Disclaimer: The works of Type-Moon and Jō Taketsuki are their own despite my most fervent wishes. This is a fan work and if anyone does pay me for it the only thing it will accomplish is to get me into trouble. This is being done purely for fun, constructive criticism is welcome, and flames will be ignored. Please be gentle though, this is the first fanfic I've put on the net.
First off I'd like to thank all the readers that wrote in to me with suggestions for both Masters and Shielders Thanks to your many suggestions I've been able to choose a suitable character and have already started work on them. I can't reveal who of course, but I will say I am pleased with the final choice.
Lots of people have realized just whom Odysseus is planning to offer an alliance to, so congrats to all of you. Yes, I am going to be bringing the Campione world's counterpart to Angra Mainyu into the fray. Just to be clear, this is his Heretic God self, not the one that was nesting in the Greater Grail. That one is dead, having become a true god after being brought to the Campione world, but not quite gone. As you probably know gods don't die in the way mortals do, and Angra Mainyu was a god in the end.
I'm also pleased that the last chapter in general seems to have gone down well with the vast majority of my readers. I confess that a few of the scenes felt a bit on the weak side after I wrote them, though the help of my Beta managed to get them nicely fixed up. Also the Omake went down pretty well to. I should say that I find the blood thirst of my readers in regards to Gascoigne to be both heartening and a tad worrying. Anyway, it seems to have been satiated for the time being.
Once again I would like to thank my Beta for all his hard work.
SPOILERS.
I was rather surprised to learn that according to the source materials the adult Waver has become a very well regarded man in the Clock Tower. From reading other fan works I knew that he was a respected professor, but I was honestly surprised that one of his titles in the Mage Association was 'the number one man that female students want to sleep with'. Who'd have guessed that the same Waver that Rider used to knock out with forehead flicks would become a harem hero himself? Guess some of Rider's sheer awesome rubbed off on him, huh?
On a different note I've decided to ignore the bit in his wiki page that says he hates Japan and the Japanese, since to my mind it really makes no sense. I mean, the guy loves Japanese games, he had no problems living in Japan during the fourth Holy Grail War, he is something of a fan of Akihabara and Nihonbashi, and in the Unlimited Blade Works route he was the one that sponsored Rin coming to the Clock Tower. I normally dislike not staying true to the source material, but in this case it seems to be a bit on the contradictory side.
I confess that I can't quite remember if Rin ever found out that Archer was a potential future version of Shirou in the Heavens Feel route. I know that Shirou himself worked it out, but that was only after he tried to use the arm that had been grafted to him. There isn't anything that indicates that he told Rin, but I can't be sure. I'm choosing to believe that some time after the war ended she was able to go over remaining information and was able to work it out; after all, the hints are there. She later shared this information with Sakura and Rider, so they are aware of it as well.
In regards to the description of Irisviel versus Illyasviel as to who was the superior potential Grail; I imagine purists of the canon will note that I've written as somewhat incorrect description there. According to the source materials both Iri and Illya would cease to be able to function as humans after absorbing four Heroic Spirits, but to me that doesn't make sense. With Irisviel I can understand it, since Kiritsugu was the Master he could continue the war after Irisviel was incapacitated by taking in the defeated Servants. However with Illya it makes no sense. If she ceases to be able to function as a Master then how was she meant to defeat the remaining Servants? I mean, if she had another Servant I might understand it, the Servant could continue on without her, even if the notion puts the Servant at a disadvantage in the final stage of the war. The thing is that her Servant was Berserker, and a Berserker that was under such a high level of Madness Enhancement that there was no way he could act independently. (As I write this I can't help but think it might end up like that bit in Carnival Phantasm where Illya sends Berserker off to get her some batteries and he ends up winning the Holy Grail War by accident while leaving the town a wreck.) If you look at it from that perspective then the Einzbern strategy was ultimately self defeating.
So I've decided to fudge the details a bit more in order to make things make more sense. I do recall reading that Illya was a superior vessel to her mother, but I'm not sure where. What official info I can find seems to contradict this, but as I've already written, that makes no sense. As such I hope that you can forgive me playing around with the details a bit.
I've found that Caren was both difficult and easy to write. Initially I had a bit of trouble, especially since the only real exposure I've had to her character has been her appearance on Carnival Phantasm. Still I did a little research, and I think I have her personality more or less down. Once I was over that hump it became surprisingly easy to write her though, something that resulted in some of the better dialogue I've written so far.
I imagine a few of my readers will be wondering why I've set the Holy Grail War up as I have, rather than going with a Great Holy Grail War with two sides each with a full set of Servants. That was my initial plan, but in the end I realized it wouldn't work. When he arrived Shirou would simply ally with whichever side Sakura and Rin were on, as a result the other side would be more or less doomed at that point. It would be a quick way to resolve the War, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I briefly thought about having the sisters on different sides, but even that didn't provide the level of conflict I wanted.
In the end I decided to cook up an augmented version of the normal War, namely a mass free for all, just with more Servants. We had the traditional seven, three extras from them which I chose by rolling an eight sided dice, and then the irregular Classes such as Ruler and Shielder. I will admit that one or two of the Servants are of my own invention, but I think I'll be able to do a decent job of keeping them balanced and interesting. Ultimately what I'm aiming for is the kind of fluid battle that Fate/Zero pulled off so well, alliances forming and dissolving, rivalries and petty hatreds muddying the waters even as larger conflicts take the foreground.
This chapter sees the selection of several Masters and a Servant who's going to be a major player in the War to come. Props to anyone that work out who he is, I put in a couple of clues, but I admit that they were pretty vague. I've also introduced a couple of other characters that will have big roles in the future; I hope everyone likes my characterization so far.
Once again I would like to offer my thanks to my Beta for his aid in getting this interlude all up to snuff for all you readers.
Interlude Three: The Distant Rumblings
"So, it has been confirmed then?"
In answer one of the other men took the hand of the young visitor among them and extended it, palm down, for all to see. There, in clear red against the paleness of the skin, was a design made up from three serpents uncoiling from a single spot. All of them knew what the marks were, after all knowledge of them had become better known after the near catastrophe in Japan.
Command Seals, the proof of one's status as a Master in the now infamous Heaven's Feel ritual.
"How can this be?" Another of the four asked, "even though the last War came fifty years early it's barely been a year since the last one. It is too soon!"
"The accepted explanation is that since the last ritual came so close to a conclusion, despite the . . . irregularities, that the Holy Grail system was able to reach full preparation in an even shorter time. We have confirmed that both the Tohsaka and the Matou girls have received their Seals, and the Einzberns have shown signs of preparation."
"An interesting development," the first figure to speak, "However how do you feel it to be relevant to us?"
The question was not meant as a serious query, rather it was intended as an invitation for the fourth member of their little circle, the one who had displayed the young man's Seals, to explain his intentions in bringing the matter up with them.
"This is our opportunity!" the fourth insisted, his voice unusually passionate as he addressed them. "We've taken several steps in an attempt to secure the Matou girl for research, however as things stand it will be several months before the correct psychological and academic pressures can be brought to bear for our plan to succeed. With the arrival of the Sixth Holy Grail War our plan is no longer viable. She will no doubt focus her attempts into becoming the victor and use the Grail to retrieve her lover."
There was little attempt on his part to conceal the contempt he felt for the adopted Matou's intentions. It was a sentiment shared by all others in the room. Simply wasting an opportunity such as the completed Holy Grail on such a pedestrian goal, it was . . . almost an obscenity. That power could be used to reach the Root, to expand the Horizons of magecraft to heights unseen since the end of the Age of Gods. Instead she simply wished to use it to retrieve her lost boyfriend. It was something from some puerile romance fantasy.
"Was the Grail not determined to be corrupted? Is it not useless for its intended purpose?" the second asked.
"No, it has been confirmed by an investigation team." The fourth replied, "The corruption, Angra Mainyu, is no longer a part of the system, meaning that the next time the Holy Grail reaches completion there will be no outside influences upon it when it completes its function."
For a moment silence dominated the room as all present considered what that meant. After the fiasco in Fuyuki it had been confirmed that had the corrupted Grail attained full fruition and 'birthed' the incarnation of Angra Mainyu that had been gestating within it then an extinction level event might well have been a possibility. No-one was entirely certain of what might have happened, but according to a little information that Zelretch had apparently let slip for his own amusement, a fully realized Angra Mainyu would have only been a few steps below the ORT going on a rampage, or the Type Moon resurrecting and abandoning all restraint.
However, with the taint gone from the system that same power was now guaranteed to the victor of the Sixth Heaven's Feel.
"I take it you wish for us to offer support and backing to your clansman?" The third spoke up from where he was seated.
Upon being mentioned the young man stood a bit straighter. Well, perhaps calling him a young man was somewhat inaccurate. Certainly he was young in comparison to the other occupants of the room, however by the same token he was not some fresh faced new student, full of naiveté and ambition. He was a man in the prime of his mental and physical condition; someone hardened by the cutthroat world of magi politics, and strengthened by the competition that abounded the Clock Tower. He was confident in himself, and even as the gazes of the gathered magi appraised him he maintained his cool.
"Dominique has been selected as a Master and shall receive the full backing of my family. But even with that backing there is a limit to what we can provide on such short notice. With your backing, however, we will have sufficient unified authority to make a withdrawal from the Black Vault."
That was enough to get everyone's attention. What he was proposing was . . . not something to be undertaken lightly. The Black Vault was more myth than anything else, supposedly the place where the remnants of ancient Mystic Codes and Noble Phantasms were kept. None of them were intact of course, if they had been then the Clock Tower would have probably torn itself apart fighting over who would get to study them. Well, they would have until Queen of the Clock Tower stepped in and forcibly re-established order. But regardless of that persuading the necessary parties to allow them to remove even one of the broken remnants would entail them burning through an enormous amount of political capital. The individuals gathered here might be department heads and the patriarchs of powerful and long established families, but even that didn't let them do something like this lightly.
Still, the three could see why their compatriot would make such a suggestion. To a prospective Master in the Holy Grail War the black Vault would be a positive treasure trove of potential Reagents, providing opportunities to summon heroes from any number of cultures and times. If they were to agree to this, then this Dominique would be able to greatly enhance his chances.
And it was quite likely that he would be in need of such assistance. All of them were aware of the Einzbern family being on the move again, and that was quite intimidating. In the last two wars the German household had been able to field extremely powerful Servants. King Arthur had been a spectacularly powerful Saber that had made it to the very end of the war, and Heracles had been arguably the most powerful Servant in the fifth war, his defeat only due to the irregular nature of the foes he'd been forced to face. If they were able to maintain the quality of the Servant they were summoning then it was quite likely that they would be one of the chief contenders to win this war.
"Well, your idea is a good one. However I am uncertain as to whether or not such a venture would be worth the price we would have to pay." The first speaker said, his voice stating the question the three of them were thinking.
"Dominique is willing to enter into a Geass with all here. Should he emerge victorious then his wish upon the Grail will be for not only himself, but also five other individuals, including all of us, to join him on his journey to the Akashic Records."
There it was, all spoken in plain language. If they did back him and he won then they would attain what was considered to be the pinnacle of achievement among magecraft users. Knowledge, power, even the True Magics, all of them would be available to them. It was a tantalizing offer, one that could have easily blinded them with the radiance it promised, but they were canny men, men that had not survived the years by being fools.
"Your proposal is . . . intriguing, but we will need some more guarantee before we are willing to commit what such aid would cost."
"A perfectly sensible caution," the fourth stated, "Do not think that my family is taking this lightly, this is a full commitment on our part, and steps have already been taken to prepare."
As he spoke he produced as small file of documents and handed them to his nearest colleague. The contents of the file was quickly scanned over, then read with a little more depth, then passed on to the colleague next to him. The process was repeated until all three of them were aware of what was in the file.
In all honesty they were quite impressed; property had been purchased in Fuyuki under false identities, property that could easily be converted into a discreet but powerfully defended base of operations. Other materials had been purchased as well, materials that would allow someone with sufficient expertise in specific branches of magecraft to achieve impressive results. Furthermore it was no secret that Dominique was one well versed in those very specialities. This was no small investment, indeed, for a smaller family it might well have been ruinous. As it stood it only served to highlight just how invested the fourth speaker's family was.
Still, it was also impressive in its completeness. All in all they had ensured that their representative was off to an excellent start, with a secret and secure location to operate from, and resources ideally suited for him to use to support his Servant.
But for all that it didn't serve to completely convince the others.
"This is impressive, but it doesn't change the facts that gambling upon the Holy Grail War has historically been a poor move to make."
This came from the first speaker, his face solemn as he raised a crystal glass half filled with red wine. In the dark lighting of the room the liquid within it seemed to be more like blood than any fruit of the vine.
"More than a decade ago the Archibald family sent their ninth head to seize victory, and it almost cost them everything. The Einzberns have invested vast amounts of wealth and resources into fielding some of the most powerful Servants yet summoned, and it has brought them nothing save for some minor prestige after their last representative helped stop the corrupted Grail. More recently the Galliasta family has been more or less brought to their knees after their head was slain by his own Servant before the war proper even began. I'm certain that you could get a potent Servant from one of the artefacts in the Black Vault, but it has been shown again and again that a powerful Servant does not guarantee victory."
He paused again, taking a sip of his wine before continuing.
"And of course there is an even greater obstacle to faced in this war, namely those sisters that are studying under the old vampire. Given their closeness it is likely that they will be willing to cooperate, so that will be an alliance formed from the start. There is also the detail that the Matou girl retains her Servant from the last war, and she is easily capable of supporting a second. That will be an alliance of three Servants and two Masters that are veterans of the last war, quite the complication to overcome."
