November 24th, 2004 AD – London, Clocktower
There were several places where the Lords of the Clocktower could gather to discuss matters reserved for those of their exalted rank – or, in Waver's case, those who had managed to stumble into the position through no merit of their own. Some of them took days of travel and spiritual preparation to reach, but fortunately, this time they had all agreed to use the council chamber within the Clocktower itself. Its security was just as good as any of the other options, but its location meant that everyone who mattered would know that the Lords were meeting. On his way to the antechamber reserved for him, Waver had heard at least a dozen rumors as to the subject of their discussion, though at least Bazett and Gray had kept anyone from asking him questions.
Despite his reputation as a dissector of Mysteries, Waver remained the most approachable of the Lords, which really was quite the indictment of the group when you thought about it.
Four days had passed since his visit to the ruins of the Animusphere Castle, five since the summoning ritual had taken place there. Waver had just gotten off a phone call with Shirou Emiya informing him of the events unfolding in Fuyuki when the call for the meeting had reached him – another snub thrown his way by the Clocktower's bureaucracy, as he didn't doubt for a moment the other Lords had been warned much more in advance.
He looked around at the well-furnished antechamber, desperate for anything to get his mind off the coming meeting. There was one such room for every Lord, accessible only using a key that would kill anyone else carrying it, and a crest above the door leading to the meeting room would glow when everyone had arrived. Gray and Bazett stood next to the entrance while he paced; they could follow him this far, but they wouldn't be able to accompany him into the meeting room itself. Even Reines couldn't come in, despite the fact Waver was just holding the seat of Lord until she came of age.
There was a painting hanging from one of the side walls of the antechamber. It showed a man in his fifties, with a dignified beard and mane of grey hair, wearing a black costume and cape. The style of dress was anachronistic in the extreme, but then again, given the identity of the subject, it could very well have been something he would have worn despite that style of clothing not being invented for centuries.
The painting showed the man standing tall on an open plain, with a moonless night sky in the background. He held in his hands a sword that looked like a jewel, point resting on the ground. The artistry of the painting gave the impression that he was staring back at the viewer, judging their worthiness but withholding any conclusion he might come to.
For all that he felt like a fraud every time he saw it, Waver quite liked the painting.
"Teacher," asked Gray, "who is that ?"
"You don't recognize him ?" replied Waver, surprised. Bazett looked equally taken aback. "His portraits are a frequent sight across the Clocktower."
"I've seen him before," the silver-haired girl admitted, "but I still don't know who that is."
"I feel ashamed as your instructor," muttered Waver. "Then again, I guess I just assumed everyone in the Moonlit World knew about him … Very well. We might as well use the time before my esteemed colleagues arrive for an impromptu lesson."
"This," he began, "is Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Wizard-Marshall of the Association, wielder of the Second Magic, and savior of the World."
"Centuries ago, the being we know only as Brunestud, the Crimson Moon, descended upon the Earth. Its intentions were benevolent : having witnessed the many plights and suffering of Humanity, it sought to help us achieve our true potential. To that end, it selected those it found most worthy of its gift, appearing before them and making them its Apostles."
"So Brunestud was an alien ?"
"I don't know for certain. it came from the Moon, and you know we don't talk about the Moon."
Gray nodded, having been taught that much long before she had become his apprentice, at least. There were subjects you didn't talk about, didn't even think about if you could help it. To do otherwise was to court the same kind of madness that plagued the practitioners of Astrology.
"Brunestud chose the wisest and kindest of men and women for this, as well as a few Magi who weren't quite as awful as most of our kind. This was before the foundation of the Association, of course : back then, Magecraft was practiced by scattered lineages all across the World, with little interaction with each other."
"These Apostles were granted immortality, that they might help guide and protect Humanity as well as safeguard its accumulated wisdom across the ages. To facilitate that task, the Crimson Moon also gifted them with the ability to absorb knowledge through blood. They didn't need it for nourishment, for they were sustained by Brunestud's own power."
Gray was standing very still. She could already see where this was going : ignorant of ancient history she might be, but she knew the monsters of the World like few others.
"According to what few records survive, for a time there was peace, with the Apostles doing exactly as Brunestud had intended." For a moment, Waver imagined what it must have been like. Then he sighed. "But then, one by one, they went mad. No one knows why for certain, though there are plenty of theories."
"The Apostles were consumed by a terrible Thirst for human blood. They resisted it for months, even years, but eventually all succumbed to it, and turned on the communities that had gathered around them. Thousands perished, but those who were drained of blood by these first Apostles did not rest in peace. Instead they rose again, possessed of a distorted echo of the gift Brunestud had bestowed upon its chosen Apostles. They were the first of what we call Dead Apostles : a plague upon the World, their very souls twisted by the all-consuming Thirst."
"And so began a war between the Dead Apostles and the entire world, though calling it a war might be an exaggeration. The Dead Apostles were so consumed by the Thirst that they paid little heed to tactics and strategy. It was more like a zombie apocalypse, except the Dead Apostles were far stronger than the undead depicted in most modern fiction. The only reason Humanity wasn't wiped out in the first few months is that even then, the Dead Apostles couldn't bear sunlight and were forced to hide during the day."
"Even then, entire nations were brought to ruin. Meanwhile, Brunestud searched for a way to save its children, but found nothing. In the end," Waver gestured to the statue, "salvation came from a Magus who, amidst the madness of the war, managed to reach the Root and returned with knowledge of the Second Magic."
"The Second Magic is the operation of parallel worlds. With it, Zelretch could access information from timelines that could have been, and which are recorded in the memory of the World itself. Using it, he devised many spells that could be used against the undead hordes, but that wasn't all. The Second Magic also allowed him to channel far more prana than a normal Magus could, making him a terror on the battlefield. He gathered the Magecraft Users of the entire world, laying the foundation for what would become the Association generations later, and led them to purge the Dead Apostles, one nest at a time. The old accords that bind us to the Church also harken back to that time, when the entire Moonlit World fought as one – or as close to it as it would ever get."
