AN- another day, another chapter. Back to our regularly scheduled viewing- the process known as Disposal of Trash.
Chapter 6
An innocent youth. A princess that wanted for nought, and had a heart wide enough to care for all in return. She grew up on a beautiful island, where the crops grew strong and the wine flowed like a river and tasted of happiness. All made possible by one thing- a magnificent Golden Fleece.
As a child, she loved all, and was cherished by all in turn. Even the gods took a liking to her, though it could be argued whether this was a positive thing or not. Hecate personally came to teach the princess the ways of magic, and in turn the princess learned.
She wanted to protect, to grow and to heal- to be the kind of Witch that was praised for their hearts, and brought joy wherever they tread.
Innocent dreams have a terrible habit of breaking under the cold reality of Truth, however.
Good intentions are useless in the face of disaster, and even the most noble and selfless of actions can be tainted and cause only the opposite of their intention.
Because the gods are cruel, and care little for those broken in the process of fulfilling their petty squabbles.
The princess' life seemed perfect, and her future equally bright… all until Jason and his Argonauts.
Medea did what all girls are wonton to do- she. Fell. Ever. Deeply. In. Love.
And lost everything in the process.
XXXXXXXXXX
I was in a melancholic mood when I awoke. I could remember the dream in clearer detail this time, though it was very different to the last one. The Dream Cycle was a curious thing… it revealed oh so much.
It was hard to look at the napping form of the short girl besides me without feeling sad, knowing exactly how it was all going to end. I wasn't the only one awake- Boudica was too. She was to my right, and was just enjoying the warmth of the duvet for a while longer. She was very lucky I apparently had more Prana to give than fucks, because a sterner Master woulda said 'fuck it' and let her stay in Astral form forever rather than allowing her to enjoy the lovely comfort of MY bed.
Because shut up, its five in the goddamn morning, and we're getting up early to summon another Badass Ghost Warrior to fight for me.
It had been a unanimous decision in the end. My Servants didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation (Because I still refused to tell them), but they understood enough to see my distress. At the end of the day, Caster hadn't seen anything wrong in speeding up our schedule a little bit- consequently, early wake up and Summoning ritual.
"Morning." Murmured Boudica, face deep in her pillow.
"Morning." I grumbled back. "You know, I wonder what bet the Japanese had to lose that now they are forced as a collective population to consider this kind of time 'adequate' to wake up at?"
"Shut up. Too early. Less talking, more snuggling." And yes, it surprised me too to learn that Boudica was a snuggler; the day before, I had woken up after everyone else, so naturally couldn't learn this fact. Now if only Boudica was less soft and warm, maybe then I'd have the capacity to get up of my own accord…
BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.
"Fucking… alarm…" the Rider growled. "Who… set that up… last night?"
"Caster." When in doubt, lie, lie a little more, and then pin the blame on somebody else. I had set the alarm, since I doubted that I would ever naturally wake up at this time, so obviously needed something to kick my ass into gear. But I wasn't going to admit that when this chick had more than ten times the strength of any man, and had her arms in a key position around my torso to break my ribs if she so chose.
As if answering to the blame I had passed along, Medea awoke with a cute like yawn- with the worst case of bedhead I'd ever seen in my life. She got out of bed, and quite clearly turned the device off.
"All is forgiven. More snuggle." And with that judgement, the once Queen of Britannia chose to return to her cuddling.
Then- LIGHT!
"Hiss!" I intoned, averting my eyes. "It burns!"
"Don't be dramatic!" Medea rolled her eyes. "We have stuff to do today! A Servant to summon, and a 'clusterfuck' to prepare for, as you put it."
I had but one reply. "Never tell me the odds!"
"I… I don't even think that statement applies to this context." Medea eventually noted.
"Don't make lemonade! Make combustible lemons and throw them at life's house! What am I meant to do with these!?"
"… okay. You clearly didn't get enough sleep."
"We came in at two in the morning, and its FIVE NOW. What the hell do you think!?"
"If you get up now, I'll make you a Magic Energy Drink."
… and thus, as is often the case in real life, unashamed corruption and bribery wins the day. "Boudica, time to get that booty into action."
"... Fine. I don't have to be happy about this."