"Perhaps not so great as you might think," His colleague replied, "Command Seals have been confirmed on the sisters, the Einzberns certainly have their own, and Dominique here has one as well, that is a total of four. However credible reports have stated that members of both the Nightray and the Coldwell have displayed Command Seals, and less trusted, but still reliable, sources have provided us with reports from Italy, Mexico and even Brazil. If even half of the information that my department has received is accurate then there are at least ten Masters in this war."
"Impossible!" the third stated, his voice clanging with certainty, "The system that the original families implemented does not allow for more than seven Servants to be summoned. Even if there are additional Command Seals available they cannot summon more Servants once the seven have been brought into play. If there are unaccounted for Command Seals then it simply means that the first seven to summon will be the ones with Servants, the most the others will be able to do is bargain their Seals away to the Masters with Servants, or claim a Servant should one lose a Master."
"Were this a traditional Holy Grail War then you would be quite correct." The fourth speaker declared. "However this time things are different, the Holy Grail system is literally overflowing with the accumulated power of all the previous wars and the events of the last one have left their own imprint. There is also proof that things are different, a report that my department received a copy of. It was from the Church to Vice Director, but the content was unsecured, so I became aware of it."
He paused, his eyes flicking from one colleague to the next before glancing to his family's representative, then returning to his fellow department heads.
"Two days ago, on the border between Italy and France, a mage performed the summoning ritual and acquired a Servant. Apparently there was some . . . issue with other local magi, and a Church agent that was passing through the location had to intervene. The matter was resolved without bloodshed, but during the altercation the Servant identified themselves as Servant Shielder."
These men were far too controlled to simply show their feelings casually, but he had known them for years, and in that time he had come to learn some of their tells. There was a slight narrowing of the eyes, an almost imperceptible twitch in the cheek as a jaw tightened, a tensing in the shoulders, all those tiny things he'd learnt to look for. They were taken aback by what he'd said, and that was hardly a surprise. The classes of the Servants that could be summoned were well known amongst those that knew anything about the Heaven's Feel. The only other class they were aware of was the Avenger one, and that was only due to the mess that the fifth war had become bringing it to light.
'Shielder', what kind of class was that?
"If irregular classes are being summoned as well, then it would explain why there are more Masters than should be expected. This war will have more participants than any previous one, and that will work to Dominique's favour."
"How? The inclusion of further uncontrolled factors will only serve to make the situation more chaotic. How would your representative be able to turn that to his advantage?"
The question came from the second speaker, his voice tinged with challenge as he made his query.
"Further competitors produce more chaos, but they will also produce greater opportunity. Thus far most of the other Masters are unaware of this recent development and still believe that the previous convention of the Holy Grail War will hold true. Once they learn of the changes it will only be natural for the weaker or more hesitant among them to panic. When that happens they will be susceptible to an offer of alliance by one that has clear power and direction."
"A slim reed upon which to balance one's hopes. Such recruitment will be a haphazard matter at best, and at worst will only invite the chance of betrayal."
"Geass contracts can be prepared in advance to minimize the risks. Additionally there is already a potential recruit that has made contact with my family after learning about Dominique through the feelers we put out. They are . . . concerned about their current heir taking part in a ritual with such a history as the Heaven's Feel. They are also sceptical of his chances of survival and have instead decided to try for a safer route. Rather than aiming to win the Grail for himself they wish for him to ally to my house and act as aid during the war. Should both Servants survive to the end . . . arrangements can be made. In exchange they want certain knowledge we can provide, some political backing and, of course, generous payment. What should be expected really, though they are being careful to keep their price reasonable in the hopes of fostering a good future relationship. In truth it is rather gratifying to see such a small and young house realize their limits and approach such mercenary work intelligently."
That lent some more weight to his earlier words. If his family already had at least one ally prepared then that alone could prove to be a major boon. In the Holy Grail War alliances were chancy things. Some, like the alliance the Tohsaka heir had engaged in with the Einzbern representative and the Magus Killer's son, could prove potent assets, while others could lead only to backstabbing and infighting. A properly arranged alliance, one backed and enforced with a geass contract, could prove to be a valuable tool, especially if one party had clear authority over the other.
"You are making a compelling case," the second speaker admitted, "However your own information is also undermining your position. An alliance is a formidable force due to the limited number of contestants. In a war of seven two working together accounts for a substantial part of the total fighters, but if there are more then the utility of the alliance lowers the more additional factors appear. Also, there is the matter of the sisters, barring unexpected complications that will be an alliance of three Servants from the very start."
"It is a formidable hurdle, but not one that cannot be overcome. If we are able to gain what we need from the Black Vault then victory will be virtually assured."
"How can you be so certain? Certainly, the Vault contains many potent reagents, but many of them are of unknown origin. You may summon a strong Servant, but strong Servants are not an absolute key to victory."
That was a simple truth. The Tohsaka family had summoned Gilgamesh, quite possibly the most powerful Servant possible, and still had not been victorious. The Einzbern family had summoned King Arthur and Heracles, and they had enjoyed little more success. It might not be a widely held belief, but at least in these four walls they had all agreed that, though it was important, the strength of the Servants was not an absolute deciding factor.
Even as these thoughts ran through the minds of those present the fourth speaker replied to the rebuttal.
"This is true, but a strong Servant combined with a plan, allies, resources and preparation, that is another matter. Additionally there are other plans. If we can gain access to the Vault then the Servant we will summon will be able to aid us immensely, even if he fails to attain the Holy Grail. Simply by spending time in his presence and watching him Dominique will be able to glean priceless knowledge."
There was another pause, then the first speaker spoke up, his eyes focused upon his colleague.
"You have a specific item in mind from the Vault, don't you? You don't want to take one at random; you know which one you want."
"Yes." there was no hesitation in the reply. "Through an accident Dominique was able to identify one of the unknown artefacts stored in the Black Vault. He brought that information to me, and when he gained his Command Seals it was decided that it should be gained as the reagent."
That brought any reply that had been about to be issued short. The vast majority of the items in the Vault were ancient. All of them had at least a trace of power to them, the sign that they had once been part of something much greater, but almost all of them were too damaged to be identified. Some were so broken that it wasn't even possible to know what they had once been a part of. Managing to identify one was the kind of success that could put someone like this Dominique on the fast track to promotion, if he managed it correctly.
Instead he intended to use it to secure a Servant.
"Just who does your representative intend to Summon?"
There was a pause as the fourth speaker turned back to his family's representative. Oddly enough it was as though he were silently asking permission. For his part the newly marked Master made no sign of response, he simply stood as impassively as he had since entering the room. Still, there must have been some sort of signal because the fourth speaker turned to face the rest of his colleagues.
Then he answered their question.
Had he informed them that Barthomeloi Lorelei had declared her intention to marry a Dead Apostle Ancestor it was unlikely that he would have been able to shock them more.
"You . . . you are certain of this?"
"Dominique's research has been meticulous and utterly convincing. I would not have come before you all with this proposal if I had not been completely certain that he was correct."
"This . . . this could be one of the greatest opportunities imaginable. Even if you should fail to win the war, the insights and knowledge that could be gained simply by spending time into the presence of such a Servant would be invaluable to any family. Even just the remnants of working with such a Servant . . ."
The mood of the room had changed. Where before there had been an atmosphere of wary interest and aloof authority, the room now it practically crackled with excitement and greed. What had been suggested, it was an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance that no magus worth their salt would ever give up. Granted, it was dangerous, so many things could go wrong in so many disastrous ways, it was playing with fire, pure and simple. But even so, the possible rewards outstripped any fear the danger might have imparted upon them.
"Very well, you shall have my aid in exchange for the reward that was promised. However, should your family's representative fail to win the Grail I still wish to be included in the harvesting of any knowledge or resources gained from his interactions with his Servant."
He had been the first to speak when this conversation had begun, now he was the first to lay out the terms for his help. As before his face was a mask of self control, but not even his impressive discipline could fully conceal the eagerness that boiled within him.
"I shall offer my aid in return for the same terms."
"My family shall do likewise."
The other two family heads were swift to add their own support, each of them already planning how they could use even the smallest benefit derived from this venture. Given the stakes and players involved even a terrible failure would yield some profit for them. If he should emerge victorious and share the final prize with them . . .
The Root, the ultimate goal of all magi. It would be so easy to let its brilliance dazzle them to all else, however even in the face of such possibilities their minds remained as cold and hard as they had been for all the years it had taken them to attain their current positions.
"A thought," The second speaker suggested, "If the Matou girl is going to be involved in the war, then she would be an acceptable target, would she not? During the war it is possible that she will either face your representative and die, or face some other enemy that might prove too much for her. Should either of these events come to pass with a Servant such as the one you plan to gain securing her body, dead or alive, would be a minor task. Given the chaos that the Heaven's Feel tends to generate concealing her abduction should be within our capabilities. So even if your representative is unable to attain a complete victory acquiring her would be a coup for us."
There was no verbal answer to his suggestion, but the way the others stirred in their seats was answer enough. Sakura Matou had been a prize that they'd all been eyeing covetously since she first set foot in the Clock Tower. The sheer level of power that she contained was staggering, and the fact that her body was even able to hold it without self destructing was of almost as great interest to them. But there was even more to the purple haired girl than that. The experiences she'd undergone during the fifth Holy Grail War made her one of the beings to come closest to the Root, but not actually to reach it, in recent memory. Certainly the ordeal she had undergone with Angra Mainyu hadn't been meant to connect her to the Root, the connection had been meant to allow the incarnation of all humanities evil to use the Greater Grail to birth itself. However the Greater Grail had been designed to connect a magus to the Akashic Record, and that same connection had ended in the Matou girl.
Gaining her for research, be she alive, dead or even in dismembered parts, would be a victory for them, a success that could catapult their research forward by years or even decades.
The other members of this little group had been sceptical when the gathering had begun; unsure as to whether or not lending their support was a prudent move. Now they were whole heartedly committed to aiding their fellow member's family in their bid to win. There were simply too many opportunities to exploit, too many possibilities. Even if some failed, others would still succeed, it was simply guaranteed.
-()-
Dominique stood silently as he observed his grandfather conclude the arrangements with his allies. Remaining quiet wasn't difficult for him, he was used to it after all. As the third son of a prominent house he was used to fading into the background when unwanted.
That had been his entire upbringing really, fading into the background. His eldest brother had been the heir to the family magecraft, and his second oldest brother had been groomed to make a suitable marriage that would enrich both the bloodline and resources of the Portendor family. He, the third, had been almost a living afterthought, a spare allowed to be birthed so that his father had an extra resource on hand. He had received an education, but had always known that he'd never be trained in his family's branch of thaumaturgy. He'd received some affection from his parents, but the bulk of their attention had been focused upon his brothers, his father to train his heir, his mother to prepare the marriage. He had simply been there as a back up, or, as he sometimes thought in his darker moments, perhaps a source of spare organs if the situation ever called for it. The thought was a heinous one, but he had no illusions as to how ruthless his parents could be in the pursuit of their craft.
It had all been something that he'd realized early in life. It wasn't something anyone had expressly told him, but he had been an intelligent child. He'd seen all the small clues, all the little hints, and had been able to assemble them into a full picture. It had been hard, realizing at the tender age of eleven that the little affection he got from his family was peripheral, nothing more. Still, he had persevered, determined that even if his family would not support him that he would make something of himself. He'd had no plan, not objective, just a vague desire and a lot of determination.
Then something had happened that changed it all, his eldest sibling died.
It was an oddly mundane death, especially for a young magus that had been trained to walk with death in all his actions. Had it been an experiment going wrong, or a specimen escaping its confines and savaging him, or even an assassin being sent by a rival family, then it would have been something worthy of a magus. Instead he was killed by something as pedestrian as a roof tile coming loose and hitting him just hard enough to crack open his skull after it fell a few stories.
Suddenly life had changed for Dominique, no longer was he a simple spare, now he was a valued resource to be tapped. With the death of the heir a new successor to the Portendor name needed to be trained. Both he and his brother had received some theoretical training in magecraft, enough that they could slip into the role of the heir if needed, so all that had been left was to determine who the heir would be. Both of them were similarly talented, possessing a fine number of good quality magic circuits. Dominique had been the blanker slate, ready to be filled, and was the younger of the two. On the other hand his elder brother was well known in the social circles of magi society and could boast a fair number of contacts and friendships. Both of them had been viable choices for the role, and their father had hesitated in choosing.
Dominique had decided to make the choice a clearer matter though. He had been unwilling to simply leave it to chance, and so ensured that his sibling tripped just as he started down a rather long flight of stairs. By the time his body reached the bottom he'd had more broken bones than intact ones, and both his skull and neck had been among those that had broken.
With no other options left the son that had once been a spare became a priceless treasure. Both his parents had made him the centre to their world as they tried to pour all the knowledge and attention they could into him after more than a decade of absent minded neglect.
And, to his own surprise, he'd found he didn't care. After years of desperately seeking the approval and attention of his distant parents once he actually had it he'd found it to have little to no meaning to him. Their care, their affection, their respect, all of it seemed so insignificant once he'd attained it. Instead what thrilled him were the lessons they imparted upon him, the secrets of the Portendor family magecraft. The power, the control, the wonder of being able to influence the world in ways that went against the very will of the planet, it was intoxicating in a way that defied description. He'd consumed all that they had offered him with the greedy appetite of the starving and then demanded more.
Dominique knew that he was no great prodigy; he was no genius or one in a million savant. What he was was the end result of more than twenty generations of selective breeding, backed by the knowledge and secrets that the family had been able to accumulate in that time. He was also intelligent, sensible and ruthless, a dangerous combination that served him well as the years passed. He'd been dedicated in his education, even if he had come late to thaumaturgy, and had been equally meticulous in his research after he'd been acknowledged as a full magus by the teachers of the Clock Tower. He hadn't made any earth shattering breakthroughs, but he had been able to build upon other abandoned research that he'd been able to uncover.