"And they won ?" asked Gray in a small voice.
"Well, given that we are all alive to talk about it instead of the planet being a barren wasteland, obviously they did," Waver joked, before schooling his expression. "But victory didn't come without its own pitfalls. Eventually, the roaming hordes of Dead Apostles were annihilated, though of course not every undead was destroyed. A few escaped, and their curse continues to blight the world to this day, despite the best efforts of many monster hunting organizations, be they from the Association or the Church."
Thousands of lives had been lost to the depredations of the Dead Apostles over the centuries. It was a vicious cycle, not unlike those of an incurable disease : those infected would hide while some of their sanity remained, preying on isolated people to satiate their Thirst and futilely clinging to their humanity, until they succumbed to madness and went on a rampage that would inevitably see them destroyed one way or another, but which created a lot more infected, some of which may slip through the net and repeat the whole process all over again.
And then of course, there were the Magi who tried to use the curse in order to gain immortality, willing to become blood-drinking undead abominations if it meant they had more time to pursue the Root. Every few decades, a new moron got it in his head that he would be the one to succeed where everyone else had failed and died in agony, and every few decades, the Enforcers had to clean up the mess when yet another Magus went mad, his precautions and alterations brought to naught in the face of the Thirst. These tended to be the most dangerous Dead Apostles, at least for the few months where they retained enough presence of mind to make use of their Mysteries before that, too, was lost, along with the Magus' Magical Circuits and Crest. Attempts had been made in the past to recover the Crests of such converted. As a Lord, Waver had access to the records of how that had gone, and he had suffered from fresh nightmares for a week after.
As he had told Gray, there were plenty of theories as to what had gone wrong in Brunestud's creations, along with equally disturbing theories as to what a Dead Apostle could become capable of if it existed long enough in its cursed state. Mercifully, no vampire had managed to exist for more than a few years, a decade at best, since that first, apocalyptic conflict. The madness of the Thirst consumed all reason sooner or later, turning even the cleverest of schemers into a rabid beast.
Better not to inflict that particular knowledge on his apprentice and keep to ancient history for now, Waver decided. It was more than disturbing enough already.
"By that time," he continued, "Brunestud had managed to capture and gather them all into one place, where it was still attempting to free them of the Thirst. No one was willing to let it try, however, especially since it had already been doing that for years and nothing had come from it. Zelretch attacked the stronghold and killed the Apostles in person, but unfortunately, doing so drove Brunestud itself mad. The Crimson Moon had been in deep communion with its children, and their madness and corruption flowed up the connection and infected it with the Thirst."
"Brunestud attempted to descend upon the Earth to devour everything upon it, and Zelretch fought to stop it. The details are obviously vague, due to the fact there were no survivors and it involved a Sorcerer, but it ended in a mutual kill – kind of. The Crimson Moon was destroyed, but Zelretch was forced to use his True Magic to wield the power of the World itself against it. His essence was shattered into fragments that were then scattered across the ley lines."
"From time to time, one of these Reflections manage to get a physical form and will interact with someone – most of the time a Magecraft User, but not always. These Reflections of the Kaleidoscope, as Zelretch was known, are regarded with the highest respect by those in the Moonlit World, and though they are but a shadow of the Wizard-Marshall of old, they are still powerful and knowledgeable in their own right."
Waver smiled bitterly. "They also tend to not have the kindest of views on some of the Association's less morale practices, which is why despite honoring him with paintings like this one, many of the Bounded Fields around the Clocktower, for instance, just happen to interfere with the ley lines, which might prevent a Reflection from manifesting within its grounds. Of course, if you ask anyone, they'll tell you it's for security purposes."
"Have you ever met one, Lord El-Melloi II ?" asked Bazett.
"No," he shook his head. "It is a very rare occurrence for a Reflection to manifest, and it draws a lot of attention when it happens. Come to think of it, he added, I remember that the whole Tohsaka lineage in Fuyuki really took off after their founder met with one of them in a bar of all places -"
He was interrupted when the sigil above the council gate flared into life, indicating that each of the Lords of the Clocktower was ready.
"Well, here I go," he said miserably, standing up. "Wish me luck."
"Good luck, Teacher !" said Gray with a smile far too honest to belong in this place.
"Try not to get killed," said Bazett, only half-joking. It had been a long time since a Lord of the Clocktower had been killed in the middle of such a meeting, but it wasn't unheard of.
Truly, he thought, to be a Magus was to walk with Death.
It was, mused Lorelei Barthomelloi, quite the strange gathering of Lords. There were twelve Departments of the Clocktower that ought to be represented at such a convocation, but there were only eleven seats around the table, and one of them was empty.
They sat around an oversized round table of black wood, carved from the trunk of a tree whose species only existed in the Reverse Side of the World. Powerful enchantments were carved into its surface in elegant patterns, adding another layer of security to the anti-scrying Bounded Fields already in place around the chamber. The origins of the artefact were lost to time, though Barthomelloi suspected it had once belonged to Morgan Le Fay, who had planned her campaigns against King Arthur around it with her generals.
The seats of the Lords were equally ornate, though nowhere near as ancient. By custom, a seat was destroyed when the incumbent Lord died or was otherwise removed from office, and a new one brought in by their replacement upon their ascension.
"As acting Vice-Director of the Clocktower, I call this meeting of the Lords to order," she declared, and in a display of power that dwarfed many Mysteries, the assembled worthies of the Association fell silent. "Our purpose today is to discuss the events of the Animusphere Castle, their consequences, and what the reaction of the Clocktower to both ought to be."
