoro, or for ANY OTHER YOUKAI for that matter. She's glad that no one else heard her rants, as the others are busy catching up with Hagoromo Gitsune. The ominous feeling ran through her again, and she takes back the thoughts of the artifact being a farce. Good thing Tamamo's on their side. Speaking of which…

Tamamo stretched her arms for exercise and cheerfully told her, "Although I'm of the Caster class, which is considered one of the weakest classes in the Grail War, it's a good thing you summoned me in this country! If I am summoned in other countries, my abilities, ranks and Noble Phantasm' efficiency will decrease drastically!"

Kejoro looks dumbfounded and asked Tamamo. "What do you mean by that?"

Seeing as her master is new to the war, she provided her with details about the advantages that she has right now.

"If a servant is summoned in the land of their origin, he or she will get a power boost and additional Noble Phantasms. But since I'm summoned as a servant instead of a divine being, I'll only get an additional power boost. But I think that's enough for me to curb – stomp other servants, provided that you can plan very well." She finished it with a proud flinging of her hair.

"What about the abilities and ranks? Is this some kind of role – playing game?" She's really lost when Tamamo mentioned about Ranks and Status.

"You could say that it is, Goshujin – sama," she replied happily.

This is really going to be a long night for me. If I want to survive this thing, I must plan my future actions. She thought on it and sighed.

Now back to preparations for breakfast, while she was busy chopping up the ingredients, she has to formulate a strategy for winning the war. But of course, she has to consult with her servant and the other clan members first before doing anything else. She's pondering on those thoughts when she saw Hagoromo Gitsune and Caster giving off dangerous vibes on the dining table comparable to knives that they will use to stick it up to each other's necks, all the while maintaining grace, politeness and calmness in their voices.

"So, I've heard from my Goshujin – sama that you have changed for better. I think that one's expected, since your present incarnation had a positive effect on your personality. But that doesn't mean that I'll be able to forgive you for the atrocities that you have done on humans." Tamamo managed to let off venomous drippings by the words that she said, all the while maintaining a calm voice.

Hagoromo dismissed all of her threats in a calm voice. "Say what you will, facet of Amaterasu. For now, the only thing that matters to me is to become a mother of all youkai. After what Nue had done to me, I decided to choose Nura Rikuo as my son. I don't know if it was Yamabuki's influence on me, or it's just my maternal instincts that called out to me to look for a better son than him. All I know is that I support Rikuo in every step that he takes as the Third Heir, and I'm glad that he'll not walk down the path that I formerly walked on." She finished her sentence with a hint of sorrow in her voice, which made Tamamo even more confused.

"Hey, what's with the atmosphere here?" The old man was just in time to break off that atmosphere that Kejoro is in right now. She hated to admit it, but the sneakiness of the Soudaisho is useful sometimes.

Changing the topic (and Tamamo's been relieved herself by the change that she made), she said this in a serious voice: "Nurarihyon - san, Goshujin – sama, Gitsune – san, now that we have the introductions last night, I think it's time to make an announcement. This issue concerns of the Holy Grail that we will acquire right now."

Kejoro felt odd at the sudden change in tone of her servant's voice. She decided to listen to her if the topic was so important so that even Caster had to put out her usual cheerful side and get down straight to business.

"As I assessed the structure and the condition of the Grail last night, I have found out that the one that we will acquire is…corrupted." She ended her sentence formally.

Wait, what? What does she mean by that? Is the whole Grail War a farce? What about the wish – granting device that many had coveted and died for just for the sake of obtaining it? Several questions were swirling in her (and everybody in the dining room) right now.

"My guess is that somebody had rigged the Grail System itself to let them win the war. But that process backfired on them, and as a result, this system came out. Usually, servants with the wishes that are most worthy of the Grail are called upon in the Throne of Heroes after they die, thus summoning the copies. But since this system came out, it is possible that we can summon antagonists of the heroes, called Anti – Heroes. It's also possible for one to summon another servant of the same class, due to the fact that the Grail had not found one worthy of claiming it yet, thus building up a massive amount of power."

"So that means…that this Grail War is a joke from the beginning?" Kejoro exasperated.

"You can put it like that, Goshujin – sama, although not entirely from the beginning. I can only deduce that it's the corruption from the last war that is at fault, not the original Grail. The corrupted Grail can still grant a wish, although I'm not sure how the Grail will do it. All I know that if the victor makes a wish, it will lead to disastrous results." Tamamo cleared it up, but still Kejoro's uneasiness made her unsure too of whether she'll participate or not.

"More specifically, the end of the world as we know it." Nurarihyon concluded while lighting another pipe. Tamamo just sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Rikuo wouldn't allow that to happen, since he himself had laid down the regulations regarding protecting human lives at all costs, even if it kills him. But still, the issue of protecting humans on a wide – scale basis requires many youkai to cooperate on this one."

"And that's the reason why there are rules to the Holy Grail War. To minimize involvement of the spirits and humans, Masters are required to not let them know that a war is going to take place. As much as possible, the ones who will be informed of this must be set to a minimum." Tamamo finished.