That had been his personal approach. The records of the Magus Association went back for centuries and were as painstakingly accurate as could be expected of an organization where any sort of sloppiness could lead to a painful death. In those records were a multitude of stored journals, research papers, notes, speculations and seized research of all kinds. True, for the most part it was kept under lock and key as though it had all been worth its weight in pure and flawless rubies, but if one had charisma, patience and a strong family name behind you then there were ways to get around that. Dominique had possessed all three and had managed to gain access to some of the lower priority, and so less secure, records.
It hadn't been much, more a record of the research than the research itself, but he'd been able to work with it, use it to boost his own project's advancement. It hadn't been much, but it had been enough to enhance his reputation by a few notches, and ensure that his name was brought up with the higher ups. He'd been able to leverage that increase in his regard to gain access to more, and so had been able to repeat the process.
Oh, it hadn't been easy, there had been more than a few dead end leads and several times he'd had to scrap the project he was working on after the information he'd gained was poor. However he'd succeeded more than he'd failed, and he'd almost always been able to keep his failures quiet while making sure his successes were noticed without him apparently doing anything to draw that attention.
He'd done it for more than a decade, and it had worked. Now he was the acknowledged heir to his house, the next head after his grandfather stepped down, his achievements such that his own father had been bypassed in favour of him.
Now, here he was, at a meeting that could well determine the future of both himself and his family, and as things stood he could only fade into the background again.
He was well aware that it was his only real choice, but that didn't stop it from being galling all the same. But the simple fact was that in this room he was out of his league. All the others here outstripped him in political influence in the Association by a wide margin, had decades more experience than him and were quite likely packing a number of powerful Mystic Codes and Mysteries. In a flat out fight, he might be able to take one of them, given that his own preparations weren't anything to be dismissed, but even if he won he'd still lose once the fallout set in.
No, right now the only sensible thing for him to do was keep his mouth shut and stay out of the way.
As his grandfather began to hash out some of the more minor details of the alliance Dominique allowed his eyes to flick down to the crimson marking that now adorned the back of his hand. The Command Seals, the signs of a Master in the Holy Grail War.
When they had first appeared he'd briefly mistaken them for some sort of curse mark, and had then gone on to waste nearly an hour trying to work out where they'd come from and who'd sent them. It had only been after he'd completed his analysis of them that he'd been able to identify them for what they were.
That had been an exhilarating moment, the instant in which he'd realized that he had a shot at the ultimate prize. Fate had to have been smiling on him, because it had been only a few weeks ago that he'd stumbled across some information that under normal circumstances would have been important, but with these new developments . . .
The thing was that the records he was quietly tapping into were huge. Whenever possible the Clock Tower would seize all the research and accumulated knowledge of a family that fell, or a magus that came to an abrupt end. It could be that the family stagnated out of existence, perhaps there was an accident and the line was broken, maybe the magus in question began to conduct forbidden research and had to be put down. The possibilities were pretty much endless, but in the end it didn't really matter to him. He was well aware of his situation as a bottom feeder, a hyena that picked over the bones of fallen magi for scraps that he could turn to his advantage, and in all truth he had no issue with that.
In time he would begin his own projects, works that were entirely of his own devising. For now he had needed to continue to build his reputation and solidify his place in the Portendor family.
And this opportunity had been yielded by his picking over the remains left by past magi. Under normal circumstances he was certain that his family would have been able to provide him with a potent reagent, even if it was at short notice. There were, of course, certain Servant classes that he'd prefer. After all, his magecraft was powerful, but perhaps not the best suited for a close in battle. Had it been up to him he'd have favoured either the Saber, whom he could support from a distance, or the Archer, whom he could add his own firepower to. But at the end of the day it had just been a mental exercise to engage in after the mess of the fifth war brought the Heaven's Feel ritual more into the general awareness of the magus association.
It had been a few days after the Matou girl had arrived in the Clock Tower and stirred up quite a fuss by persuading Zelretch to take her on as an apprentice that he'd made an interesting discovery. It had been a journal belonging to a former member of the so-called 'black guard' a group of magi in charge of designating which artefacts would be sealed in the Black Vault. They had a fearsome name, and perhaps once they had been dangerous enforcers who tracked down the items and treasures that could be a threat to the world. Time had changed that though, because in the present day they were little more than bureaucrats that were only held in any sort of regard due to their ability to confiscate items and declare them sealed, should they so choose.
The author of the journal he'd stumbled across had been a petty middleman who'd brazenly used his position to force favours and payments from other magi in exchange for not declaring their work 'dangerous' and confiscating it to be locked away. Honestly, half his writing had been self congratulatory whinings about how he'd managed to get what he felt he deserved from others that were clearly both more talented and more motivated than him. Dominique took considerable pleasure in the knowledge that the author of the journal had eventually crossed someone with the right connections and found himself on the end of an enquiry about some of his decisions. Suffice it to say it hadn't ended well for him.
However amidst all the pettiness and egomania there had been something that caught his attention, a reference to a relic that might be more than it appeared. The journal's writer had confiscated it and placed it in the Black Vault, though ironically that had been one of the few times he'd actually done his job properly. He'd been in the initial stages of analysing it when the inquiry had begun, but what little he'd been able to decipher had been written down with a surprising attention to detail.
It had been these details that had caught Dominique's attention. The remnant was small, barely bigger than a thumbnail, but that small piece of tarnished metal had been covered in tiny script. The characters had been carved into the metal with exquisite care and precision, the kind of thing that the modern world would require computer guided lasers in order to recreate. That had been what had made him look twice, the symbols used weren't anything that he was familiar with, but at the same time there was a maddening familiarity to them. So he'd obtained copies of the symbols and began to research.
It had taken him a while, longer than he'd expected. There had been many sleepless nights, and more than a few headaches involved, but in the end he'd been able to find a scroll, as in an actual scroll, in the Clock Tower library that had yielded the information he'd wanted.
At first he hadn't believed it, it had simply seemed too impossible. But then he'd double and triple checked his findings against several other sources, each of them of impeccable reputation, and the same thing had kept on coming back. He was right.
He'd imagined that this was somewhat akin to how the more mundane people of the world might feel if they stumbled across a thick vein of gold on their property. A find like this . . . it was the kind of thing that could catapult his fame beyond what even twenty years of dedicated progress could attain. His first impulse had been to go to the board of directors and explain his find, with his grandfather among their number he'd been sure that he'd be able to get a fair hearing, but then he'd begun to have second thoughts. The find he had made . . . it might be a broken, incomplete, but it was still part of an artefact that was legendary. What secrets might he be able to glean from it if he had the chance to examine it? How much further might he be able to advance his own knowledge?
So he'd waited. It had been in the Black Vault for decades, it was unlikely anything would change in the next few months. His own opportunity would come in time, all he had to do was be patient, be careful and be intelligent in his actions.
The appearance of the Command Seals on his hand and the imminent arrival of the Holy Grail War had put paid to those plans though. Instead he'd been forced to reveal his knowledge to his grandfather in the hopes of gaining the support he needed to access the Vault and retrieve it. It put him more in their debt than he'd wanted to be, and being forced to swear to a Geass Contract grated upon him, however in the end he was certain it would be worth it. This Servant . . . they weren't invincible, he had no such delusions, but they were of the top tier. Ever since the Holy Grail War had become of greater interest to the mages of the Clock Tower more information had been available about it. Principle among that released information had been a paper written by professor Waver Velvet detailing his own experiences during the fourth war, including his observations of the strongest Servant of all; Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.
Dominique was sure that the Servant he was aiming for would be of equivalent rank. Their legends, their significance to the world, their achievements in life, all of them were of the highest possible calibre, and he was sure that such would reflect in their ability. If he was to enter the Holy Grail War, then he had every intention of winning. Let the others talk about what they could gain even if he failed; he was aiming for the Root.
Absently he stroked the crimson snakes that decorated his hand.
-()-
Waver Velvet was not a man given to wild expressions of his emotions.
Oh, to be sure he had no issue with expressing his feelings, a fact that many of his students would quite happily attest to. His constant air of slightly irritated crankiness was almost legendary amongst the student body of the Clock Tower, as was his tendency to chew out any one of those students that might waste his precious time. No, the magus that bore the title of Lord El-Melloi II was not shy about showing his feelings, but by the same token he was also someone that managed to maintain a respectably even keel.
He wasn't one of the more emotional professors, those that tended to become extremely passionate about their subject, nor was he one of those researchers with a more than mildly manic way about them. He simply maintained his general demeanour of professionalism and went about his daily business with all the decorum that could be asked of him.
Consequently, had any of his students been eavesdropping outside his personal quarters then they would have been shocked by the sudden flood of extremely vulgar and heated curses and profanities that unexpectedly began to pour out. Had they not fled in terror at the verbal gauzier of vituperations then they would have been impressed at how long the good professor was able to continue without repeating himself, or, apparently, having to draw breath. However, in time, the steam went out of the rage, and the stream of curses slowly dried up.
Inside his room Waver Velvet was pretty far from the image of professional dignity that he normally tried to maintain. When seen about the Clock Tower he always dressed in a manner befitting his station, normally favouring a well cut suit, red coat and a yellow scarf. It was his tribute to the man he still considered to be both his friend and his king, he wore his colours with pride, and that pride seemed to be reflected in his charisma. Upon others the combination might have seemed garish, but upon the one-time Master it seemed right, like the banner of a proud standard bearer.
Right now though he bore none of that, instead he was dressed in blue and white striped boxer shorts, a simple white cotton vest and socks. That was it.
Had many, if not all, of his students seen him in this fashion then it was quite likely that they would have been able to reconcile the image that they had of him in their heads with the reality before them. To all of them he was a shining example of what they could become, regardless of their beginnings or natural talents. To the young men he was someone that had pulled himself up through like the hard way, a man of unyielding determination and will who had overcome a lack of advantages to become an acknowledged and respected lord and teacher. To the young ladies of the Clock Tower he was an example of what was more or less the attractive ideal, intelligent, competent, connected, proud, and powerful in his own way. To them he was a figure of admiration and possibly even some lust, but above all he was to be respected. Even his colleagues saw him as an excellent example of correct behaviour and admirable achievement, despite his personal foibles and eccentricities.
However the truth was that in the privacy of his own quarters Waver preferred to take it easy. Outside he had to be the so called 'Big Ben London Star', or rather be the man that had gained that title, a professor with a reputation for tenacity and an eye for talent. In privacy though, the respected former Master was actually somewhat slovenly, enjoying taking it easy and falling back into informality. A great many of his fellow magi would have been even more scandalized by the revelation of his favourite hobby, namely the playing of computer games. It was something that he'd inherited from his Servant, and honestly he found it to be a good way to unwind after a long day dealing with the intrigues and pressures of the Clock Tower.
That was what he'd been planning for tonight, just an evening fighting his way through hordes of zombie creature in order to reach the lich king that ruled over them all. It might seem like a rather juvenile way for a real magecraft user to spend his evening, but by mentally imposing the faces of those that irritated him over the images of the pixilated monsters he was able to relieve a great deal of stress by wiping them out. Honestly, that head of the botany department really did look rather like a zombie already. It was an easy task to imagine his face on the shambling masses his character was carving a path through.
He'd been happily engaged in testing out the latest weapon to have been added to his arsenal when he'd been distracted by a sudden burning pain on the back of his right hand.
The sensation had been sharp enough that he'd dropped the control pad that he'd been using. On screen his character had died, swept under by a tide of animated corpses, and the continue option popped up, but he'd paid it no attention. Instead the totality of his mental faculties had been focused on the three blood red shapes that now marked his skin.
An upward pointing mark that looked like the silhouette of a spearhead framed on each side by wing-like markings.
Those marks . . . he'd watched them fade from his hand as he'd ordered his Servant, no, his friend, to seize victory in the Holy Grail War. He'd cast them away thinking that the war was too dangerous for him, and that he would just be a hindrance to the man he had come to admire. Instead Iskander had acknowledged him as a friend and invited him to witness the end of the war with his own eyes. For a moment he'd been overwhelmed by memories, then his mind had cleared and he'd realized what the markings meant.
He was a Master again.
In the Holy Grail War.
The same Holy Grail War where he'd had to face the likes of Assassin, where he'd witnessed the mad blasphemies of Caster and his monstrous demons, where he'd stood mere feet from the overwhelming presence of the King of Heroes. That Holy Grail War, and now he was, apparently, going to have to take part in it again.
It was at that point that he'd begun to employ every curse and oath he knew.
Well, now his initial surge of emotion had run out of steam, and he was left just staring at the Command Spells that now adorned his hand. This . . . this was too soon. He'd heard that the last Heaven's Feel had come around early; in fact he'd taken some tentative steps to see if there was any chance that he might be able to enter. He hadn't really known if he wanted to, but he'd wanted to see what his options might be. As things turned out there'd been little point to it. Aside from the traditional three spots taken by the founding families the two 'slots' normally taken by the mage association had been filled by an Irish enforcer with a solid reputation and the head of the Galliasta family.
When he'd found out Waver hadn't really been sure if he should scowl in frustration, or sigh in relief. Now, though, it was no longer a theoretical situation. The marks on his hand were proof of that.
Entering the fourth Holy Grail War had been both the best thing to ever happen to him, and the most idiotic thing he'd ever done. Waver had thrown himself into that mess with only a cursory understanding of just how vicious and chaotic it could be. In that regard he and his teacher had been rather similar. Lord Kayneth had entered the battlefield thinking it would be similar to the ritualized combat favoured by magi, while Waver had thought it would be a mere competition of tactics and the strength of the Servants. Both of them had seriously underestimated the sheer viciousness and abandon that permeated every facet of the war. They had come prepared to fight, people like Emiya Kiritsugu, on the other hand, had come prepared to do anything in order to win.