"I trust that you have all read the report compiled by my Department," she continued. In fact, most of them had probably read it before she had officially sent it to them : despite her best efforts to root out corruption in her staff, the sheer size of the bureaucracy involved in Policies' work made such a task impossible. "But just in case, I will summarize the results of the investigations."
She briefly went over the dates of the gathering Marisbury had called, and the timeline of events they believed had then occurred.
"We believe a Servant was responsible for the destruction of the Animusphere Castle and the death of those present," she concluded. "Our prevalent theory is that the Servant managed to kill Marisbury before he could control them using his Command Seals, and took the corpses missing to use them in some Necromantic Mystery. It is also possible, though considered unlikely, that Marisbury was an accomplice in his Servant's actions, or even their instigator."
"Which brings us to our first point of discussion." Her gaze swept over the other nine Lords before falling upon the empty seat opposite her, where Marisbury had sat when they had last gathered in this room. "What do we do about the chair of the Department of Astrology ?"
"We'll need to appoint someone swiftly, that's for sure. And managing that particular Department is a full-time job, so it cannot be one of us," said Meluastea, showing a remarkable lack of shame about the fact that he himself led two Departments.
Unfortunately, he was correct, so no one called him out on it.
"Marisbury's daughter is the rightful heir and obvious candidate if we go by protocol," said El-Melloi, whose seat was the least richly decorated in the room, but which still bore enchantments she hadn't identified – the fruit of the mongrel research his students performed, no doubt. "She bears the Crest of the Animusphere already. I have met with her, and she is a capable wielder of her family's Mysteries despite her young age."
Of course, Barthomelloi had known about this already. Her agents – she refused to think of her so demeaning as spies, for such was below the dignity of the Barthomelloi – had told her that the Lord El-Melloi II had met with the child almost as soon as he had come back from her ruined home. They didn't know how that conversation had gone, but Olga Marie Asmleit Animusphere had submitted the paperwork to become a student in the El-Melloi classroom, so obviously whatever agenda the newest Lord was pursuing advanced apace.
Not that this was surprising, or unexpected. If it had been the Head of any other Department who had died, the jockeying for position in order to put one of their own Faction members in charge would have already begun, and there would already be a few bodies down by now. When El-Melloi's predecessor had managed to get himself killed in the previous Grail War ten years ago, Meluastea hadn't wasted any time to cement his control over the Department of Mineralogy the dead Lord had presided over, for instance. It was also highly unlikely that every Lord would bother to attend in person : most would have sent proxies in their stead, as they did for the vast majority of these meetings.
But this was the Department of Astrology, and that made things more complicated. For all the prestige, power, influence and wealth the Department possessed, it also had a long history of its members going insane (which was why few Lords had been surprised when they had heard the news about Animusphere Castle). The fact that the Animusphere Castle had also been destroyed, along with so many prominent Magi of the Department, also played a role in ensuring that every surviving Lord had attended in person, a rare occurrence if ever there was one.
"She's young, however," continued the man who had joined the ranks of the Lords last, if only by a few months given Barthomelloi's comparative youth, "and lacks experience. While I've no doubt she'll make a fine Head of the Animusphere family eventually, dumping the Department of Astrology on her shoulders right now isn't just cruel, it's also stupid. She herself agrees with this, though she fully intends to reclaim the seat at some point."
"Well, at least the girl has ambition. This leaves us with quite the quandary, however, since most of the obvious candidates were at the Animusphere Castle," pointed out Rufleus Nuada-Re Eulyphis, the Lord of the Department of Spiritual Evocation. The wizened Magus was scowling : either by temperament or because of his advanced age, he didn't like unexpected surprises, and this whole situation definitely qualified. "The Astrology Department has been crippled for at least one generation."
"Even if Marisbury survived and returns from the Grail War, his involvement in this debacle is more than enough to strip him of his position," said Barthomelloi. "Therefore, I suggest we formally declare the position vacant, and wait for a suitable candidate to present themselves." She frowned. "Also, I feel I should remind everyone at this table not to get too involved in the competition. We do not want the Magi of that Department to go to open war with each other again."
She smiled, knowing from experience the expression tended to make people around her nervous.
"None of us want a repeat of the 1908 incident."
Keeping the mundanes from realizing something had happened had been impossible. According to the records of that era she had read, it had been a challenge to even prevent them from realizing a research facility of the Astrology Department had stood at the center of the crater that had been left behind. Thankfully that region of Russia had been scarcely populated.
If the same thing happened today, in this era of nuclear weapons, it could all too easily end up burning the entire world in atomic fire.
One by one, each of the Lords signified their agreement, and that particular matter was concluded.
"Now that we are in agreement, there is another point I want to raise, related to the events of the Animusphere Castle," she declared. "It does not affect the matter of succession, but it is relevant to the topic at hand. You are all aware, of course, of the Fifth Holy Grail War taking place in Japan at this time. It was to participate in it that the former Lord Animusphere performed the disastrous summoning in the first place."
"If a Servant has gone rogue, then we need to make sure they don't endanger the secrecy of Magecraft," said Jigmarie, Lord of the Department of Curses. "If I recall correctly, the Grail summons only Heroic Spirits with a wish they seek to have granted, in order to make sure they participate in the War, right ? Combined with the missing Animusphere plane, it's quite clear the one responsible has gone to the Far East, to … what was that place called again ?"
"Fuyuki," answered El-Melloi, who was the one with the most experience in the matter. "And yes, this is where Policies' investigators and myself both believe the culprit left to. They could have gone somewhere else, of course, but that is our only lead."
"Has there been any word from the Church Overseer ?" Rufleus asked.
"None," answered Barthomelloi. Which, truthfully, was just as worrying as the opposite.
