"Fuyuki will be destroyed by Avenger by the end of the month. We need a contingency."
Perhaps not the greatest way to begin their little meeting, but Petr Kučera wasn't one to dance around the point. Formalities were unnecessary.
The statements, simple and poignant, drew forth the well-known, well-hated smirk of Lord Kayneth El-Milloi, a pale and blonde gentleman who held himself in such high regard others often lost sight of his ego until it came meteorically crashing down.
"It's not the most comforting ideas, is it?" Kayneth pondered.
Petr glanced at the two other parties in the room: Lord Marisbury Animusphere and Lord Brishisan. All three Lords were representatives of the Clock Tower—not only representatives, but leaders. Powerful figures among the Twelve Lords. All his life, Petr stood outside of that little coalition, watching and keeping up with them but never allowed to be included.
Until recently, when something drastic changed.
They all sat together in a dimly lit room deep in the bowels of Barcelona, well away from the eyes of the Mage's Association or Holy Church. Of course, the Clock Tower at large probably didn't know of the situation about which they had to meet, but those in power would.
It was hard not to attract attention when just one of the Twelve Lords got involved with something, let alone three. Though, Petr noted, Lord Kayneth was only involved due to the coming war in Fuyuki, of which he'd been chosen.
He wished he'd been selected for this mess.
"Victory should be all but assured though, yes?" Lord Marisbury asked. Petr eyed them. A paler but younger-appearing figure among the Twelve Lords. He could thank his studies of mana and time among potent mages for his youthful guise. He was, in truth, no younger than someone like Petr. "Given the artifact you were able to retrieve, Kayneth?"
Kayneth sneered. "It is assured, yes, but not because of my artifact. It was stolen. By whom? I'm not sure, likely another of the Masters, an excellent thief. Perhaps the mage-slayer Emiya, or Tokiomi Tohsaka. I know how much our Association respects the three families but—."
"So long as we have a stake in Fuyuki I am not too concerned," Animusphere said with a grin. They had a higher voice, a deceitfully jovial one. "Regardless of who the three families put into the gauntlet, and whoever else the Grail chooses, Lord Kayneth is the most skilled mage of the lot."
"A single mage, powerful Servant or no, is not enough to resist what Avenger is going to do to Fuyuki," Lord Brishisan said. "The stain of the Einzberns must be eradicated in this Grail War. Otherwise, we'll lose much more than just Fuyuki. The entire world will be put in danger. We'll be exposed."
"You're pretending as if this year won't be the most…momentous for all of magecraft we've seen in millennia," Petr muttered. "Two wars, and a vile Servant running amok in one?"
"It is exciting," Kayneth said. "This is history! It's always frightening to be a part of history as it's occurring."
Brishisan stood. He had a commanding presence. Not a necessarily imposing figure, but the command and stature he held among the Twelve Lords was unparalleled. It silenced even the potent mouth of Kayneth El-Milloi.
"I don't care for excitement," Brishisan said. "We're all evading the true purpose of this meeting. More than that, we're ignoring the fact that we have been made fools of."
Petr gripped his forearm, hidden under thin robes. Still, Brishisan's gaze settled on Petr.
Thankfully, Petr was saved. He let out a subtle sigh of relief as the heavy doors into the chamber creaked open, and a set of confident footsteps echoed from down the corridor.
An older man with wrinkly olive skin and thinning black hair approached. He wore the appropriate attire of a priest. None of the mages flinched at the sight of this churchman. He was supposed to arrive later on, after they'd had enough time to discuss the oncoming situation beyond Fuyuki, where the church's true desires and cares lay.
"Father Gregory Cilano," Animusphere chirped.
Father Cilano eyed Petr, the most dressed-down and conspicuous of the lot, before taking his own heavy wooden seat in hand.
"Good to see you all," Fr. Cilano said.
Brishisan took his seat back as Fr. Cilano joined them at the table, completing the pentagon of chairs to be filled. Now, everything could be laid bare. All sides could be heard, all ideas accepted or rejected.
For Petr, he was mostly interested in theories. They waded into completely unfamiliar territory, and needed even the Church, so bound to faith and holy texts, to posit ideas.
Fr. Cilano had been originally reluctant to even bother meeting with the members of the Clock Tower. The Holy Church was concerned mightily with what was going to happen in Fuyuki. The Holy Grail had been tampered with immensely in the Third Holy Grail War, so they had to be sure they had all their ducks in a row when going into the Fourth War.
Petr had even heard that the son of a priest was fighting in the war, as practically ordained by the church that he do so.
It left them practically blind to the contentious arrival of the Moon Cell.
Well, Petr considered, arrival was not the correct phrasing. The Moon Cell, as was believed, had simply always been in some form of fashion, similar to how the Holy Grail's power had almost always existed, but hadn't been exploited until the first members of the Three Families came around for a Grail War.