I gave her the Look. "Believe me, neither of us are happy about this."
XXXXXXXXXX
The Ritual was simpler the second time I did it. I'd had a bit more time to get used to the feeling of my circulating Prana, and the almost unconscious sensation of energy flowing from my Magic Core and into my two Servants. This time, the forest of turbines spun into action with far more eagerness.
I could feel it- my power mounting and flooding once again into the circle drawn upon the floor.
"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead!
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance ―――!"
The glare of the ritual finished, to reveal a figure, kneeling on one knee and head bent down low so I could not see their features, as their wide blue hat obscured everything beneath. "I am Servant Saber," they spoke with a slight accent. "I ask of you, are you my Master.?"
"Rise, Saber. I am."
They did as commanded, granting me my first proper look at my third Servant.
To be honest, seeing they're entire body really didn't make it any easier to identify them. He looked like a pretty girl in clothes of delicate white, blue and lilac; or perhaps he was in truth a handsome girl dressed in the trousers of a man and armed with thin rapier.
And hell, let's not even get started on that voice. Unisex- whoever they were, they sounded lovely.
"So, may I ask why you have already surrounded yourself with other Servants, Master?" They asked.
I offered a weary smile. "You don't sound very concerned."
"Well, I am a Knight of the White Lily. Whether in life or death, no matter the circumstances, I shall continue to serve."
"Aren't you loyal?" I smiled, already pretty pleased with my newest Servant, if only due to their attitude. "I'm glad to hear it. Honestly, I could do with a… with someone to help watch my back. Because this is an abnormal Grail War we've gotten ourselves into."
"How so, Master?" They inquired softly.
I began to count the whole mess off on the fingers of my Command Sealed hand. "Well, we've got 21 motherfrickin' Servants involved, for one thing. And for some reason, seven of them are stuck under my control, while the others have been rammed into teams. We got three potential wishes if one doesn't mind murdering the remnants of their remaining team at the end. And for the cherry on the cake, we've also got a Servant leftover from the last war to worry about too."
"Wait, WHAT!?" Medea yelled. "Since when the hell did that last thing happen!? Like, I'm pretty sure I would have remembered hearing that!"
I palmed my head calmly. "Ooops. Guess I forgot to mention that one. My bad."
"Oops? Oops? Well, perhaps you'd better enlighten us, huh?" Boudica said- no, demanded, with the same smile she always wore. This was Annoyed!Boudica, the elder sibling on the verge of kicking the younger's ass for well-deserved reasons.
"Weeeelll… Gilgamesh the King of Heroes, may or may not have been swallowed by All the Worlds Evil's during the last War and spat out again with a physical body… and may or may not be kinda homicidal now… and also, he may or may not be liable to murder us all on the spot because he's an unreasonable asshole capable of destroying the entire city if given inadequate cause."
"May or may not?" She reaffirmed. "Inadequate cause?"
"Well, it's all just a theory, you see." I said sheepishly. "For all I know Gilgamesh actually has breasts and is more of a threat to my virginity than he is to the worlds safety. Though, until I see him/her and can run away screaming in the opposite direction from them, I really can't say."
I couldn't tell if Boudica was more bemused or resigned at this point. "Sometimes you make me wonder if it was even worth answering this silly cup's call in the first place, you really do."
A girlish giggle, for Saber laughed at us. "Well, I'm glad to see my time in this War will be filled with such interesting characters. On a mission, it's always nicer to have company. Though I am also quite worried. Gilgamesh would truly be a terrifying enemy, were we to face him."
"Thus, why I have my Plan. Heed my words, Servants mine. If you see a blonde jackass with red eyes, run away screaming like a little girl and push some people over between you and him to further delay him."
Medea cocked her head. "Aren't you exaggerating just a little bit? While a mighty legend, he is still but one man, while we will someday be seven. Surely with given preparation and in sufficient numbers we could overwhelm him all the same."
I gave her a mad little laugh. "Maybe if he was any other ridiculously bullshit Servant I'd agree." I'mma looking at you, Karna. "But considering he has a sword that can 'LOL Nope' reality I would really prefer to never, ever have to fight him."