"We should still deploy our people in the area," said Jigmarie. "Keeping things under wraps last time was difficult enough, it's best if we have boots on the ground in advance so we aren't caught by surprise if things go wrong again this time."
"Agreed. I can prepare a few teams of Enforcers specialized in memory and record manipulation -"
"Lady Barthomelloi," El-Melloi cut in, "I must respectfully advise against this course of action."
Complete, stunned silence descended upon the gathered Lords. Barthomelloi herself was taken completely by surprise. No one interrupted her. Ever. She was the Head of the Barthomelloi family, one of the Clocktower's three most influential lineages and the leader of the Aristocratic Faction.
She wasn't the kind of idiot and arrogant noble who punished people for disagreeing with her, but interrupting her mid-sentence was another thing entirely.
"Explain yourself, Lord El-Melloi II," she said coldly. He nodded, taking her tone in stride without seeming the least bit intimidated.
"Following my investigation at the Animusphere Castle, I called my contacts in Fuyuki to learn if anything amiss had happened there as well."
"And who are these mysterious contacts of yours ?" she asked.
"Masters in the current Grail War, each of whom having already summoned their own Servants," answered El-Melloi. "To be more precise, as of today, they are an alliance of four Masters, including all three representatives of the families who created the ritual in the first place."
"You said four Masters, but three families," Barthomelloi pointed out. "Who is the fourth ?"
"That isn't relevant to our discussion," he answered with a face that might as well have been carved from stone for all the emotion it betrayed. "They have uncovered irregularities in the Grail War, and have put the competition on hold while they investigate."
"What do you mean, 'irregularities' ?" challenged Jigmarie.
"The Servants they have summoned, while not hostile like the one we believe was called at the Animusphere Castle, shouldn't have been summonable by the rules of the Grail War in the first place. Then, of course, there's the fact that this war started much earlier than it should have. They think the Grail was cursed starting from the Fourth War, due to an irregular summoning that took place during the Third. Obviously, I was sceptical of their claims at first, but what happened at the Animusphere Castle, as well as other anomalies in the summonings they have performed themselves, have convinced me that they are telling the truth."
"The possibility of the Grail War exposing Magecraft to the world still exists, of course," conceded El-Melloi. "If anything, the Grail's potential corruption makes the situation even more perilous. But that is precisely why we shouldn't rush in."
He paused, looking each of the Lords briefly in the eye before locking gazes with Barthomelloi. The two were sat next to one another, but the sheer size of the table meant that the Lord of the Department of Modern Magecraft barely had to move his neck to complete the motion.
"I do not mean this as an insult to the Enforcers or your family's employees, Lady Barthomelloi. It is simply the truth. Servants have access to powers that are lost to us," he explained, telling her the obvious as if she were a student sat in his classroom. "The Heaven's Feel ritual calls upon the Greater Mysteries of the World to counteract the diminution of Mystics that has continued since the end of the Age of the Gods, giving the Servants full access to the abilities they possessed in life, as well as new ones based on the strength of their legend."
"If you sent, said, fifty Enforcers against one Servant, I would still bet on the Servant, though they might have some difficulties depending on their Class," he said bluntly, his gaze sweeping the gathered Lords. "To my knowledge, none of you have seen a Servant fight before, but you have read the report on the desolation visited upon the Animusphere Castle. Right now, there are seven beings capable of such destruction in Fuyuki. Tossing people between them is just throwing them to their deaths for no gain."
"I don't think," began Jigmarie, before suddenly falling silent. Slowly, his head turned to look behind his seat, and only then did Barthomelloi realize that someone else had joined the meeting.
One moment, there had been nothing behind the other Lord. Now, a hooded figure stood there, their features cast in shadow even her Magecraft-enhanced eyes couldn't penetrate.
Breaking into this chamber was supposed to be impossible, but then this individual wouldn't have needed to. They were perfectly within their rights to be here, even if they didn't have a seat of their own at the table.
"Lord Brishan," Barthomelloi greeted the new arrival, once the attack spell she had been about to unleash was properly dissipated and she felt she could trust her own voice. "This is unexpected."
"The Department of Folklore has been contacted by our allies in the East," said the shadowy figure, without preamble or greeting. Their voice was shrouded by Magecraft, making it impossible to determine anything about the speaker while remaining perfectly clear. "The covenant with the Pillars of the East was forged long ago, under the auspices of the Wizard-Marshall and the Director. It shall not be broken. Interference in the Heaven's Feel shall be strictly restricted, lest the World be endangered by the ambitions of fallible instruments."
Silence. Complete, absolute silence, as the Lords absorbed the words of the Thirteenth of their number, whose existence only they knew and whose very Department was barely more than a rumour in the rest of the Moonlit World.
"The Clocktower will follow Lord El-Melloi II's proposed course of action," Brishan continued, "with one amendment, for even his contacts in the East do not yet comprehend the true scope of the defilement that has taken place and the threat born from it. Agents of the Department of Folklore are already on their way to Japan. They will coordinate with our allies to ensure the situation is confined to Fuyuki in the worst case scenario."
And just like that, the Lord of the Department of Folklore was gone, vanishing without a trace or any motion of mana Barthomelloi could detect. The silence stretched on and on. Even Barthomelloi remained silent for a moment, thinking hard on everything she knew about Brishan and the Department they headed – and, to the best of her knowledge, always had. It wasn't much.
It was Policies' job to enforce the laws of the Association : the Designation Seals, the forbidden areas of research, the collect and distribution of the funds related to the patents for various branches of Magecraft, and the secrecy of Magecraft. The Enforcers fell under their purview as well, being the armed arm of the Clocktower. Even the hunts for Dead Apostles, which were performed in cooperation with the other factions of the Moonlit World, were something they were responsible for, all so that the other Departments could focus on the research that was theoretically the sole purpose of the organization in the first place. All of this was public knowledge in the Clocktower, though of course the Department had its own secrets and hidden branches, since they also had to deal with the politics of the Clocktower.