In the end it had really been the nature of their Servants that had made the difference. Lord Kayneth had seen his Servant as a puppet, a tool, something to be controlled and dominated as though he were a mere familiar. His Servant had held to a strict code of honour that had led him to accept such treatment, even when it was far beneath him to do so. Waver, on the other hand, had possessed virtually no control over his Servant, but the two of them had gotten on surprisingly well despite their dissimilar personalities. Rather than ordering his Servant about the young mage had instead been dragged about by the whims of his Rider. And in the end, that was probably what had kept him alive through the whole mess.
To be sure, his exposure to the King of Conquerors had been a blessing to his personal growth, but all in all his entry into the Holy Grail War had been one of the dumbest things he'd ever done, and it was something that he acknowledged.
Still . . .
His eyes flicked from the markings on his had to the cabinet that sat in one corner of his room. It wasn't anything too special, but inside it held something that was of considerable significance to him, namely the fragment of Iskander's cloak that he'd used as a catalyst.
Certainly, entering the Heaven's Feel ritual was dangerous; one only had to look at the fates that befell most of the Masters in both his war and the fifth. Out of all to participate in the fourth he was the only one still alive, all the others having died during its course or having succumbed to its after effects years later. Of those in the fifth war only the Matou and Tohsaka girls were left, all others either dead of apparently thrown into an alternate reality. To enter into it was to take your life in your hands and gamble it. The odds of success were thin at best, and the chances of his death were high.
And still . . .
He'd be able to see his king, his mentor, his friend, again.
Waver was a respected professor, he was someone that many of the students looked up to and tried to emulate. But for all his accomplishments in his memory Rider, Iskander, still loomed so huge. More than just meeting his friend once more, Waver wanted to see how he stood alongside the king that had shown him how to be who he was.
It was at that point that he realized that the decision had already been made in his mind. He was not going to shy away from the opportunity that had appeared before him.
Rolling off his bed Waver grabbed the trousers that had been draped over the chair, where he'd carelessly thrown them, and began to slip them on. No more time for sitting around, he had preparations to set up. Last time he'd gone into the war almost blind, but this time he had a far better idea as to what he was getting into. He'd have to prepare materials, call in favours, get mystic codes ready in advance. More than that though, he was going to need information, who would be his enemies, who would be dangerous and who might be open to an alliance.
Huh, that was something to think about. Would Iskander once more try to sway the other Servants of the war to his side? Oh well, something to be concerned about later. Right now he had to make plans, not the least of which would be booking passage to Japan once more. So many things to plan.
Such a shame that plans never seemed to fare too well when brought into contact with the Heaven's Feel ritual.
-()-
"So, you have them too?"
Rin's question wasn't spoken loudly or forcefully, but it carried a gravity that would well have crushed one unprepared. In response to the question Sakura held up her right hand to show where three fan like designs made up a sort of flower upon her skin. In response the dark haired student of the Kaleidoscope held up her own hand where two crescents and a straight line made up a copy of the Seals she had possessed during the fifth Heaven's Feel ritual.
"Again? How can it be so soon?"
More than anything else the young heir to the Tohsaka family sounded irritated, as though the occurrence of the ritual years ahead of schedule had been perpetrated simply to annoy her.
"The end of the war was anything but ordinary," the quiet voice of Rider announced her ever vigilant presence behind Sakura as she materialized, "after the fourth war the fifth came decades early, now it would seem the same thing is happening again."
Silence claimed the room as the same thought filled all of their minds. The Sixth Holy Grail War was going to occur.
For Rin it was not something she was happy to see. She'd already discussed the matter with her teacher Zelretch, and he'd mentioned that dismantling the entire system was something that she'd be doing in the future. He'd commented that he'd be wiling to call in a few favours to ensure that she had suitable help when the time came, but only if she had completed her studies to his satisfaction. She'd thought that she'd have years to work with, that there was no rush. After all, with the way the last war ended it should have taken decades for the Holy Grail to gather enough power to set off the war. Obviously she'd been mistaken.
Rider remained silent, but had no real concerns of her own. In the end she would simply follow Sakura in whatever path she chose to take. She would keep her Master safe from harm and do her level best to defeat any that tried to bar her way. Aside from that though, she really had no stake in the matter. She had no wish that the Grail could grant; her motivation was her loyalty to Sakura, not any selfish desire. Well, perhaps that wasn't completely true, she did have one wish that the Grail could be used for; the retrieval of Emiya Shirou. Oh, and maybe that Einzbern girl as well.
That was something she knew that Sakura wanted, something she wanted desperately, and if all truth were to be told Rider herself wouldn't have been averse to the idea of the earnest young man returning. Emiya Shirou had been someone she could approve of, someone that was suitable for her Master. He'd also been kind to the Servant of the Mount, treating her as a person rather than as a weapon. Yes, that was something that Rider would be willing to fight for.
Sakura's thoughts were far less complicated than her sister's or her Servant's, she was instead focused upon one thing, and one thing only.
She could get Sempai back.
That was it, the totality of her thought. Oh, in a few moments she'd begin to analyse the situation a bit more, thinking of what Servants she could summon, taking into account how her vast prana reserves could be a major asset, thinking about how she could form an alliance with Rin, remember that she had Rider already on her side. But all of that would come later. Right now, in that very instant, all she wanted to think about was that this was the best chance she could ever have of being reunited with Shirou.
Her study of the Kaleidoscope was going well, but even so it would be years before her skills reached the point where she could start to search the parallel world for her Sempai. She'd also lately heard rumours of an off limits artefact that might have been of use to her. Supposedly it was a powerful mystic code, or even a Noble Phantasm, that was being kept in one of the research departments, but there were severe restrictions on who could use it. Sakura had been contemplating ways to try to access it, but now it had become irrelevant.
"Do you think the Grail would be safe to use?"
The purple haired girl's singular thought ended as her sister's words brought cold reality back into focus. Could it be? The taint in the Grail had been the source of its instability, with Angra Mainyu removed the wish granting device would surely be working as originally intended, wouldn't it?
"Angra Mainyu is gone."
Sakura said slowly. She wasn't too sure about much of what had happened in the final moments of the war, but of that she was completely certain. Sempai had cut the contract that had tied her to the malignant presence infesting the Greater Grail, but even with that bond cut she was absolutely certain that she would have sensed it if it had remained.
"Yes, but the Grail isn't working as originally designed, this war coming around so soon is proof of that." Rin replied.
"Perhaps, but at this point is it really of any importance?"
Rider's quiet question drew the attention of both sisters as they turned to face her.
"What do you mean?"
"You will be able to determine the state of the Grail once you return to your home city, until then you should focus upon preparing for the war."
There was another moment of silence as both girls processed what had been said, then nodded slowly.
"Who are you going to try to summon, Nee-san? Will . . . will you try to summon Archer again?"
It was a question that Rin had been thinking about ever since her own Command Spells had appeared. She knew that the Archer she'd summoned in the fifth war was somehow a future version of the young Master that had fought at her side; it had been something that she'd been able to work out after all the dust had settled in the aftermath. Just how it had happened she had no idea, but in the end it was hardly something that mattered at this point. She had no idea how she could summon him without a catalyst, especially since she no longer had the pendant she'd used during her first summon, something she suspected might have had something to do with it. She supposed she could try using something from his home, but the chances of it going wrong were simply too great. Besides, it felt . . . wrong to try and call that Servant once more, as though she were placing a burden upon him. She knew that the sentiment was largely irrational, but at the same time Rin generally trusted her instincts.
No, she would not try to repeat her previous summoning.
The question, once that was decided, was who else could she summon? She could, of course, simply not use a catalyst, thereby summoning the Servant that would be most compatible with her, but that was a route that left too much to chance for her taste. The exact nature of the supposed 'compatibility' was something she'd always been dubious of. Instead she preferred the control of having at least some influence over who she'd be working with. The problem with that, though, was that as things stood she didn't have access to anything that she could use as a catalyst. For the fifth war she had tried to use no reagent, just herself at the best possible point, the result had been Archer due to some errors on her part.
This time she wanted to try something different, she wanted to have more of say in just who her Servant would be, and for that she needed a catalyst.
In theory that shouldn't have been too difficult. Somewhere like the Clock Tower was practically riddled with artefacts and paraphernalia that could be used. The problem was actually getting access to them, since any of the ones that could be of any use to her were kept under lock and key. The various departments jealously guarded anything that fell under their purview, and were as loath to share as a dragon was to give up its treasure. If she did want to get at those reagents then she would have to grease some palms, promise some favours, in other words enter into debts.
It wouldn't be too hard, as a student of Zelretch she had a fair bit of reputation to employ. She was studying a True Magic after all, that meant that if she was able to complete her studies she would be powerful in the future, extremely so. True, it would be decades, maybe even longer, before she could reach the same heights as her teacher, even in his current weakened state, but that was only to be expected. Someone like Zelretch was almost an anomaly in the world, something that shouldn't really exist, but which did so anyway. At the height of his power he'd been able to defeat the Type-Moon, a being that should have been so far out of his league as a human that it wasn't even humorous. The chance that she'd achieve even a fraction of that power was enough to make favours from her valuable.
If she could find the right person then the promise of some future support would be enough to get her temporary ownership of something that could make for a good catalyst. Mentally she already was going over her options; the department of spiritual invocation would be a prime target, given that they often used such items as part of their own research. If she went with them then she might not even have to make any promises, they'd most likely supply her with what she needed in return for being allowed to watch and analyse the summoning itself. Of course, that left the possibility of someone getting ambitious and trying to take her Command Spells, either by killing her or by hacking her hand off. Memories of what had apparently happened to the original Master of Lancer sprang to mind, another thing she'd learnt about in the days after the war ended.
When it came to research and advancement mages in general tended not to be too concerned with such things as honour or decency. If she did put herself in a position of any sort of vulnerability there was an unpleasantly high chance that it would be taken advantage of with ruthless efficiency. No, it was probably safer to simply trade for a catalyst and then summon her Servant in private.
And the sooner the better, now that she thought about it. With all the attention that the last Holy Grail War drew, the ritual was now somewhat better known amongst the occupants of the Clock Tower. Before the Heaven's Feel had been a ritual conducted in Japan, and as such had been of little concern to the majority of the magecraft users. True, it had possessed a certain reputation, and to be selected as a Master had been a sign of a certain standing, but for the most part it had been ignored. Now it was better known, given that it had almost triggered an event that could be described as apocalyptic. And with that notoriety came the general knowledge of what the prize of the winner was.
A chance to access the Root, or to regain a True Magic, or simply use the Grail's energy to actualize a wish. Any one of them would have been more than sufficient motivation for a mage to engage in kidnapping and mutilation. It was also a known fact that the founding families of the ritual were guaranteed Masters, so if there was someone of sufficient motivation, she and Sakura would be the easiest targets to find.
But not to take, given that the younger sister had a supernatural guardian in the form of Rider. When you took that into account Rin was the easier target, despite her own superiority when it came to the actual use of magecraft. Also, being Zelretch's student afforded her some protection, since very few were ambitious or foolish enough to cross the vampire Sorcerer, but even that was a tenuous thing. It would be wise of Rin to see about summoning her Servant as soon as she could.
The problem was that she didn't really want to put herself in anyone's debt. As self reliant as she was the young heir to the Tohsaka name absolutely loathed owing anyone anything. Actually a good portion of the reason for that personal trait could be laid at the feet of the now deceased and unlamented Kotomine Kirei, given that every time she'd had to borrow from him he'd subtly made her suffer from it. No, owing others was something she wanted to avoid if it was in any way possible.
But what did that leave her? Should she ask Zelretch for help? Oh, he'd certainly have some artefacts that would fit the bill as powerful catalysts, but the issue would be what he'd demand for such a loan. It wouldn't be a debt, of that she was sure, but at the same time she had little doubt that her . . . eccentric teacher would try to squeeze every drop of entertainment he could out of the opportunity. Most likely he'd ask her to do something in return for the favour, and knowing him it would most likely be something pretty humiliating.
Potential scenarios popped into her mind. Being forced to deal with more of those wretched clothes eating creatures, endless hours of being forced to make those painstakingly detailed little magic circles, or . . . she felt her eyes widen as the thought hit her. Oh yes, that was just the sort of thing he'd delight in making her do, something that she'd normally never even consider. Hell, she was more likely to take a swim in raw sewage that do THAT, but if he had her over a barrel then just maybe . . .
A couple of months ago Rin had realized that her financial situation wasn't as good as she'd like it to be. She was still getting the royalties from the Tohsaka magical patents, but with the costs of her research increasing money was becoming uncomfortably tight. She wasn't in danger of starving, or anything like that, however her spare money had pretty much all disappeared. So, given that her workload had slackened off a bit as she made it over a hump in her studies, she'd thought to get a part time job to work up a little more spending cash.
However she'd made the mistake of bringing a magazine of potential jobs into class with her. Sometime during the lesson it had slipped out and Luvia, with her normal infernal timing, had glanced down to see where it had fallen open revealing some of the jobs Rin had been considering. As soon as she'd seen it the blonde harpy had actually burst out laughing, commenting on the hardships that such a minor family had to endure. That had been hard enough to bear, but then she'd gone on to rub it in further, commenting on how she was thinking about buying a new Rolls Royce, simply because the old one seemed to have an engine that was a bit too noisy for her tastes. At that point Rin's temper had been straining at its leash, and then the Edelfelt harridan had to take it one step further.
The bitch actually had the temerity to offer Rin a job.
As her maid.
Not just as any maid though, as a trainee maid. One that would be working unpleasant hours while being trained from the ground up. She'd then gone on to say that it was all for her own good, that learning such valuable skills would stand her in good stead later in life when she needed such training to fall back on after her progress in magecraft ended.