Saber frowned. "Truly a dilemma. He is a foe that will need to be defeated, but the consequences of him choosing to force a mutual loss upon his defeat is too great. Alas, I would be little help in a scenario like that, and I guess the rest of you are in the same boat. Perhaps caution is required in this case. There will be 14 other Servants that could fight him. Mayhaps one of them might be able to defeat him for us?"
"We have met someone that fits the bill." I admitted. "It might just have to be a case of 'leave it to GARCHER.'."
Boudica raised an eyebrow. "You don't mean that Tohsaka girl's ghastly Servant?"
"Afraid so. Speaking of which, why do you seem to dislike him so much?" I asked her. She'd been hostile to the Counter Guardian from the moment she first laid eyes upon him, and I was a little bit curious about that.
"At first it was just because you blatantly didn't like him, because he was an enemy and since his Master was rather irritating. But then… I think I realised he was just someone that I would never get along with. His blades were just as bloody as mine, but I couldn't sense any purpose behind them. There was no end goal, only blood for more blood. That man… he can never find peace, can he?"
I shook my head sadly. At the end of the day, he was a Counter Guardian. The cursed dog of Alaya, doomed to eternally clean up the messes of humanity and kill forevermore, despite only wishing to Save. He would have been better off signing his soul to the Devil- it may have been a kinder end. I wouldn't wish EMIYA's fate upon my worst enemy.
"Hey Master… I have a question." Medea piped up.
"Sure, what is it?" I turned to her. Her gaze was more serious than I expected- there was steel in those eyes of hers.
"What are you hiding from us?"
I blinked. "Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"Don't play dumb with me." She sighed. "I know I look all cutesy and dumb, but I'm not. I'm a really good Magus, and you don't get that by being dumb. And while I may have the body and personality I had in my youth, it doesn't change the fact that I am still Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, who lived for decades and was eventually burned at the stake for her crimes."
"… yeah, sometimes I forget that fact, considering how adorable you are."
She puffed her cheeks out in anger- she was not amused. "Complementing me won't make me forget, you know? You know too much- things you shouldn't. I've seen your documents, you only just moved here, so you shouldn't have known so much about all the other Masters- could not have known all their identities. Then there was Ruler- there was no possible way that you could know about her, because as you said, Ruler should not appear in the Fuyuki Grail Wars, and there have been no other Grail Wars besides the Fuyuki ones. And all those other cryptic little things. The Corruption in the Grail, your panic over the Apocrypha, Gilgamesh's continued existence… even just now with Archer! How could you possibly know he could face off and beat Gilgamesh considering we've only met him once and haven't even seen him fight!"
She took a deep breath, having finally presented all of her evidence. Then, she approached me, and looked me dead in the eye (Though from her much lower position due to her height, it seemed more adorable than terrifying). "In other words, I want you to tell us, Master, how do you know all this impossible knowledge!?"
Honest chuckling broke through the tense silence that hung in the air following that last statement. Saber could do nothing but laugh at this entire scenario. "Yes. Oh, so interesting allies! I must admit Magus girl, you are quite perceptive, are you not! I would have loved to have made a Chevalier of a girl like you!"
"Who are you anyway, might I add?" Boudicia asked. "I don't think you've introduced yourself."
"Neither have you." They pointed out. "Though I have picked up Medea and James from this conversation."
"I am Boudicia."
Saber smiled radiantly. "There we go, that wasn't so hard, was it? I am Chevalier d'Eon, the Knight of the White Lily, and the most famous of French spies."
"GEEEEZ! STOP IGNORING ME!" Medea pouted, and stomped her foot childishly (Upon closer inspection, said stomp left a small hole in the floor. Because even E Ranked Strength is ten times stronger than peak physical health). "We were kind of in the middle of something important, over here!"
"Ahh, yes!" I snapped my fingers, recalling that we had been doing something before. "She was trying to uncover my Mysterious Backstory!"
She rapidly nodded her head. "See!? He admits it! There's a backstory there just waiting for us to learn!"
"I for one think it doesn't matter." Boudica interjected.
"Wh-what!?" Medea exclaimed in total shock. "B-but w-why!? Surely you don't want to be lied to!"
"No, but as a ruler, there are some truths you learn. One of them is that sometimes people keep secrets for very good reasons. I am sure that is something Lily over there can agree with."