The Department of Folklore, on the other hand … If she were asked to summarize what she knew of them, she would say that they enforced the laws that were not public knowledge, because merely knowing their existence was dangerous. The fact imbeciles continued trying to use the curse of vampirism to gain immortality despite the obvious drawbacks was proof that some things were definitely better off kept secret, and it was those things the Department dealt with.
She'd had some dealings with Folklore over the years, and while she was no coward, she was glad her job didn't cross paths with them too frequently.
A thought suddenly struck her. Had El-Melloi known about this ahead of time ? No, surely not. But then again, he had dealt with many strange forms of Magecraft in his career as a freelance investigator of sorts. Could it be that he had made contact with Brishan at some point in one of his adventures, or at least drawn their attention ?
"Well," she said eventually, drawing the gaze of all the other Lords to her, "that's that then. Lord Brishan's authority in these matters is not to be questioned."
She glared at those of her peers who looked like they might argue, and they fell silent.
"You all know, of course, that none of what they told us is to leave this room," she continued. "With that in mind, I declare this meeting adjourned. Thank you all for your attendance on such short notice."
With a few desultory exchanges of farewells, the Lords left the room, each exiting through the same door they had entered. El-Melloi remained on his seat, as did Barthomelloi, until the two of them were the only ones left. She cocked an eyebrow.
"Did you have something else you wanted to tell me in private, Lord El-Melloi II ?"
He looked at her for a moment before shrugging.
"I actually thought you might have questions for me," he admitted. "This is as good a place as any to answer them. Better than most, in fact, given the privacy measures in place."
"You were correct. Now, this mysterious fourth member of that alliance you mentioned your contacts had formed … Would his name happen to be Shirou Emiya ?"
"I should have known better than to expect you wouldn't learn as much," he admitted with a rueful smile. "You've my thanks for not mentioning it in front of the others. That would've gone poorly, I suspect."
"Undoubtedly. I knew of the Archibalds' attempt to kill him even before your bodyguard did," she casually revealed, but he still didn't show any reaction. "I had nothing against him, however, and his father had proven of use in the past, so I allowed your efforts to keep his existence mostly under wraps."
During his career, the Magus Killer had dealt with no less than four vampiric outbreaks before they could get out of hand, not taking into account the one that had ended with him killing his own father. He had also taken out many contracts on individual Dead Apostles who had retained enough sentience to avoid the Enforcers, including a few of the abhorrent renegade Magi who delved into such depths. Impressive work, especially for someone working alone, which had earned the respect of the Barthomelloi even if the rest of the Magi looked down on the freelancer for his methods.
"The events of one year ago were … complicated," said El-Melloi. "Right now, it is enough to say that had Emiya not acted as he did then, the situation in Fuyuki would be even more complicated than it already is."
"I'll trust your word on this." The 'for now' wasn't said out loud, but El-Melloi was far too keen to miss it anyway. "What else did you keep from our esteemed colleagues ?"
"One of the Masters is already dead," El-Melloi said evenly. "The Head of the Ainsworth family was slain by Emiya yesterday after refusing to cooperate with Emiya and his allies' investigation of the Grail, and attempting to kill him.."
"That makes two House Heads your associate has killed," Barthomelloi frowned. "I hope he won't make a habit of it."
"I'm not at liberty to discuss the circumstances surrounding the first instance, but according to him, the Ainsworth Head was using his family's Magecraft to unnaturally prolong his own existence by stealing the lives of his own descendants, and had done so since the founding of the House," said Waver Velvet calmly. "I have contacted the two surviving Ainsworth, both of them children of Zachary Ainsworth, who is in our records as the current Head of the family. Once I convinced them to talk to me, they quickly have confirmed everything. Furthermore, they also told me that until recently, they were bound by Geases to keep silent about this – Geases that were also placed upon those who married into the Ainsworth family."
"And," he continued, "for the last few centuries, the Ainsworth were also using their Magecraft to turn Magi from other families into puppets. This, too, was confirmed by the Ainsworth survivors : they are in the process of dismantling those puppets who were left behind by the Head when he went to Fuyuki. When I told them I knew who was responsible for the true death of their Head, they all but begged me to tell them so they could thank them properly."
"You only got that information today, yet you have already confirmed this ?" asked Barthomelloi with a raised eyebrow.
"I work fast," he replied with a shrug. "And I have good assistants. They got me the contact information for the Ainsworth Castle, and I managed to get a hold of the eldest child quickly."
And, unless she missed her guess, he would have offered them the same protection and assistance he had given to the Animusphere heir. Another family put into his debt, under his influence. If the Ainsworth children came to study at the Clocktower, as they likely would now that the one responsible for their isolation was no more, she didn't doubt for an instant they would somehow end up in his class. Once again, El-Melloi was quietly gathering resources, all while keeping up the appearance of an overworked flunky who only held the seat of Lord due to his debt to the Archibald family and their lack of a more appropriate candidate on which they could all agree.
Of course, Barthomelloi knew better. She knew about the adopted son of Kiritsugu Emiya who lived in Fuyuki, recorded in the annals of the Clocktower as the apprentice of Rin Tohsaka, and responsible for the destruction of the Matou family – save for their last Heir, who he'd taken under his wing after wiping out the rest of her bloodline.
Still, that the Ainsworth had been plagued by such a curse certainly made her reconsider her position, which she was sure had been El-Melloi's objective. The Barthomelloi had spent centuries fighting the vampiric blight all across the planet, and they were the primary force behind the Association's comprehensive restrictions on all research into immortality. The usurpation El-Melloi was describing wasn't as bad as some of the horrors they and the Enforcers had put down over the years, but it still broke more than enough regulations to warrant termination. Combined with the Geases imposed on spouses and the creation of these 'dolls', it amounted to more than enough to justify the man (or entity, she supposed was a better term) being expelled from the Association and hunted down by the Enforcers.