The Mage's Association always knew there was more to the cosmos than what was simply bound to Earth and its many facets, like the Reverse Side of the World. What was it that always bugged the Mage's Association, what was it that made them afraid of a great something?
This. The great Moon Cell, as they dubbed it, situated on the Dark Side of the Moon, they believed. Perhaps it was the entirety of the Moon itself.
Recent history didn't allow the Association to look into it that much. Grail Wars and new alchemical discoveries constantly intervened.
But as the Fourth Holy Grail War approached, the Clock Tower received a message. Recent mages and scientists had worked together to gather a new material to the Association: photonic crystals.
One of the crystals had been used to write a message to the Clock Tower, and greater Association at large: "Your practices have been studied. We would like our turn. The First Moon Cell War shall commence in Winterbaum. Bring your greatest hopes."
At first, nobody believed it. They thought it a spell, a trick, by someone in the building.
That was, until, new forms of magical energy were spotted around the world, concentrated, it seemed, onto specific individuals, just like a Master in a Grail War.
The crystals continued to work, some even vanishing from the clutches of the Association and vanishing completely. The crystals never denoted who the Masters of this "war" would be, but did work to detail that it would be a private affair. It would be pure as the other three Grail Wars were.
Petr found a certain curiosity from this force. The Moon Cell was so far beyond their understanding, yet, it seemed, that it also didn't fully comprehend what humanity was doing with their Grail Wars. Why, Petr continued to wonder, did the Moon Cell care?
Did the Moon Cell have a capacity for caring in the first place?
Petr snapped back into the conversation, hearing the hum-drum of conversation while his mind swam with possibility. His left arm throbbed and he left his right hand over it. Lord Brishisan glanced over at Petr but made nothing of the man.
"What of Kotomine?" Animusphere asked.
Fr. Cilano glanced at Kayneth. "He is potent. Dangerous. Tohsaka has been training him personally in magecraft for years now, since he was designated as a Master."
"Of?"
"Assassin."
Petr sensed the tension in the room rise, just a bit. That was one Servant they knew was off the board. The Einzberns, having acquired the scabbard Avalon, would likely get Saber in their ring.
Tohsaka acquired one of the most powerful artifacts on his journeys, and would have the strongest Servant, period, behind him.
It was believed that Kayneth had the second strongest, or at least one that could overwhelm the other Heroic Spirits with ease.
"No matter," Kayneth said.
"We need to utilize our relationship with the Tohsakas," Petr said.
"Who have established themselves with another Master, it's all working in our favor if we want to stifle the rise of a deviant Servant," Animusphere said.
"They need to listen to me, then," Kayneth said. "And I don't believe I've heard a word from Tokiomi Tohsaka. He thinks himself superior to me. To us."
"Kotomine will listen to the will of the church," Fr. Cilano said.
Brishisan stood at once, catching everyone's attention. That single move silenced all conversation. Petr, who was already silent, felt like digging himself in further. He wasn't shy or afraid to speak; he was just unwilling to say the wrong thing. Even though, he knew, he had no choice but to be involved.
"Unless that tiny Tohsaka girl is involved in what the Moon Cell wants I couldn't care about what they are doing in Fuyuki," Brishisan said. "What are we going to do in Winterbaum? We know Kayneth will do everything he can to get the Grail for us. But we have to know what we can do in Winterbaum."
Fr. Cilano sighed and straightened his priest's robes. "The Holy Church has no givings or misgivings for the events set to occur."
That caught even Animusphere's attention. Kayneth shrugged, as if he expected them to back away from this.
"The Moon Cell is, I'm sure, a gift bestowed upon our cosmos by God. But it is a technological marvel. It is something we do not fully understand. Our concerns are ensuring the safety of the Grail. Avenger is a threat to our standing with it."
"And the Moon Cell isn't a threat?" Animusphere asked. "You'll ignore it?"
"You're pretending we can't use the Grail to our advantage in that regard," Fr. Cilano said, a bit of urgency in his voice. Brishisan nodded at that. "I understand the fear around this, but we've no reason to react irrationally to this. Per my understanding, the Moon Cell War will operate no different from any other Holy Grail War, right?"
The other Lords fell silent, and now, at last, came Petr's turn to speak again. He stood, slowly, and as he did, rolled his sleeve up.
Blue markings mired his arm, running all the way up his forearm, in some cases wrapping around it. They held a faint blue glowing hue. Surely, those from the Clock Tower could sense their dormant power.
"Everything to this point, given the studies I've undergone of previous Grail Wars, is as it should be," Petr said.
Brishisan could not take his eyes off the spare Command Seals befitting the Overseer's role. It wasn't an envious look, nor was it one of anger. It was a stern concern, befitting that of an inexperienced warrior having to lead troops onto the battlefield.