There was only so much that Tohsaka Rin could take, so when Zelretch returned to the classroom a few minutes later he was treated to the sight of his two students rolling about on the floor as they had both abandoned decorum in favour of each trying to claw the other's eyes out.
Just the memory of it was enough to make Rin flush with shame. Losing her temper in such an uncouth way, that should have been beneath her as the head of the Tohsaka family. Unfortunately her fellow apprentice possessed an almost uncanny ability to get under her skin. And that was what led back to the situation at hand. If she was to ask Zelretch for help then she was absolutely certain that she knew the price that he'd demand for that aid.
He'd make her serve as Luvia's maid, she was completely sure of it.
Well, to the devil with that. She'd risk it all on a blind summoning a hundred times over before she dressed in that uniform and addressed her rival as 'mistress'!
The problem was that she still didn't want to go through without some sort of catalyst. Last she had, but she'd done her best to maximize her chances as well as she could. That had been thrown into disarray by the clocks being off, but even so she'd been able to call a powerful Servant. The problem was that while Archer had been a surprisingly flexible Servant he'd obviously had his own agenda during the war. She wanted to be able to choose who she'd be fighting alongside. No, more than that. She wanted to be able to exploit some of the rules that she'd learnt about after the war. Back then she'd been aware of how summoning a hero in their home territory could provide them with a boost in power, but she'd been unaware as to the details. At the time it hadn't been feasible for her to use it, not with the time restraints she'd been operating under.
Honestly, she didn't really have time to use it now, not unless she could somehow get hold of a catalyst for a famous British hero. Idly she fantasised about summoning Saber as her Servant. Before she'd been consumed by the Shadow, Saber had been a powerful Servant, despite her power being reduced due to Shirou being a less than competent Master. Afterwards, when backed by Sakura's nigh infinite prana, she'd been only a step away from flat out invincible. It still boggled her mind that Rider and Shirou had been able to bring her down. If Rin could summon her here in England, then she could only imagine the kind of advantage it would grant. She might as well just declare herself the victor of the Sixth Holy Grail War then and there.
It was a lovely image, but sadly an unrealistic one. A catalyst that would ensure her summoning the same Saber she had known in her war was uncertain to say the least. Of course she knew her identity, Excalibur had been the proof of it, but that was of minimal help. There were few artefacts, or even remnants of artefacts, that could be directly linked to the king of Camelot, and if there were any then getting access to them would most likely require her to sign away her firstborn child. And that wasn't a mental exaggeration; it was a very real possibility.
Idly she began to think of what other heroes she could summon in this land that would take advantage of the ability increase from being summoned in their homeland. Just from Arthurian legend there was King Arthur, any of the Knights of the Round Table, Merlin, Morgan la Fey. Then there were the other heroes of England, Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Ivanhoe, Alfred the Great, there were certainly plenty to choose from. Still, the question of who would work best with her and which would have the most useful class and abilities were largely irrelevant in the face of the fact that she had no catalysts to any of them. Again, she might be able to get some, if she was willing to indebt herself to others, but to her mind that seemed more trouble than it was worth.
"How about you? Do you have any plans?"
"Yes, I'm going to summon Rider again."
Rin blinked at that. She'd asked the question mostly to show that her mind hadn't entirely wandered off during her ruminations. She hadn't expected her sister to already have come to a decision so readily; the Tohsaka heir had expected her to be a bit more indecisive. Not to disparage her younger sister, but Sakura only tended to be utterly certain in her choices when it came to Shirou, most of the rest of the time she was still pretty shy and reticent, a sharp contrast to the persona she adopted as the third pupil of the Kaleidoscope.
Wait! What did she mean, 'she was going to summon Rider again'?
"What do you mean by that?"
"Actually, it was Rider's own idea. A catalyst is something that is strongly connected to the Heroic Spirit that you're trying to summon. Well, Rider herself is about as strongly connected to the Medusa that exists in the Throne of Heroes as is possible. If I use her as a catalyst then I'm certain to summon up another version of her, and such a version should be able to work very well with Rider."
As she listened to Sakura's explanation Rin had to admit that she was somewhat impressed. It made a lot of sense, when you thought about it. Servants were normally more like copies of the originals that existed in the Throne, if you accepted that, then there was no reason why you shouldn't be able to summon up multiple copies of the same Servant. Rider was by any count an excellent Servant. She was of a flexible moral code, quite powerful, flexible in the use of those powers, and, most importantly, absolutely loyal to her Master. Even when Sakura had no longer had any Command Spells to enforce her will Rider had still remained at her side as her Servant, and in the Holy Grail War that kind of loyalty was priceless. If her sister could summon a second Servant with those self same properties . . .
Rin could already see both advantages and disadvantages in this. Having two of the same Servant, that could let you play the shell game with them, if you were careful. If you could conceal the fact that there were two of them then it would be possible to frame other contestants for your actions, set enemies against each other. There was also the possibility that such paired Servants could work together to an uncanny degree, given that they'd more or less share the same mind. Then there was the idea of them supporting each other, given that they would more or less share identical powers. Being trapped by the gaze of the Gorgon could be extremely debilitating to even a powerful Servant, being caught in two such gazes though, that could be lethal.
Of course, there were also down sides. Having two Servants with identical abilities meant that if a method to defeat one was determined then it would also work on the other, since both shared the same weak spots. Likewise being identical also limited the amount of variety they had access to, that meant less surprises to bring to bear, less trump cards to pull. There was also the worry that sometimes the people that clash the most are those that are too similar. Rider was an excellent Servant, and someone that Rin respected as a person, but, to put not too fine a point on it, her past life had been a mess. She'd made enough mistakes and committed enough horrors that she was no doubt shouldering a lot of self blame. If there was suddenly another her around that she could blame though . . . well, the results might be pretty catastrophic.
Still, she despite the drawbacks she could see the advantages as well, see why her sister was going this route. It was an excellent use of resources, and it played well to the assets that Sakura had. Honestly, Rin found herself slightly jealous of the ease with which the purple haired girl could enact her plan. Well, that wasn't an option open to her, as things stood she'd either have to go with a blind summon, or be ready to cut a deal with someone in order to get a decent catalyst.
No, actually that wasn't true, the simple fact was that a blind summon wasn't really an option. This time she was going into the War with her eyes fully open, she was well aware of what she was going to be up against. A summon without a catalyst might well provide her with a Servant she could work with, but compatibility wasn't the only factor to consider. At the end of the day power was needed, since it didn't matter how well she got on with her Servant if they lacked the strength needed to overcome their foes.
Damn it, she really didn't want to do this. For all her talent Rin knew that she was a small fish in the pond that was the Magus Association. Oh, she had excellent promise, but for now it was only the shield that being Zelretch's student that kept her from being embroiled in the kinds of politics and horse trading that she dearly wanted to avoid. Had she not been his student . . . well, she probably could have managed. She'd have had to keep her head down more than she'd have liked, and she'd probably have had to swallow some insults for some of the more boorish administration, but she could have done it.
However, since she had enjoyed the protection of being the Kaleidoscope's apprentice she had been able to push things a bit more than would have otherwise been sensible. She was able to reveal a bit more of her talents without having to worry about stepping on anyone's egos. She'd been able to answer insults that she'd have otherwise been forced to ignore. And she'd drawn attention from certain quarters that it would otherwise have been more prudent of her to steer clear of.
It wasn't anything malicious, at least not terribly so, the parties involved didn't wish her ill, rather their threat came from greed. Competition between the department heads over talent could become quite fierce. None of them wanted anything but the best in their department, so promising assistants were a resource to be cultivated and harvested. Those heads kept a careful eye upon the students of the Clock Tower so that such promising ones could be spotted early and be correctly . . . approached. Favours were often exchanged in order to recruit them, but bribery and outright coercion were not unknown.
Someone like Rin, someone not only extremely talented, but also a student of Zelretch himself, that was someone that any of the higher ups among the Clock Tower would virtually salivate over. And it was that greed that Rin was hoping to use to her advantage.
Going to Zelretch wasn't an option, not with her suspicions as to his price. Her pride could endure a lot, but if she was forced to be that blonde boob monster's maid then she was liable to snap and do something drastic. No, if she was going to trade a favour for a catalyst then she would prefer it to be for one that would leave her with her dignity intact. That and not in a blood feud with the Edelfelt family over the murder of their heiress.
If she were to offer her membership to a department as the price for a catalyst then there was an excellent chance she'd be able to gain something of suitable potency. She knew that the department of spiritual invocation, for example, had some fragments of the Round Table in their possession. Likewise the department of divinity investigation supposedly had bone fragments from a number of confirmed demigods. Even the department of supernatural architecture could offer her fragments from the original walls of Troy. With both her own potential and the chance of bringing the magic of the Kaleidoscope to their department any one of the heads would be willing to part with such treasures for as long as it took her to make her summon.
What irked her was that this would leave her trapped, locked into a course when she didn't want to be.
As of yet the Tohsaka heiress was unsure of what she wanted to do after her education under her current master was finished, but she did know that she didn't want to be locked away in one department or another where the head of that section would be able to more or less determine the direction of her research. She wanted to get out, travel, maybe return to Japan and see about rebuilding the fortune of her family properties. She didn't want to have to accept another's authority over herself; she didn't want to be forced to curtail her options. The problem was that as things stood this looked to be the best option available to her. She could go to individual families and see if she could bargain with them, but that had its own risks, not the least of which was them trying to backstab her in order to steal her Command Seals.
Damn it, it wasn't like she had much of a choice though. As things stood it looked like at best she'd have to choose the department least odious to her and see what the best catalyst she could get would be. It frustrated her to no end, but there was little choice in the matter, after all it wasn't as though there were worthwhile catalysts just lying around where anyone could use the-
Oh.
Ohhhh!
Yes, that could work. In fact, she was sure it would! She'd have to be careful though, not tip her hand so that others would work out her plan. Still, it was a good idea, she was sure of it. And if she could pull it off right then she'd be able to field a powerful Servant.
"Nee-san, have you thought of something?"
Once again she was brought out of her thoughts by Sakura's gentle questioning.
"Ah, yes, yes I have. I need to do some research, but I think that I've come up with a way to summon up a strong Servant."
"Good," the Matou heiress nodded her head as her hands fell to the book that she'd brought with her, "We'll be able to get Sempai back, with three Servants we'll be sure to win."
It sounded more as though she were talking to herself than to Rin, but the elder sister understood. To Sakura getting Shirou back was in many ways the centre of her world. Ah well, Rin might not be quite as eager as her sister to get the well meaning dolt back, but she was fine with using the Grail to get him back, assuming the damned thing was working right now and wouldn't try to cause an apocalypse in the granting of her wish.
Really, her original reason for trying to win the Holy Grail War had been simple competitiveness, as the Tohsaka heiress she'd been designated as a participant, so she was determined to win. Had she been the victor she wasn't too sure what she would have wished for. Certainly access to the Root was a tempting proposition, but at the same time it felt sort of like cheating, like taking a short cut to the goal rather than reaching it through her own efforts. Her pride as a magus wouldn't let her take that route, even though she knew it was foolish. No, she'd probably have wished for a detailed step by step guide as to how to reach the Root, then she'd probably have largely ignored it after using it as a point of reference to set up her own plan.
Well, at least this time she knew what she was aiming for. She was going to get Emiya Shirou back to this reality, and Illya-chan as well, and when she did the heir to the Emiya name was going to provide her with all the jewels she wanted. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, garnets, topazes, amethysts, opals, all of them in flawless cuts and all of them large enough to make the British Crown Jewels weep with inadequacy. Internally she smiled at the thought of what kind of face Edelfelt would make when Rin walked in and made a mystic code out of a ruby as large as her head. Alright, it probably wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, but it was a fun little fantasy to indulge in, as least for a moment or two.
Then it was back to the matter at hand.
"We'll have to return home as soon as possible," She said, voicing her thoughts, "The sooner we can summon our Servants and return then the sooner we can confirm if the Grail is corrupted or not. If it isn't then we can focus on preparing for the war to come."
Sakura nodded, then frowned.
"Do you think we should use Sempai's home as a base of operations?"
"No," Rin didn't really have to think of the reply, "The Bounded Field around it is good for detection, but at least in the early stages of the war we'll need a more fortified location. I think that the Tohsaka family manor would be best, since it still has all the old defences now that I've repaired the ones that fell during the last war."
There wasn't a need to say anything else, to say that it was since their father had died, to say that it was since their mother had been broken, to say it was since their uncle Kariya had died. A shadow crossed Sakura's face, but it quickly faded away.
"It will be . . . nice to see it again."
Rin had never felt any guilt at what had happened to her sister, she'd felt regret, sadness, even pity for what had happened to her, but never had she held herself to be responsible. That said, she felt a stab of sympathetic pain at her sister's distress at the thought of finally returning to the home that had once been her home as well.
"It's alright," Sakura must have seen some of her emotions on her face, because she reached over and briefly squeezed Rin's hand, "If it's to get Sempai back, then I can manage."
-()-
He stood before the circle and carefully analysed it for any defect, no matter how small. This had to be perfect, any flaw, any deviance could impact the result negatively, and such could not be allowed.
The thaumaturgic design that marked the floor before him was composed of a mixture of blood and quicksilver. It was a volatile mix, given that normally circles of this nature were made of one or the other, but he'd been able to combine them. It hadn't been easy, but the Alchemy of the Einzbern family was useful for overcoming limitations such as this, at least in the short term. The union of dissimilar components wasn't one that could be sustained, but it would hold for long enough for what he intended to be accomplished.