Seen from that angle, which was no doubt exactly what El-Melloi wanted her to do, Emiya had actually done them a favor. But it still left one issue :
"What of the Ainsworth Servant ? If the Grail is compromised, feeding it prana seems counter-productive."
"Still alive. They accepted the story about the Grail War's irregularities, and Emiya has become their Master."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "So he's capable of sustaining two Servants at the same time, as well as eliminating a Magus who has maintained their existence and studied their Magecraft for a thousand years ? I think I would like to meet this Shirou Emiya in person at some point. He seems like the kind of talent I could use."
"Again, I would have to advise you otherwise, Lady Barthomelloi," warned El-Melloi. "His view of the Association isn't exactly amicable, and the Archibalds' attempt on his life didn't help the matter. Much like his father, he has no interest in either the prestige of the Clocktower or the research opportunities it can offer. And I very much doubt money could convince him to put himself under your authority."
"The Emiya Crest is still in storage within our vaults, from when it was taken from Kiritsugu Emiya's own father following his disastrous research into Dead Apostles," she pointed out. "Do you think he could be persuaded to trade his services for it ?"
The older man frowned.
"I'm going to be direct to the point of rudeness, Lady Barthomelloi, and I apologize in advance for it. Do not attempt to manipulate Shirou Emiya. The Crest of his adoptive family might – might – give you something to bargain with, but you should not believe that this gives you any leverage over him. You are used to dealing from a position of force, but most of your advantages are nullified by the fact he has no interest in our society, and should it come to open conflict, the only certainty is that we would all end up losing."
That wasn't what she'd wanted to hear, but she could appreciate El-Melloi's honesty.
"Then what do you suggest I do ?"
"As I said before : wait and see how the situation in Fuyuki develop. Pray that whatever happens is contained, if you can, and prepare to deal with the fallout if it isn't. Most important of all, though, we must make sure Brishan's edict is strictly followed."
"… You have a point. I suppose seeing how he handles the situation in Fuyuki will be a good evaluation of whether or not he's worth the trouble to recruit in the first place."
She stood up from her seat.
"Goodbye, Lord El-Melloi II. We'll talk again soon."
"Of that," he answered drily, "I have no doubt. Good day to you as well, Vice-Director."
When the door closed behind Barthomelloi, Waver finally let his mask slip and collapsed into his chair, as if his bones were suddenly made of jelly. The truth was, he hadn't wanted to have a private conversation with the Vice-Director at all. But after facing down the other Lords about the situation in Fuyuki, his legs hadn't had the strength to bear him. Now the Lady Barthomelloi, who despite being almost half his age was leagues above him in Magecraft and influence, believed that he was running some manner of genius plan involving Emiya, the Holy Grail War, and the Department of Folklore. Worse, Brishan's appearance and proclamation had probably convinced the other Lords of the same thing, too.
The moment they realized just how out of his depth he really was, how much he had been whinging it after Brishan had shown up, they would try to kill him out of sheer embarrassment. Yet at the same time, he needed to use the reputation he had somehow been saddled with however he could. The potential consequences should unscrupulous Magi – and wasn't that a superfluous adjective – interfere with the Grail War were simply too grave for him to do otherwise.
It was the same thought process that had let him project a façade of calm while talking to Barthomelloi. He had a chance, however slim, of surviving her wrath, or more reasonably of avoiding provoking it in the first place. But if things went bad at Fuyuki, it was the entire World that might be in peril. He remembered all too well the terrible powers that had been wielded in the Fourth War, and the horrors a relatively weak Caster had been able to unleash upon the city. Given what Gray had felt in the ruins of the Animusphere Castle, and what Emiya had told him about their suspicions that nothing less than Angra Mainyu – a genuine God of Evil – might be responsible for the anomalies in the Greater Grail's behavior … No, this was the only sensible course of action.
He had managed to avoid lying to Barthomelloi, at least. Fortunately, the English language had allowed him to keep the fact that Emiya had three Servants under his control secret without outright deceit. He hadn't planned to mislead the Lady of Policies, but in the moment, his instincts had told him it was best not to hype up Emiya's potential value any further.
He swore he could hear Rider laughing at him all the way from the Throne of Heroes.
November 25h, 2004 AD – Outskirts of Fuyuki City
Despite its legs ending in ragged stumps, the vampire still crawled on the grass, pulling itself up the hill, where it could see Fuyuki City spread in the distance. It opened its mouth, moaning in frustration.
"It calls," it gasped, reaching out a claw toward the lights of the city. Its voice was like sandpaper on glass, as wretched as the rest of it. Clearly, it hadn't fed in a long time, and its body was falling apart without stolen life-force to sustain it. "I can hear it … the angel's song …"
Kairi pulled the trigger of his shotgun, firing two shells directly into its skull. It blew apart in a shower of bone shards and gore, and the rest of the Dead Apostle twitched once before starting to decay at preternatural speed.
The freelance Spellcaster looked around while he reloaded the weapon, checking for any other threat. The sunglasses he wore despite it being well past midnight were a Mystic Code that enhanced his vision, letting him pick up masses of magical energy like thermal vision detected heat. Nothing. He began the preparations for the spell that would incinerate the corpse and remove the evidence, just in case someone had heard the shot and came to investigate later.
He almost jumped when his phone started ringing, and stumbled to open it and answer the call.
He wasn't useless with technology like most Magi – the mercenary lifestyle pretty much required being able to function in mundane society – but this was some kind of top-of-the-line piece of hardware the Conglomerate had given him, disguised to look like their public line of mobile phones so he could use it without drawing any more attention that his appearance always did.