"Plus," Petr said, his hands shaking. Brishisan raised his eyebrow. "I've made sure to communicate as such with the Moon Cell itself."
Fr. Cilano stood at once. Kayneth raised his own interested eyebrow.
"You've communicated?" Cilano spat.
"I don't know what exactly I've done," Petr said. "It's been as if I've been passing on information as I receive it, like something has been watching over my shoulder. It's guided my lessons, pulling my attention where it needs, not where my curiosities lie. I've dreamed of a realm full of blue grids and a closed arena. As I wander, I'm prodded and interrogated but I never speak, I never do anything but walk. Sometimes I think it isn't a dream, that I am truly on the Moon Cell. But then, I wake."
"The Moon Cell is an unknown entity," Brishisan said. "Which is why we cannot simply disregard it." Those words were physically aimed right at Fr. Cilano. "And why you, Petr, must be our Overseer. I know, it would be easier for one of us to do it, but the Association would simply gather too much attention if we were to put one of the Twelve Lords in Winterbaum without reason."
"Our focus must remain on the Grail War," Kayneth said.
"I understand," Petr said.
And he did, truly he did. Petr would have been surprised to be not involved at all, even with the spare Command Seals. Animusphere or someone like Lord Solonea would be their true preference, and would probably, under normal circumstances, take up the job and let Petr be there as a proxy. The Holy Church always trusted their Priests to run the show for the Grail War.
He was joked to be the "Thirteenth Lord." His power and intellect were quite formidable, but he had no family name. That alone should be enough to topple any Servants or Masters that tried to step in his way, interfere with the plans of the Clock Tower and Mage's Association.
"You have our support, of course," Brishisan said. "But you hold, now, an incredible power and influence. You will do us proud, Petr."
"Not only that," Kayneth said. "But you will do what is necessary when the time comes."
Petr nodded again, and slowly took his seat.
The Moon Cell wanted things to operate just like a Grail War. Once all Servants had been defeated, once all Masters but one were dead, the sole survivor would be able to make their wish on it, and with its incredible power, it would see it done. To their knowledge, the Moon Cell could do this without repercussions.
When the time came, there could be only one winner of the Grail War:
Petr himself.
The other Masters and Servants would have frugal, vain wishes on the Moon Cell. But the Mage's Association needed the Moon Cell. It would prove a critical component of their studies and understanding of all reality moving forward. Petr would kill the remaining Master, eradicating their Servant in the process, and would ensure part of the Moon Cell stayed on Earth. Then, they could have their burgeoning division, Atlas, take part in its studies, and let them rise up to challenge the egotistical ranks of the Clock Tower.
At least, that would be Petr's wish. He was only allowed to have it anchored to Earth for study.
With this understanding in place, Kayneth got to his feet.
"Then I'm going to take my leave." He adjusted his gloves, ensuring they fit him perfectly. "I have a flight for Fuyuki, and my wife will have gathered my artifact for summoning later this evening. I'll be in touch, my Lords."
He did not, as was custom, bow his head. Instead, he took his leave.
Animusphere and Fr. Cilano left shortly after, once they had enough time to talk poorly of Lord Kayneth. Petr rightly assumed he had to stay behind to speak with Brishisan, who approached.
"I will not underplay the importance of your mission," Brishisan said. "Let them squabble in Fuyuki. Avenger's power can be easily dwarfed by the Moon Cell. Even if Fuyuki falls, we cannot let them run loose."
"I know."
Brishisan grasped Petr's Command Seal arm.
"There's one more thing," he said, his voice low, barely audible even to Petr. "Do not think you are alone, even with us watching. Masters and Servants can be swayed when their hearts and desires are on the line. You can make allies, Petr. And you can use your power to ensure those allies are not weak."
He squeezed Petr's arm.
"I know you've taught the Moon Cell all it needs to know about the rules," Brishisan said. "Including how to break them if necessary."
Petr set his jaw and Brishisan stepped back. He gave Petr a firm nod, then gestured for him to head out of the chamber.
Brishisan flicked his wrist and the lights continued to dim, casting them into absolute darkness until the doors at the other end opened, revealing a stone candlelit hallway to guide Petr back onto the streets of Barcelona, buzzing with life, humanity, and utter ignorance at the world-engulfing power headed for all of them very soon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This does NOT take place in the Fate/EXTRA or Grand Order timelines. This event is in the primary F/Z or F/SN timeline. The Moon Cell is a brand new "thing" for this world (even though I'm sure there's stuff in other stories to indicate it has involvement with F/Z, F/SN or F/hollow ataraxia) and this is mostly my attempt at writing a fresh, brand new "War" with new Masters and Servants separate, for the most part, from the other timelines.
This story will feature (to my knowledge) never-before-seen Heroic Spirits, historical figures that I don't think have characters in the Nasuverse or Fate timeline.
Hope you enjoy!