"Lily?" Saber replied in abject confusion at the name assigned to them.
"Well, I am fairly sure Chevalier is a title, not a name. I would hardly like to be called Warrior Queen, would I?" the redhead giggled.
"Ah. That makes sense. Feel free to refer to me by the name Lily." The newly dubbed Lily said. "But yes, I agree with your initial statement. Some secrets are best kept hidden. My gender, for one thing."
"But that's preposterous! How could keeping secrets ever be a good thing?"
"Now, that's quite enough of that." I said, with as much authority a guy could have when trying calm down a herd of superpowered cats. "Those two have a good point, but so do you, Medea."
I turned to address them all- this was a message to all of my Servants. "Medea is correct, I am still hiding something. One secret that explains pretty much everything, but is also kind of difficult to believe." After all, nobody likes to be told that they belong to a fictional franchise and that the only reason for such 'impossible knowledge' was abject fanboyism.
"As my Servants, the people who are fighting this was for me, you do have a right to know. You deserve to know. I have been keeping it to myself for good reasons, but the point remains. So, I'll give you all a choice. I can tell you it now, or you can accept that I'm keeping it secret for the best of reasons, and let it go. Then, when I summon next, we can ask the question again, and you can decide if you want to hear it or not."
"That seems pointlessly complicated." Noted Lily.
Boudica frowned. "It is your secret. It's your choice whether to reveal it or not, though I would be happy to leave it be. You can count on my support either way, Master."
"And you, Medea?" I popped the question to the one who had prompted this whole discussion in the first place.
For the first time since we began, there was hesitation on her face. "Do you mean it? That we can ask again every time you Summon?"
"Yes."
"Then… then… I'll leave it be for now." It almost pained her to say it, to let go of the opportunity to find out more. At heart, Medea is a perfect housewife… so consequently, a perfect gossip. To let slip such a Secret was surely a terribly painful thing to do.
"Seriously- thanks for that. I wasn't exactly looking forwards to spilling the beans, let's put it that way. I'll no doubt share the truth eventually, but I certainly would prefer some time to be able to properly word it in a way that doesn't sound mad."
"I think I can accept that." And with that, the matter was closed. The topic of my Mysterious Backstory would have to wait, if only for another day.
"Hey, what were we doing before this came up anyway?" I asked. "We seem to keep getting distracted."
"Oh my, I've completely forgotten. Fufufu." The redhead really didn't seem to care too much. "I'm honestly just happy to see that we've resolved that for now. There is nothing I like more than the sky and earth of Britannia, and the bonds that people share. I… enjoy these peaceful moments the most, I think."
"I suppose I can agree with you on that point, at the very least." Medea admitted. "Those carefree days… they never last."
The newest addition to the group, Chavlier d'Eon, coughed into his loudly. Our attentions snapped to the blonde. "Perhaps we were going to talk strategy?" they suggested lightly.
"Good point. Kudos to you for getting us back on track." He got the certified Thumbs Up. Its special because its capitalised. "Tactics and stuff. We number three now, and we likely won't have long before the Red team finally reaches Fuyuki. Likewise, Ruler said that Kotomine was preparing to tell the Blue team about the change in circumstances. Soon they will be coming for us."
At that, the good cheer drained from the room- wasn't that a cheery thought. "At the moment, we have two close combatants and one ranged." Boudica mused. "I think now is the time to explain our powersets, since our Master still has yet to learn how to read our 'Stats'."
A round of agreements. As the first to suggest it, Boudica went first. "I am Boudica, the Warrior Queen of Victory who waged war against Rome when they tried to conquer Britannia. Consequently, I have a personal Skill, Oath to the Goddess, which will grant me bonuses against any Romans we come across. Likewise, I gain bonuses when fighting in a group, and am capable of fighting to the bitter end, thanks to my A Rank skill in Battle Continuation. My mount of choice is a Chariot that can either be rode or manifested as a conceptual shield. In combat, I am better defensively due to my high Endurance but low Agility."
"I suppose I shall go next then." Lily bowed, as if they were taking centre stage of a performance. "I am both a spy and a fighter, therefore my stats are consistently high. I have a good eye for the progress of battle and am greatly resistant to mental attacks. I would serve better on the vanguard, attacking our foes directly."