"Sisigou-san," said a cool and collected voice. "Good evening."
"Evening, Kodai-san," the mercenary gruffly replied.
"I trust everything is going well ?"
"Yeah," replied the mercenary. "I just dealt with another bloodsucker trying to get into the city."
"Good work. That makes it seven since you arrived in the area, correct ?"
"Yeah," confirmed Kairi. "They aren't much trouble to take care of, but the numbers are worrying all the same. Especially since they each came on their own and not in a group."
Despite their unnatural vitality, the Dead Apostles were still, well, dead. That made them vulnerable to the kind of spells a Necromancer used, and Kairi was the best Necromancer in the mercenary business. He wasn't stupid enough to think there weren't Magi in the Association whose skills far surpassed his, but they spent their time developing their Mysteries, not putting them to practical use, so that was a moot point.
"Our other agents have also encountered Dead Apostles, as well as other predators of the Moonlit World. So far, the quarantine appears to be holding, but …"
"But we won't know if one of them made it through until they start something in the city," Kairi finished the chain of logic with a sigh. "It's like every monster in the whole damn world is trying to get inside. What the hell is going on over there ?"
"The Grail War, Sisigou-san."
"Shit like that didn't happen last time, though." He paused, an unwelcome thought dawning on him. "Wait, did it ?"
He hadn't been in Japan at the time, so maybe the cover-up had fooled even him.
"No, it didn't. This is a recent development."
"Oh, joy." He sighed again. "Alright, lay it on me. Why did you call ?"
"We are mobilizing other assets to help enforce the quarantine, and reinforcements have been dispatched by our allies in the West. I have been calling all of our personnel already on site to warn them in advance in order to avoid misunderstandings."
"Magi from London, huh ?" He clicked his tongue. "You sure none of them will try to make a play for the Grail themselves ?"
"Our allies should make sure to only dispatch people they can trust to keep their wits about them. However, there is always the chance they are mistaken about their agents, or that we underestimated the strength of the corruption. You'll need to be careful and exercise your best judgment. The last thing we can afford right now is making the situation in Fuyuki more complicated."
"I see. What's the situation in the city ? I heard on the radio some people were falling unconscious."
"We received a situation report from Emiya earlier this evening. One of the Masters is dead. He was informed of the situation but refused to cooperate. His Servants have been transferred to Emiya; they were the ones responsible for these incidents."
Kairi almost shivered. He had heard of Kiritsugu Emiya. It was hard not to : even ten years after his disappearance from the mercenary scene, the man still cast a long shadow. But Kairi had the dubious privilege of having seen the Magus Killer in action.
It had been disturbing work, but necessary, and the kudos he had earned with the Conglomerate had helped him get the top-notch medical and Thaumaturgical care his adopted daughter had needed a few years after, when the Crest transplant had gone horribly wrong. If not for their assistance, she would have died for sure, and though calling on their help had ended up causing him to sever his ties with his own father, he certainly didn't regret it. It was Touki who had insisted on Kairi adopting her in the first place after they had found out the curse afflicting the Sisigou family would keep him from siring children, but she was more than a way to perpetuate the bloodline and the House to him.
She was his daughter, and he would do anything to protect her. Which, right now, meant working for the Conglomerate to help prevent an apocalypse from starting in Fuyuki. It was hard work, but necessary, and well-paid to boot.
"Still no sign of the rogue Servant ?" he asked.
The briefing from the Conglomerate's Security Division had been thorough : even if they had only theories as to what had happened at the Animusphere Castle, it had included a copy of the Clocktower's own investigations. Kairi fervently hoped he wouldn't have to fight whatever had been responsible for that mess : he might be a veteran mercenary in the Moonlit World, but the reason he had lived that long was because, among other things, he knew his limits. And a Servant capable of wiping out the top Magi of a House as powerful as the Animusphere in the middle of their castle was definitely beyond them.
"None. We are monitoring all mundane channels for anomalies, but we daren't scry the area through Thaumaturgical means."
"Yeah, that's probably the smartest play right now." He looked down at the corpse of the Dead Apostle. It had been difficult to tell given the changes the Thirst had wrought upon it, but he was pretty sure the creature had been a Caucasian male before its transformation. "If whatever is inside the Grail can reach as far as it seems to be able to, looking closer at it isn't going to end well."
"Indeed. We will contact you again as soon as we have updates on the situation. Good night, Sisigou-san."
"Bye."
The line went dead, and Kairi shook his head.
"What a fucking mess," he grumbled, before resuming his interrupted clean-up.
At last he wasn't directly fighting in the Grail War. Being selected as a Master in that … he suppressed another shiver. No, thank you very much. He was curious what kind of Servant the Grail would pair up with someone like him, but not enough to risk being exposed to the kind of corruption that could summon vampires from half across the bloody world. One curse was more than enough for him.
Omake : Lords of the Clocktower
In the interests of clarity, here is the version of the Clocktower's Council of Lords I am going to use for this fic, along with the names I will be using for the Departments (since I have found varied translations for the original Japanese material).
Do not use this as reference for your own stories, since this is my own interpretation, combining material scoured from the wikis and adapted to my own needs. Also, a lot of information is missing about the Lords whose characters haven't been developed in canon material, which I intend to make use of later in the story since it'll let me make them basically whatever I want them to be.
Aristocratic Faction :
The Aristocratic Faction is composed of those Lords who prize lineage above all else, believing that only through the accumulation of knoweldge, power and wealth over generations can one hope to reach the Root. They put great stock in Magic Crests, and believe the management of the Association should be entrusted only to those with distinguished bloodlines, regarding themselves as the nobility of the Moonlit World – nevermind the fact that actual nobility, in the mundane world, is descended from the authority bestowed by a King.