As that thought ran through his mind he glanced down at his left hand, once again taking in the design engraved upon the back of it. The silhouette of three red hands, each grasping the wrist of the next, formed a triangular shape in brilliant red. These were the proof that he had succeeded, that he was the designated Master of the Einzbern family, the one that would carry their hope into this new Holy Grail War.
It was strange really. He'd thought that once he achieved this he'd feel some sense of elation . . . no, if he was to be honest with himself he'd have to admit that he'd thought his emotions would be a bit on the uglier side. He'd expect satisfaction at being able to gloat at the memory of Illyasviel. Here he was, the acknowledged representative of their family, the position he'd once competed for with her. Then he had lost, her superior prana reserves being valued above his skill and ingenuity, but now it was his. He'd expected to feel some sort of rush, to be able to mentally jeer at her memory that he had taken what was once hers, to gloat, to crow his accomplishment and superiority.
Instead, all he felt was a growing sense of . . . weight, as though he could feel the pressure of the role he had taken on bearing down on him. It wasn't an uncomfortable weight, but at the same time it wasn't something he could take lightly.
"Lord Rüdiger, the catalyst is ready."
Looking up from the Command Spells the Einzbern Master looked at the source of the voice. Tall, slender, with white hair and red eyes the figure before him could have been sister to Irisviel and aunt to Illyasviel. She was clad in a simple but elegant dress of black satin and wore no jewellery or ornamentation of any kind. She was accompanied by two of the homunculus maids that were the finest creations of the Einzbern family, however while they shared a certain similarity of appearance there was something in her eyes and manner that set her apart. The Maids were quiet, reserved; they were well suited to their role of fading into the background.
By contrast the woman they followed drew the eye. Her stance was demure, and her attitude submissive to the one she addressed, but even so she caught the attention because she possessed a vitality that the two attendants lacked.
Her name was Inmesviel, and she was the specially created homunculus that would serve as the vessel for the Holy Grail in this war.
As soon as preparations had been set in motion for the upcoming war Jubstacheit von Einzbern had begun her creation, using the same techniques that had been used in the creation of Irisviel. His reasoning had been that the vessel of the fourth war had, to all intents and purposes, succeeded in her duties. She had survived long into the war, and had eventually absorbed enough of the defeated Heroic Spirits to lead to the materialization of the Holy Grail. The disaster that had followed had been the fault of the treacherous Emiya Kiritsugu, not the creation that had been assigned to serve him.
To that end Inmesviel had been made, and as with her predecessor she had been provided with an independent consciousness and implanted with a formidable knowledge of the Einzbern family's magecraft. There were some modifications though, improvements that had been learnt whilst preparing Illyasviel for her role and which were now implemented in this latest model. Irisviel had only been able to contain four Heroic Spirits before she was unable to function as a living being anymore and instead collapsed into a simple vessel. Using the scabbard Avalon had allowed her to continue beyond this, but that had been a temporary measure. By contrast Illyasviel would have been able to hold the full six defeated souls needed to form a complete Grail before being unable to function as a human.
Inmesviel had been created using the methods learnt from Illyasviel's modifications. True, she wouldn't be the equal of the Einzbern representative of the fifth war, but she would be superior to Irisviel. These improvements meant that her life would be shortened though, even more so than it had been before. Homunculi, at least of the type to which the Sixth War's vessel was, did not live very long, a decade or two at the very most. The changes that had been made to her cut that even further though, meaning that even if she didn't perish when the Holy Grail materialized it was unlikely she would live for more than a couple of years.
Still, until then he was certain that she would be a valuable assistant. As the war had approached Jubstacheit had assigned her to serve Rüdiger as his aid. The idea being that the two of them would grow more accustomed to each other and so be able to work better together once the Heaven's Feel began. At first the Einzbern Master had been somewhat insulted by the directive, given that it implied he was unable to handle his own preparations. However, in the Einzberns everyone knew that going against the head of their family was always a losing proposition, so he had taken her on and decided to get some use out of her.
To his pleasant surprise the relatively young homunculus had proven to be a very capable assistant. She was able to take over a great many of the lesser, more menial but time consuming, tasks that he'd been facing, thus freeing up his time to be used upon more important matters. She'd also taken charge of the small contingent of combat homunculi that were going to be accompanying them to Fuyuki, failed attempts to create Grail vessels, similar to the maid that had accompanied Illyasviel. There she had also proven her ability as she had been able to use her new skills to modify the previously disregarded creations into something that could be considered useful. Though initially the altered homunculi had been a disordered and ineffective group, Inmesviel had been able to forge them into a cohesive unit in a remarkably short time. Now they served as support staff in the war effort, and would be accompanying them to Japan once they left.
Initially Rüdiger would admit to having been sceptical as to how much aid the failed products could be. As with most of the Einzbern family he found such flawed and imperfect creations to be mildly offensive to his sensibilities. The creations they made had a reputation almost unsurpassed in the world of magecraft users, even the least of their products being the equal of a hundred 'regular' magi. To parade their failures around in such a way . . . it seemed like something that would degrade the reputation and standing of their family. As a result all such failures were cast down into the pools beneath the castle so as to be slowly broken down into materials that could be used again. None thought about them, none cared about them, even the homunculi that lay there, slowly breaking apart, made no move to change their circumstances. They were worthless failures without any use or purpose in this world other than to become components for something that might not be a failure.
However Inmesviel had thought differently. She had gone down into the bowels of the castle and taken a failure from the pool. That had surprised many in the family, even Jubstacheit himself. The future vessel of the Holy Grail was a very young homunculus, only a few months old, so the level of initiative and independent thought that she was demonstrating was very unusual. Irisviel had in time developed her own sense of self and personality, but that had only been after prolonged exposure to Emiya Kiritsugu and the influences he'd introduced her to. By contrast Inmesviel should still be a blank slate that did little more than obey orders. Still, it had been of some interest, so the family had left her alone to see what she did.
The modifications she performed upon the failed creation hadn't been anything radical or ground breaking, but the way that they had been implemented had proven to be surprisingly efficient and effective. In short order the formerly trash homunculi had been brought up to a level that could be regarded as wholly acceptable. Of course the process had not been without its drawbacks; much as was the case with Inmesviel herself the lives of the altered homunculi had been shortened by a considerable margin. Where previously they could have continued to function for years, or even decades they now had only months, a single year at best. However to the Einzberns that was no concern. What was important was that thanks to the 'recycling' that their new vessel had conducted they would be able to field a surprisingly large combat support force of expendable assets.
Oh, the homunculi would be of little threat to a Servant. Though physically they might be strong enough to match the weaker classes in physical might, they lacked the skill and prowess to be much more than irritants. Still, they could be useful against the Masters, lesser servitors and the like, in a pinch they could even serve as disposable pawns to cover an escape if need be. In many ways their previous weakness had become a strength, in that they could be sacrificed easily enough due to them lacking value, but that lack of value meant that they had no reason to hold back with the strength they had. That made them dangerous to the enemies, and useful to the family.
Case in point, the maids that followed her carried between them a large cast iron chest. It was heavy, enough so that normally it would have taken at least a quartet of large and strong porters to move it about; however the two slim maids carried it easily between them. Without a word they laid it down before him, then stepped back respectfully, giving him and Inmesviel plenty of room. With an almost ceremonial air about him Rüdiger reached out and lifted the unlocked lid.
Despite the size of the chest it was predominantly filled only with a single large cushion; however the vast majority of the weight that the maids had been bearing came from the small shard of material that sank into the resistant softness almost to the point where it was buried.
"When did this arrive?" the Einzbern Master asked, doing his best to keep a tremor of excitement from his voice.
"Three days ago, it was delivered by the truck that brought in the rare metals that you requested."
He looked up at that, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Why was I not informed?"
"Lord Jubstacheit took it to his private workshop to verify its authenticity. He gave instructions not to let you know until he was certain that it was what we had been informed it was."
Inmesviel delivered her reply in a completely even tone, no hint of reproach, worry or condemnation in her words. Likewise her face remained a mask of neutrality, just as he had come to expect of her. for all the unusual initiative and innovation she had shown the future Grail vessel remained emotionally undeveloped, at least as far as he could tell. Still, her emotions were unnecessary for her role, and he saw little point in helping them develop. Regardless, there were more important issues to deal with now.
"Since it has been passed on to me I believe it is safe to assume that there was no issue?"
"Indeed, Lord Jubstacheit has confirmed the age, composition and nature of the artefact provided. Every test has been passed and all doubts dispelled, this is indeed what it was promised to be."
"Splendid."
The word wasn't so much meant for her ears as it was a vocalization of his feelings of impending triumph. Reaching down he carefully ran his fingertips over the surface of the artefact.
The act didn't take long, but that was hardly a surprise. In size the soon to be catalyst was barely larger than a child's little finger. Indeed, it was more akin to an overlarge splinter than anything else. Once it might have been another colour, but now it was a tarnished white, scuffed from the passage of years. It was impossible to tell just what it was made out of, it could have been ivory, horn, metal or even some sort of ceramic, had a mundane mineralogist come across it no doubt it would have been the find of a lifetime. One that would have eventually driven the finder mad as they would be utterly unable to unravel the mysteries of the material. And how could they? This was not something forged by mortal hands or the laws of the natural world. This was something made by a being with the power to defy the rules that governed the natural order.
Carefully he tried to lift it from where it sat, but found that he could barely shift it in place. Despite being small the weight of the artefact was vastly greater than its dimensions would suggest. Well, that was hardly a surprise, he'd been aware of the qualities of what he was expecting. Indeed, had this not been the contents of the chest then all it would have taken to move it would have been a single one of the maids. Instead three of them had been needed to bring it here, that alone should speak to the sheer weight of the catalyst he hoped to use.
For a moment he considered trying to lift it out himself. He was familiar with a method of physical augmentation that he could use. Granted, it wasn't quite on the level of the standard Reinforcement that most magi used, but it was better suited to the alchemy he practiced. It might not be as efficient, but the results he could get were, at least in the short term, better. No, he dismissed the idea as merely a moment of vanity. Any of the maids was a fair sight stronger than he could safely make himself, and even they couldn't singly handle it without risk. Oh, if he pushed himself he might be able to do it, but going that far could well leave him crippled before the war even began. No, it was best to err on the side of caution.
Gesturing towards a raised pedestal a few feet away Rüdiger addressed the maids.
"Very well, place it there."
With wordless nods of acknowledgement the two maids, now joined by two more, reached into the chest and each took hold of a corner of the cloth that covered the cushion upon which the catalyst rested. As one they all lifted, using the cloth as a sort of sling in which to carry the artefact.
For a moment the sheer weight of it resisted, but they were beings whose strength far surpassed what mundane humans were capable of and soon their burden was hoisted up between them. As they slowly moved over to the pedestal the Einzbern Master had to admire the workmanship of the cloth that they were carrying between them. Had it been any sort of mundane material it would no doubt have torn under the tremendous weight it was carrying, however this fabric was the result of advanced alchemy, and as such was something far stronger than could be produced by mundane science. Rüdiger was well aware of the qualities of the material; after all he was using similar fabrics to create the protective clothing he intended to wear as armour for the war.
Well, no more time to spend ruminating on that, the homunculi had placed the artefact where he had indicated and had once again retreated to a respectful distance. Alright, there was no longer any reason to delay further. He had checked and rechecked his circle, the catalyst was here, all that was left was to actually become a Master. Taking a deep breath he stepped around the design marked out upon the floor until he stood directly opposite to the pedestal and the artefact upon it. His left, the one marked with the Command Seals, extended outwards towards the circle of blood and mercury and the catalyst beyond.
"Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, Fill, repeat five times but when each is filled, destroy it."
He could feel his prana reaching out to the circle, an automatic reaction as he began to conduct the ritual. This was it, this was being as close to using the True Magic of the Heaven's Feel as any Einzbern since it had been lost, and even this was but the merest shadow of it. He wasn't the one doing anything; his prana was simply being pulled through the Seals upon his hand to be used as part of the function that the Holy Grail conducted. Even the amount of prana being drawn was simply serving as the 'ignition' to what was happening, the vast majority was being provided by the mana the Holy Grail had saved up over the years. Has he tried to do this, create a spiritual body, he'd have died of Od exhaustion before he was even one percent completed.
"A base of silver iron, a foundation of stone, and the Archduke of Contracts."
The circle was now alight with prana, the room in which the ritual was being conducted bathed in the blue light enough to cast shadows across the wall and drown out the more yellow illumination provided by the countless candles about the chamber.
"And my ancestor, my great Master, Schweinorg. A wall to block the falling wind. The gates at the cardinal directions close. From the Crown, come forth and follow the forked road leading to the Kingdom."
The chamber now seemed to be shaking, shuddering beneath the tremendous amount of power being brought to bear by the deceptively simple ritual being conducted. So much power that it dwarfed everything he'd ever encountered. To think, this was but one of the miracles the Holy Grail could perform, and this was only a small portion of its power. What more could be achieved once it had been filled? The mere thought of it made his heart thump in his ears. That was power enough to restore what had been lost, to regain the lost True Magic that had belonged to his family.
"Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me!"
He felt it! He felt the moment in which the connection was made. Like the line of a fisherman that had just had a bite Rüdiger could feel the tension suddenly grow as the power of the ritual connected to the Servant that would be summoned. In that instant the tone of the rumble shifted, no longer was it building, instead it was now the roar of an engine built by a god
"I hereby swear . . . that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all the evil in the world."
His hand was shaking now, and he had to use the other on his wrist to keep it steady. On his skin the Command Spells were lit up, as though there was some light beneath his skin struggling to be shown. Taking a deep breath the Einzbern Master prepared for what might well be the hardest part of the ritual.
"Your hand shall hold the sword that shapes my destiny, and by my will that sword shall in your hands be held."
The words he spoke were not part of the ritual proper, instead they were something that Jubstacheit had taught him. Rather than being a part of the chant it was instead a cheat, something that the Einzbern family had kept in reserve.