This is a chance for Kejoro to prove her worthiness to the Third Heir, but now that she found out that the wish granting device was a fraud, she's not sure whether to continue the fight or not. But Caster herself had said that it will involve the fate of human lives, whether she will participate or not. Adding to her dilemma is the current regulation of the Third Heir to protect human lives at all costs.

"Thank you for the information that you gave us right now, Caster. Just give me some time to think about this. For now, let's eat. The food is getting cold with all the discussions that we held today." Kejoro finished her sentence with a hint of tiredness in her voice. Tamamo felt it too, but that was the crucial information that needs to be said since this involves human lives. Good thing youkai also have a sense of code, now that she thought about it, she felt from the Third Heir's power that he is only one – fourth youkai.

A teenager with his feet soaked in blood was happy at the strange blue – cloaked "demon" that he had summoned; all the while the news flash was blabbering about a serial killer who left mysterious pentagrams in every household that he came in. The "demon" with big eyes and a strange book bowed to him and asked, "I am Caster. I ask of you, are you my master?"

Tamamo concentrated on her mirror and poured her prana into it. She watched Assassin and the golden armored guy in action through one of the doves that she perceived was there. She felt odd of the reasons why the golden guy had already sensed Assassin, when she knows that the latter has Presence Concealment skill. Although she deduced that the golden guy is Archer, she can't believe that he was an Archer due to the innumerable Noble Phantasms that he shoots out just as easily as firing arrows. What's more confounding for her is the fact that he has numerous Noble Phantasms instead of one or two. Normally servants can have multiple Noble Phantasms; but the maximum amount that she deduced was three at its most and one at its least. For someone who wants to defeat that servant, he or she must have a Noble Phantasm that can provide the ultimate defense, and use it to find an opening. Archers have a weak defense after all. Also, Archers have a tendency to be haughty due to high rank on Independent Action skills and look down on their opponents just because they can get the best bird's eye view of them. She therefore concluded for the moment that the Archer that they will face is the strongest, unless someone summoned a Saber far stronger than that Archer.

This is a decision she won't regret. She can be able to save lives by forming alliances with other Masters, and tell them to destroy the abomination that they call the Grail. With Caster's help, what could go wrong? She pondered on all these thoughts while wandering inside the clan house.

So Kejoro walked up to where Caster was concentrating on. She saw that while Caster was not sleeping at all, she doesn't have any eye bags. Perhaps this is a result of her being summoned as a Servant. Or this is the result of being a facet of a goddess in her former life.

"Hey, I didn't notice you were here the whole time," Caster said, still concentrated on her mirror to check up for current events on Fuyuki City. Well, Kejoro does not need to marvel at all what her Caster can do. After all, she is the best Servant when it comes to casting spells.

"Yeah, I can't really sleep at all due to information overload," She mumbled jokingly. "Speaking of sleeping, why don't you sleep for a moment?"

"I must do this in order for us to plan accordingly on our future actions in regards to the Grail War. As a precaution, I have set a field on the Clan House not noticeable by any other Magi, so that when someone attacks, it will set off an alarm." She explained without losing breath.

"I see. By the way, what are you watching right there?" Kejoro inquired while looking at the mirror that Caster is watching on right now.

"Right now I'm replaying the events of the first fight, if it was even considered a first battle. Here's Assassin…" freezing the frame and pointing out to the white skull mask man "and Archer," freezing the frame again and pointing to the golden armored blonde guy who just released a massive amount of weapons. Caster replayed again the events where Assassin sneaked up to kill the Master when Archer appeared.

"From what I know of modern assassins, they will not sneak up in the open like that." Kejoro deduced and Caster affirmed her suspicions.

"That's what I thought too, that this first battle is a farce. No Assassin is foolish enough to let down his Presence Concealment skill just to kill off one master." Caster paused to sip on her hot green tea before she continued.

"Even more suspicious is Archer. How could he see Assassin just like that? I knew that Archers have a keen bird's eye view, but they don't have the skill of predicting what the enemy will do from that distance. Unless…"

"There's an alliance between two masters." Kejoro finished it for her. "It's possible for the Masters to form alliances in this war, right?"

"Yes, although it will be only for a short period of time. Wait, don't tell me…" Caster prepared herself for the riskiest plan that her Master will say.

"I'll forge an alliance. As to who, I don't really know. But if the master we formed an alliance with will win this war, we can convince him or her to destroy the Grail. In the meantime, we can share information with them, along with ours." Kejoro finished.

"That…" Caster drove her point by slamming her fist above Kejoro's head "is the most foolish plan a Master could formulate." Kejoro attended to her injury that Caster had made. "Be thankful that I didn't infuse prana into that, and be thankful that I am on your side." Caster finished with a huff. But then a plan more risky than Kejoro's popped up into Caster's mind.

"But I think I can put remedy into your foolish plan." Caster announced happily. Kejoro wondered what was going on into that mind of hers and sighed.

She continued, "If we can get information on some of the masters, we can figure out who summoned Saber. Saber classes are known to be the strongest Servants in this war, and if we get a hold of the Master of Saber, we can tell our plans to him, along with information about the condition of the grail. Then in exchange, he or she must destroy the Grail through their Servant!" she finished her sentence gleefully.

Somehow her mind is more strange than mine, she concluded.

Yay, Chapter finished…

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