Department of Policies : headed by Lorelei Barthomelloi, acting Vice-Director of the Clocktower. One of the three major families, leader of the aristocracy.
Department of Spiritual Evocation : headed by Rufleus Nuada-Re Eulyphis (father of Sola-Ui, who was the fiancee of Kayneth, Waver's predecessor).
Department of Modern Magecraft : headed by Waver Velvet, Lord El-Melloi II. Technically Aristocratic Faction due to the family he is the nominal head of belonging to it.
Department of Botany : headed by Archelot.
Department of Zoology : headed by Gaiuslink. The family is a puppet of the Barthomelloi.
Democratic Faction :
The Deomcratic Faction cares only about achievements, not bloodline. They desire to replace the current system of the Clocktower with a more meritocratic one : by making use of all talents, they believe they can reach the Root faster. While this may seem more appealing to those from a mundane background, it must be remembered that this attitude also leads to things like the ritual murder of infants in order to achieve results being considered acceptable so long as precautions are taken to preserve the secrecy of Magecraft and the results are worthwhile.
Department of General Fundamentals : headed by McDonell Trambellio Elrod. Has had five wives before his current one. One of the three major families, leader of the Democratic Faction.
Department of Creation : headed by Inorai Valualeta Atroholm. One of the three major families.
Neutral Faction :
The members of the Neutral Faction do not care about the management of the Association, and only desire to perform their own research in peace. In this way, they are perhaps the closest to the academic ideals the Clocktower profess to embrace. Of course, merely remaining neutral in the feuds of the Clocktower requires great skill as well, and Neutrals of lower rank can often be persuaded to take part in one scheme or another in exchange for unique materials, or funds with which to pursue their research.
Department of Archaeology : headed by Lord Meluastea.
Department of Mineralogy : headed by Lord Meluastea (took over this additional Department after Kayneth's death, who was its previous Lord).
Department of Individual Fundamentals : headed by Solonea.
Department of Curses : headed by Jigmarie.
Others
Department of Astrology : their Head, Marisbury Animusphere, is currently presumed dead, prompting the meeting to occur. He was of the Aristocratic Faction.
Department of Folklore : headed by Brishan. Only the other Lords of the Clocktower and a very select few other individuals in the Association are allowed to know of the Department's existence, let alone its purpose in the Moonlit World.
Finally, here is the quote that inspired me to have the Department of Folklore be so different from its canon self (warning : potential spoilers for Fate : Grand Order) :
"This world is rife with legends, with stories that are neither divine, mystical, nor demons incarnate. The Mage's Association has a Department dedicated to folklore. It is one of the Association's most closely guarded secrets. What's more, it is guarded by Brishan, one of our King's pupils."
Demon God Räum, FGO, Salem (English translation).
AN : Hello, everyone !
Look, I have no idea how I wrote this so quickly compared to usual. Well, actually I do : it's because the first scene is basically a big blob of exposition, and that is something I have plenty of experience writing down. The final scene (which features a character from Fate : Apocrypha for those who didn't recognize him) was also relatively easy to write. The most difficult part was, as expected, the meeting of the Lords of the Clocktower in the middle. Still, writing Waver getting overestimated is always funny. Yes, I know I'm deviating from his canon characterization, but I find the whole trope hilarious, so I'll keep using it.
(Also, I need the practice for my upcoming 'Ciaphas Cain : Warmaster of Chaos' comedy story.)
If you're wondering why this chapter gets the classification of "Interlude", that's because there is no POV from the main characters. I have decided to use this nomenclature for this story, we'll see how that goes.
I suppose the most important element of this chapter is the reveal of just how different the setting is to the canon Fate one in Waver's impromptu history lesson to his , Zelretch is dead (for a specific definition of dead), and yes, I did nerf the Second Magic considerably. But I had what I think are fairly solid reasons for it.
You see, while I like alternate universes for established settings very much (as evidenced by the fact that the Roboutian Heresy currently sits at a comfortable 911K words), I am not a fan of the concept of the multiverse existing in the story. I feel it cheapens events if you know that every universe is just one of many. And while Zelretch is a useful plot device in fanfiction, especially in crossovers (for obvious reasons), his existence in the story feels like a looming Deus Ex Machina just waiting to happen.
Also, the needs of the crossover, which will be revealed later in the story (yes, I know you are starting to wonder where the 40K elements are), cannot exactly accomodate something like the Kaleidoscope's full canon potential. So I reduced its power, though I hope I still made it clear Zelretch was still OP as hell by the standards of the setting.
I also changed the Dead Apostles' backstory, so don't waste time telling me how I misunderstood canon, please. And to make something perfectly clear : there are no Dead Apostle Ancestors in this AU. With the madness of the Thirst consuming them (and I'm sure attentive readers of my works will recognize what's happening here), no vampire could survive long enough to reach that level of power.
Now, time to address some of the reviews of the previous chapter :
The name "Amelia Watson" which is Lancer's pseudonym also drew attention, as it is apparently (if I understood the reviews correctly) the name of a VTuber. To answer those reviews, no, I had no idea who that is. As a matter of fact, I have only the most tangential knowledge of what a VTuber even is. I just thought that the name Amelia, once I found it in a list of English names, would be perfect, since Saber's pseudonym in the Fourth War was Emily.
A guest review also mentioned the fact that my writing doesn't follow proper English syntax, as I put spaces before punctuation (for instance, before exclamation or question marks). That is perfectly true, but here is the thing : I am a French native speaker and writer, and that's how things are when writing in French. (I think. I haven't checked whether the Academy, a bunch of old people who control the language with an iron fist and are accountable to absolutely no one for some reason, have changed the rules lately). So I'd rather avoid having to switch between the two different syntaxes on and off, since my job does require me to write a fair bit of communication.
As always, please tell me what you thought of this chapter.
Zahariel out.