"And your Noble Phantasm?" Medea pressed.
"Fleur de Lys, the manifestation of my captivating fighting style." Lily replied. "Unfortunately, it is all flash and little bang. Compared to many other Sabers, my Noble Phantasm is unfortunately lacking." No Excaliblasts for us, it seemed. "It does have the ability to perform 'dances' capable of lowering the physical parameters of my enemy and leaving them unable to move, so it does serve as a good supplement for my base combat abilities. My Noble Phantasm is a rather cheap one too… though with the current rate of prana intake I'm receiving, I believe that last point is largely irrelevant."
Large nods of agreement all round. I was an overall useless Master, with no skills as a Magus and even less experience, but I DID have a ridiculous Magic Core. Sometimes it really is all about the size, and less how you use it.
"Ah! My turn, I suppose." Medea began, then started to tap her chin as if wondering where to begin. "In many ways, I am a standard 'Caster' archetype. Low physical stats, high Mana, and with great support ability due to my Territory Creation and Item Creation skills."
"Yup. Those have been very useful." I said, tapping my neck to emphasise the defensive charm I was still wearing.
She flushed, but carried on. "A-anyway. I'm a very competent Magus, so I do have a lot of spells at my command. I prefer healing and am better in a supportive, defensive role. However, my High Speed Divine Words Skill lets me cast extremely quickly, meaning I do still have some potent offensive capabilities. As for my Noble Phantasm… Pain Breaker has an excellent healing ability."
I nodded my head in satisfaction- thoroughly satisfied with what I had to work with. There was nobody special here- I'd argue that all my Servants were relatively low tier when compared to some of the insane Servants out there like Gilgamesh and Ozymandius. A Rider with relatively little offensive capability and a mount that wasn't Broken; a fairly standard Caster without the Ridiculous Noble Phantasm of her elder self; and a Saber without the Unfair Beam Swords that the Class is known for.
The Grey Team, in other words, were the underdogs. Without catalysts, the chances for a truly special Servant were non-existent, so we've remained fairly low in the power scale. Alone, my Servants aren't especially special… but together… "We have a defensive Tank, an offensive DPS and a Healer. I think we'll be fine."
"Ummm… are those good things?" Medea inquired with a confused look.
"Very much so." They weren't much, but damn it, they were MY Servants, and even the lowest of Heroic Spirits was better than the highest of Mankind. It was a Team Game now, was it not?
… and I doubted that any of the other Masters were very used to 'playing nice' and working together.
"You know what? Fuck the school day. I was originally gonna try and talk to Shioru, but screw that guy!"
"Who's Shirou again?" Medea said to Boudica, quietly, though not so softly I didn't hear.
"But yeah! Screw him. He's basically useless anyway. And screw school. Since we no longer need to personally avert the End of Days, I think we've got to focus on the important things… namely, living through this mess, and maybe even winning it. And a big part of that is gonna be 'let's gang up and hit it until it dies'."
Medea raised a hand, as if she were a schoolgirl seeking answers from her teacher. "That sounds like a terrible plan."
I rolled my eyes. "Trust me. The point is, we're at a very special point, here and now. Before I said to play on the backburner because I needed info and was more interested in getting the right parties talking and uniting to help me murder All the Evil in the World, but that's been taken care of on the down low… somehow." Because if Jeanne the Saint says it's true, then it's probably pretty damn true. "So, now it's a Team Game… but one of the Teams' doesn't know that yet!"
The Queen of Victory's eyes opened in realisation. "Oh, I see now! Divide and conquer, and strike now before they get the chance to unite!"
"I don't really want to kill anyone." I admitted. "But I'm not a dumbass either. There's no stopping this War, not now that so many people have gotten involved. So, we're just gonna have to win. And I can't win without getting my hands dirty."
"What is your suggestion then, Master?" Lily inquired.
By now, an idea was starting to come together. It wasn't much- but it was an idea, never the less. I gave my Saber a shaky smile, and spoke as confidently as I could, "Let's try and pick off at least one of the competition now, before things heat up too much. In other words… we should take first blood. Tonight, the Blue Team will lose one of its members."