Of the families that had been involved in the creation of the Grail system the Einzberns had been the most intimately involved in the function that pertained to summoning the Servants. The Makiri family had developed the Command Spell system, and the Tohsakas had provided the spiritually rich land and the means to tap into it, but at the end of the day it had been the German family that had set up most of the system and provided the core. As such it was hardly a surprise that they'd left themselves a number of 'back doors' that they could exploit. After the debacle of the second war they had used those openings to tamper with the Holy Grail system to their advantage, replacing the Berserker class with the Avenger class.
Their plan had been to circumvent one of the restrictions of the Grail, to summon a god as a Servant rather than a hero. The result had backfired upon them catastrophically after the resulting Servant proved weak and was killed early in the war. During the fourth War they tried a different approach, since their magic was unsuited for combat they brought in the deadliest magecraft user they could find and paired him with the strongest Servant they could summon in the best Class available. In the end the results had been more than satisfactory, Emiya Kiritsugu had technically won the war, but then he'd betrayed his benefactors by throwing the Grail away and ordering his Servant to destroy it. So, when the fifth War came around, they had tried for something similar, but aimed for greater reliability. Illyasviel had been an absurdly powerful magus, able to generate massive amounts of prana and able to use it to enact complex and powerful Mysteries with minimal difficulty. She had also been the Master to Heracles, quite possibly one of the most famous and powerful heroes in all Greek Myth. As a final touch Heracles had been summoned as Berserker, thus boosting his already absurd stats and ensuring his absolute obedience, removing any chance of betrayal.
Well, that had worked well, at least to start with, but in the end the Einzbern family had once again been defeated.
Now it was his turn, and Rüdiger had no intention of letting himself be beaten so easily. This time the odds were in the favour of the German clan, they had been the only ones to know that the sixth War was coming, so only they had been able to prepare. Also they had been fortunate that Rüdiger himself had been available to them, as it let them field what could well be the best among them.
The young Master wasn't one given to excessive pride, but he was well aware that as a Master he was quite powerful. Though not the equal of Illyasviel in terms of raw power he was still well above the average of magi, and well as well trained in the use of his magecraft. More than that though, the Servant he was summoning would certainly be the most powerful to be fielded in this war. The Einzberns had watched the past battles and had learnt well. The hero they had selected this time was more divine than mortal, with a legend both ancient and famed. Not only that, they were taking steps to ensure that the Servant would be summoned under the Class that they had selected.
The Saber Class was regarded as the most outstanding of all the ones available. It had a solid reputation, not simply for power, but also for reliability. In every war one of the final two had always been a Saber, thus making it the most desirable. The words he had spoken were something that had been worked into the system centuries ago, but had never been used, a means by which the Einzbern family could select the Class of their Servant. It was based upon the system whereby Masters could make their Servants Berserkers by adding two lines to their chant, however if used by those other than Einzbern these altered lines would prove less than useful.
If they served their purpose then he would have the strongest Servant in the strongest Class.
"You, Seven Heavens, shrouded by the three great words of power, come forth from the circle of inhibition . . . Guardian of the Scales!"
As the last line was spoken the light of the circle flared up into a blinding incandescence. Despite his initial resolve to watch the entire summoning as keenly as he could Rüdiger was forced to raise an arm to his face, shielding him from the brightness lest he be blinded by it. For a moment the light seemed to swallow the world, then it died down as though its fervour had been exhausted.
Lowering his arm the Einzbern Master stared at the results. Mist filled the room, spiralling around a central point even as it faded away, and as it did so it revealed the figure it had been obscuring.
There was no way that they could possibly be mistaken for human, that was the first thought that ran through his mind. Their dimensions, their features, all of it was human, beautiful, but human. Their garb might have been strange to some mundane man off the street, but from what Rüdiger knew it was not unusual for a Servant. However there was something about them, a hugeness, a grandeur that defied conventional description. He knew, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that what stood before him was a legend given flesh, a being that had transcended mortality in life and gone on to become something even greater in death.
Words slipped forth from his lips, words that unknowingly echoed the sentiment that Tohsaka Tokiomi had voiced upon summoning his own Servant.
"Inmesviel . . . we have won. With this summoning victory is ours!"
-()-
The phone rang several times, then it rang several more . . . and then several more again. All told it must have been ringing for close to a full minute before it was finally answered.
"Hello?"
"What took you so long?" The questioning voice was exasperated.
"You would make a young lady such as myself rush about? How uncouth of you. How did you not know I was in the middle of doing something of dire importance? Your unwelcome interruption might have broken a moment with a distraught soul and led to them fleeing into the night, intent upon bringing an end to their poor tortured existence in some bloody fashion."
There was a pause from the speaker on the other end of the phone.
"Were you?"
"No, but you had no way of knowing that, so you should show consideration."
The voice that answered was utterly devoid of any sense of shame, as though they had absolutely nothing to be concerned about. Had one been paying close attention then they might have noticed the sound of grinding teeth emanating from the phone's speaker.
"You were aware that this call was going to come through, I know because I told you about it only two days ago. So why were you so reticent in answering?"
"I was very attentive for the first day, however after answering the fourteenth call by a telemarketer attempting to interest me in the latest in solar power electrical supplementary systems called I found my caring to begin to wane. After the thirty seventh call I decided not to answer unless the phone kept on ringing for more than half a minute."
"I was ringing for longer than that!"
"Yes, your persistence was most impressive."
"So why didn't you answer sooner?!"
"I was curious to see how long your persistence would last."
Once again an attentive listener might have caught the grinding of teeth.
"Well, as you can see I have plenty of persistence because I have important news."
"Ah, so a verdict has been delivered?"
"You don't have to sound like you're on trial you know."
"The decision that is being made will decide my entire future; I don't really see all that much difference."
There was another pause, but this time it seemed that the speaker on the phone was taking deep calming breaths in order to control their no doubt rising aggravation.
"Caren Ortensia, you have been confirmed as the mediator of the sixth Holy Grail War, you shall remain in your current position until such time as the Heaven's Feel ritual has ended and all activity has ceased. Your mandate shall be to maintain the cover of secrecy that obscures the matters of the magi, and to ensure that the rules of conduct of the war are observed and maintained."
"I see, so I have been handed a verdict of death, understand."
She might as well have been speaking about the merits of sand versus processed kitty litter for all the concern she was vocalizing in her tone.
"Damn it Caren!" the one who was calling her finally lost their composure as the volume they were speaking at rose almost violently, "You aren't being sent there to die, you're being sent there because they think that you're the best for the job! Your family has been holding this task for years, I'm sure you can handle it, so don't start on that!"
"Yes, my family has been involved in the Holy Grail War for generations. However I would also like to note that so far it has been that same involvement that has managed to place the two generations before me in the grave. I am, somewhat understandably, concerned that I might end up making it a third."
"Your father did fine in his two wars!" the voice sounded as though the steam had suddenly been let out of it, as though they knew how flimsy their argument was.
"My father was a terrible excuse for a human being; trying to emulate him in any way at all is most likely not the most sensible route to take."
And that was the simple truth of it. Caren Ortensia, or Ortensia Caren in this Eastern land's mode of address, was the daughter of Kotomine Kirei, the Church Exorcist that had been a contender in the fourth Holy Grail War and had been meant to serve as the officiator of the fifth. As it turned out though, he had instead attacked one of the Masters, one Bazett Fraga McRemitz who had been an enforcer that had worked with him a number of times. After cutting off the arm that held her Command Spells and leaving her for dead Kirei had become a secret contender in the Heaven's Feel, despite his vow to be neutral. Of course, any thoughts he might have had to winning the war went out the window once the mess with the poor Matou girl started gaining traction.
Further investigation after the war had revealed a number of other . . . indiscretions on his part, including the mummified bodies of a number of children deep within the bowels of the church, children that had died a long and tortuous death after having their Od extracted over the course of years. Needless to say, the church had done their best to quietly deal with the matter. His dead body had been found in the remains of the cavern where the final confrontation had been held, so that was one loose end dealt with the rest had been made to quietly disappear, though it was suspected that Tohsaka Rin might have learnt of some details before they could be swept away.
Regardless, the Church had been unwilling to let an area such as Fuyuki City be without any sort of oversight, even if the Holy Grail War seemed to be a thing of the past, so they had sent Caren there to evaluate the situation.
There had been a number of reasons for her being the one chosen for the position. Her being the daughter of the former priest to serve in the city's church lent credibility to her being there. As far as the rest of the civilian population was aware Kotomine Kirei had simply been one of the many victims that had plagued the city in the latter days of the war. His daughter taking his place was something that was perfectly understandable. Another reason was her odd talent, one that had made her an ideal choice for determining if there were still any traces of Angra Mainyu contaminating the city.
That had been her first assignment here, and it had been one that she had completed with commendable speed and efficiency. Her unusual ability had been able to detect the remnants of the corrupted Servant's activities, but the response it had generated had confirmed that the being that could be described as 'the sum of all the evils of humanity' no longer existed in any meaningful form. All that was left was traces of his power, such as the park that had been the site of the disastrous end to the fourth War, or at the temple where the shadow of Avenger had consumed Servant Saber.
"Well . . . be that as it may, you are to serve as moderator for the sixth Holy Grail War. I trust that there will be no issues with this?"
"Of course not, how could I have issues with being placed in a position where I will be attempting to rein in the actions of more than half a dozen beings that each has the capability to kill me with ease. I'm certain they will all be completely reasonable and will happily follow the rules that have been laid down for the Heaven's Feel ritual."
The sarcasm in her tone should have been crushing, but oddly enough it was completely absent. Instead her voice sounded strangely indifferent, as though she were speaking the truth and no more.
"Ah, there I have some good news, and some bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"
"I'll hear the bad first. Then I can have the good take some of the sting out."
"Right. Well, the bad news is that you won't be dealing with the standard number of Servants in this war. We don't know the full number, but we can confirm that there are going to be at least a dozen."
Silence took over for a moment.
"More that a dozen Servants?"
"Yes, at least that many, probably more though."
"And I am meant to keep them in line so that the debacles of the fourth and fifth Wars are not repeated?"
"Yes, that is your duty."
Very calmly Caren laid the phone receiver down on the table top beside the phone, then clasped her hands and closed her eyes.
"Lord, please forgive these foolish dolts that are clearly sending me into a situation where I will no doubt meet a cruel and premature end. I entreat you to take mercy upon them, for their actions are not driven by malice; rather they are the fault of idiocy and half wittedness. Also, I ask that while you're at it you also quiet the anger inside me that threatens to force me to act in a most unladylike manner."
"You know, if you didn't keep such a sharp tongue in your head you might not have gotten saddled with this assignment."
The words from the phone were quiet, due to both the remote location of the speaker and the fact that the person on the other end was speaking in a low voice. However it turned out that they weren't speaking as quietly as they thought they had.
"What was that?" Caren demanded as the picked up the phones head once more.
"Nothing, nothing," came the quick reply. "Are you ready to hear the good news?"
"It would have to be extremely good news at this point. It would seem, after all, that the Church has decided to throw me into the Holy Grail War as a sacrifice."
"Actually, I think you might be wrong there. You see, the first Servant to be summoned has already contacted the Church and offered to work with the mediator in order to preserve the order of the Holy Grail War."
"Which Servant would that be? And what has happened to their original Master? If the Servant already lost or dispatched them then I am somewhat less than eager to consider working with them."
Just as before there was no judgement or irritation in her voice. She spoke the truth, and nothing more. There was a slight interest to her question though.
"Due to the irregular nature of this war the first Servant to be summoned was an irregular class. Servant Ruler has informed us that she would be willing to cooperate with the Church's representative to keep the war within the bounds of moderation."
"That is not a class that I have ever heard of before. Does that mean that I am to be her Master? If so I must refuse, I have no desire to take part in the war."
"No, that won't be happening," the voice on the other end of the line assured her, "Ruler has no Master, rather the Holy Grail itself is her Master. The Ruler class is brought into play when a situation arises where the very war itself is under threat. Servant Ruler is not meant to take part in the War; indeed, a qualification for that class is that they have no personal desire for the Grail in the first place. According to her this sixth Holy Grail War has seen so many irregularities that the system summoned Ruler in order to prevent the conflict from devolving into total chaos."
A slight frown crossed Caren's features as she stared down at the telephone in her hand.
"Then why does she want to work with us? As a Servant her power would far surpass anything that the Church could casually bring to bear. Why not simply take my position as the moderator in its totality?"
"We did ask her that?" the speaker admitted, "She said that she didn't wish to deal with the upheaval that such a change of power might result in. Many of the Masters coming to this war will be familiar with the position the Church normally takes, and will respect it due to our reputation."
"You mean the knowledge that during the fourth war the Church supported one of the Masters from behind the scenes, then in the fifth the moderator stole a Servant and attempted to claim the Grail for himself? One would think that such a reputation would be one that would promote revilement rather than respect."
"Caren . . ." One could almost hear the speaker closing their eyes as they tried to fight off an oncoming headache. "The details of your father's . . . indiscretions are not widely well known. As far as most people are concerned the moderators of the wars chosen by the Church have always served with fairness and capability. Indeed, Kotomine Kirei aided in the debacle of the fifth war by helping in the rescue of the Einzbern Master from the possessed Matou girl. The surviving Masters of the War know the truth, but they don't want to start any trouble with the Church, so the Tohsaka heir has agreed to keep quiet in exchange for some . . . compensation. Rest assured, the reputation of the Church in this matter is well fortified."
Once again the white haired girl laid down the phone as she again clasped her hands in prayer.
"Oh Lord, I ask you to grant mercy upon your servants that have fallen from the righteous path, and now engage in bribery and deception. I'm sure that they only do it so that the good name of your earthly office remains unstained, but the road to perdition is paved with the intentions of those that would do well. Please find it in your heart to offer your forgiveness to them, despite their obvious foolishness."
The distinct sound of grinding teeth could once again be heard from the telephone, if one was paying close enough attention.
"Must you do that?"
"Of course," Caren's voice once more sounded completely calm and sincere as she picked the receiver up once more. "Is it not the duty of a priestess to speak with God and invoke his divine mercy upon those that knowingly or unknowingly step upon the path of heresy and sacrilege?"
"Just . . . just get ready for the arrival of Servant Ruler. The Grail apparently summoned her in Italy so she could contact the Church, but now she's using her own resources to make her way to Fuyuki. According to her she should be reaching you in just few days at most."
There was something slightly broken about the other speaker's tone, as though they couldn't really face dealing much more with Caren and just wanted to end the call as swiftly as they could. This assumption was born out as once the last part of the message had been delivered there came a click and the sound of the dial tone.
For a moment the white haired priestess stood there, gazing down at the telephone as though it was somehow to blame for the ending of the call.
"So, I take it that means that the Holy Grail War is on again?"
The woman's voice that came from behind her was unexpected, but Caren showed no signs of surprise.
"Such poor manners, shamelessly eavesdropping on your most gracious host. There really isn't a single bone of feminine grace in your entire body, is there?"
There was no answer to her accusations, though the newcomer's cheeks did flush slightly.
"N . . . never mind that! Is it really true?"
"Yes, it would seem that a new Holy Grail War is set to begin. Tell me, do you think it will end up costing you another arm?"
The figure that stepped through the doorway didn't reply, instead she made her way over to the rooms sole sitting chair and collapsed into it. As she did so Caren took the time to look her over.
"I would say that your condition has improved some, just a week ago you wouldn't have been able to make it to that chair without collapsing in the attempt."
The only response she got from the seated woman was a glare, but that was only to be expected.
Bazett Fraga McRemitz was someone that had endured much, but that could be gleaned just from looking at her. Caren had seen images of her from before the war, and they had shown a young woman in the peak of health with a body toned and forged by hours of practice and training into a veritable living weapon. She had been youthful, vital, beautiful in the way of a warrior woman. The woman before her now though, she seemed more like the shadow of that person than the person herself, her figure unhealthily thin, her skin stretched and sallow, her hair dry and dull and her left arm was missing from just below the elbow. The only thing that remained unchanged were her eyes, they still had their old steel in them.
The former Enforcer could be regarded as the first casualty of the fifth Holy Grail War, having been betrayed and struck down by Kirei only instants after having summoned Lancer as her Servant. However despite being run through with a blade and having her left arm hacked off she had endured, stubbornly clinging to life. Still, despite her formidable vitality and willpower she should have died in the room her betrayer had locked her in. No food, no water, heavily wounded, under such circumstances even magecraft could only take you so far.
But Bazett had survived, aided by the unlikeliest of sources, Angra Mainyu.
Caren didn't know exactly what had happened, and Bazett was reluctant to speak of what she'd gone through, but as far as the priestess could tell some fragment of Avenger's being had clung to the dying Enforcer even after its 'true' self was destroyed. That portion of power had somehow kept her alive for months, enough time for Caren to arrive and begin searching the church that had once been her father's. It had been in that search that she had found the former Enforcer, her body emaciated but still alive.
The taint of Angra Mainyu had continued to dog her for a few more days, then it had faded away without any indication as to why. That it was gone could not be disputed, though not truly a demonic being the nature of Avenger had been such that Caren's 'gift' had reacted to it. After the taint had faded there had been no more reaction, it was simply gone.
In the weeks since she had done her best to tend to Bazett's recovery, though it had been a slow process. As things stood it would be the better part of a year before she was back to full strength, the nature of her injuries and survival meaning that even with the aid of magecraft the rebuilding of her body was slowed. Still, the fiercely independent woman had pushed herself as far as was possible, making some strides in her recovery that honestly surprised Caren. Really, the woman should still be stuck in bed, unable to do anything more strenuous than turn the page of a light book; instead she was already able to make short trips about the church. If all truth were to be told the daughter of Kirei was actually quite impressed.
Not that she'd ever let even a hint of it show, of course.
"I don't plan to take part, so I should be fine. Besides . . ."
Bazett held up her remaining hand, the back of it facing her host and displaying the clear lack of a Command Seal.
"I suppose it would be unsporting of the Grail to choose a Master that would be unable to even leave this church." Caren said, her tone completely level.
In response Bazett simply rolled her eyes. She'd long since grown accustomed to the . . . quirks of the woman that had found her and nursed her back to some semblance of health. It was difficult to get one's head around, but at the same time it became oddly endearing after a while. Though it paradoxically remained irritating despite that.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere any time soon. Not like this anyway."
There was little chance of mistaking the bitterness in the former Enforcer's voice. She knew she had little in the way of support that she could call on. The circumstances that she'd left her family under had been somewhat less than cordial, meaning that if she got in touch with them they were unlikely to send aid. Likewise there were few in the Mage's Association that would back her up as well, despite the fine record she had at bringing in Sealed Designates. She'd been a valued asset, but she hadn't been the sort to play the games of favours owed and sold. Granted, she had been self sufficient and it had kept her from being entangled, but it also meant that she was bereft of support at a time like this.
Well, she wasn't exactly too unhappy about that. Her family . . . there her feelings were a bit complicated, but even if they wanted to be it was unlikely that they'd be of too much help in this situation, even if they had been in contact with her. Not that there was much of a chance of them sending even the attempt, not given their determination to remain as secretive as they'd been for centuries. As for the magi of the Association, quite frankly she'd have preferred to simply be stabbed again, at least that would finish her off quickly, as opposed to a long drawn out process only slightly better than being drained by a Dead Apostle.
Whatever the case, it looked as though she was going to be here for the long haul. At least here in the church she'd be on designated neutral ground, so unless the priestess holding it grew stab happy she should be alright.
For a moment Bazett found her mind occupied by an image of Caren advancing upon her with a bloodstained carving knife in hand and a somewhat more unhinged version of her normally calm expression on her face. That was . . . worryingly believable, something she could see happening all too easily. Yeesh, it was enough to send a shiver down her spine.
"You are thinking something unkind about me, aren't you?"
Could Caren actually read her mind?
-()-
Sakura sat on her bed and stared down at the Command Spells on her hands. It was late in the night, yet she didn't feel in the least bit sleepy. How could she? With the thoughts that were running about in her mind she was as likely to fall asleep as she was to sprout wings and fly to the moon.
Her mind returned to her earlier talk with Rin, the thoughts that they'd had, the ideas that they'd shared. In a way it had been heartening, but at the same time it had felt somewhat pointless. Sakura wasn't an expert on the War, but she knew enough to be able to recognise some basic facts from her own experiences with it. Namely the simple fact that when you took plenty of magi with varying abilities and a general high regard for their own station in life, mixed in the incarnations of the legends of mankind, stirred in some conflict and then set the whole thing loose the only recipe that could result was a slow descent into chaos. When faced with something like the Heaven's Feel planning was largely useless since those plans would probably not survive an encounter with the enemy.
Still, she didn't let that discourage her. What was important was that she finally had a clear way to get sempai back, to her that was something that blotted out all other details, at least for the time being.
Her studies had been steps in the correct direction, but she'd also come to realize just how huge the task that she'd set herself was. Even if you were just talking about the worlds that were 'close' to this one, as far as the concept of parallel worlds went, then you were still talking about a number that dwarfed anything most people could conceive of. When you went into worlds that were more 'distant' then the number grew at an almost exponential rate. The fact that Zelretch could interact with such a vast number of worlds with the ease that he did only served to highlight just what an abnormality he was in the world of magi.
She knew that she was good, no genius like her sister, but she was intelligent, dedicated and driven, all qualities that could make up the difference. The problem was that the task she had set herself was one that would cause even a genius to balk. She had the book that Sempai had sent her, that could act as a chart, and aid to her finding him, but in the face of the odds that she was taking on that simply reduced impossible to horrifically difficult. It would be the work of lifetime to find him, that was the sad fact. Well, it would be if she was approaching the problem conventionally.
Sakura had vast reserves of power at her disposal, so much so that even if she deliberately output the maximum her body was capable of handling every second of every day for the rest of her life it was unlikely that she'd deplete even a single percent of her reserves. There were ways to use that to cheat, ways to simply hurl more energy at a problem until it resolved itself. It was a crude and inefficient means of dealing with difficulties, but given her reserves it was one that suited her almost ideally. It wouldn't solve all the issues she faced, but it would deal with some. Even so though, she was still looking at years of work, years of learning, years of failed attempts.
The Holy Grail however . . . for all the anguish it had brought into her life the Matou heir was probably more intimate with its functions than anyone else in the world, save maybe for Zelretch and the head of the Einzbern family. Granted, most of it had simply been impressions and half understood intuition, things that she hadn't paid much mind given her almost insane state at the time. One thing she was sure of though, and that was that the Grail did have the power to do what she wanted. It would be a brute force approach, but the power of the Servants sacrificed would be more than enough to force the miracle she wanted to take place.
Sempai.
And Illyasviel as well, she supposed, Sempai would probably be mad at her if she just left the Einzbern Master behind.
Still, it would be difficult. True, between her Servant, Rin's and Rider, she and her sister would form a potentially powerful alliance. The problem was that if someone managed to summon a Servant in the same power bracket as Berserker then even a trio of Servants might not be enough. They were going to need something more. More powerful Servants, more advantageous battlefields, more potent magical support. She knew that they needed these, but her mind refused to offer up any suggestions as to how she might go about acquiring them.
Damn it! She wasn't a strategist like Rin; it just wasn't part of her nature. Frustration creased Sakura's features as the old and familiar self hatred reared its ugly head. Why couldn't she be better at this? Rider, she deserved a Master that could support her, help her, be worthy of her. But instead she was stuck with her, a girl more likely to shy away from violence than to help her.
No, that wasn't quite true. Sakura knew that she wouldn't turn from battle as she once would have done. Certainly, she had no great taste for it, but before she had shied from it more in fear of the feelings it invoked in her than fear of the actual violence itself. Also, she had never wanted to sully the image of herself that had existed in Sempai's mind. For years he'd thought of her as demure, gentle, pure, all while not knowing how lewd and defiled she really was. She hadn't wanted to break any more of that illusion, even if it was just to herself. Of course, if it meant that he was back here, back where she could see him, then she didn't mind caking her hands in the blood of those that fell before her. True, she wasn't exactly eager for it, but it wasn't something that she'd shy back from if it came to it.
But that wasn't enough. Certainly, a willingness to go to certain lengths if needed was an asset, but it wasn't the kind of major advantage that she needed. Mentally she went over her plan to use Rider as a catalyst. Was it a good idea? Could she think of anything else?
She and Rider had been extremely compatible because they had shared a similar fate. Rider had been a goddess that had fallen from grace due to the pettiness and spite of the gods that existed and had eventually become a monster that revelled in the destruction and carnage that she wrought. Sakura had faced a similar fate as the shards of the previous Holy Grail had connected her to Angra Mainyu and corrupted her into a new Grail, one that was more terrible than any previously seen. Was that still true? Or had that changed after Sempai and Nee-san had saved her? Was it even the best idea to try? If she did and she had changed then would she end up summoning someone else?
Logically if she didn't get a second version of Rider then she would probably summon one of her sisters, either Stheno or Euryale, and that might lead to problems. Either of them would be strong Servants, at least according to what Rider had told her, however there was a chance that they'd be unable to work well with Rider. Her Servant had told Sakura that she unquestionably loved her sisters, and they her, but at the same time it was also true that there was nobody who could hurt you as much as the ones you loved. And the three sisters had loved each other dearly, but the differences between them, or rather between the two of them and Rider, had led to small but severe rifts. To Rider, who had loved her sisters but had eventually slain them, seeing them would be both a joy and a torture, and Sakura didn't want to inflict that upon her.
What else was available though? What else could she use?
Any further thoughts on the matter were forced to be shelved for later as a small sensation of breaking glass went off at the back of her mind.
Immediately Sakura was sitting up reaching out with her prana to connect to the bounded fields surrounding her house. One of them had been tripped, but all of the others were still intact. The set up that had been placed around the small house was one that had been put together by both her sister and a magus that had owed her a favour. Rather than a single multi-purpose field it was composed of several thinner interlocking ones, the array used was perhaps a bit inefficient in terms of prana use, but a lack of prana was not an issue Sakura had to deal with, so that was hardly a concern. By way of compensation the multiple fields let her easily gauge the strength and intent of her intruders with minimal difficulty.
It was a clever system in its own way, one barrier would detect hostile intent, another would detect prana levels, another would detect all unmarked intruders, and so on. It also made masking one's self from all of them a more difficult task than concealing one's self from a single sophisticated field. Still, she was a bit confused by what had happened this time. The barrier that had broken was one of an intent to reach her, but the barrier to detect hostility was untouched, so that meant that most likely they didn't have any hostile reason for being here. What was odder was that the other fields hadn't responded, so that meant that it wasn't a person that had broken the first one, but if not then who?
Tink, tink, tink.
The sharp sound of metal on glass cut off her plans to reach out with one of the few sensory mysteries she knew as she glanced over towards her window. She looked up in time to see Rider shimmering into view before her, the Servant's lithe form in between Sakura and the source of the noise.
The Matou heiress could understand her Servant's caution. This house was warded in a considerable number of ways, so whatever was making that noise couldn't be something that had approached casually. Oh, there were ways to get through the bounded fields around the house, but none of those ways included tapping on the glass of her room, which was up on the second floor and faced the small garden at the back of the house.
"What is it?"
Sakura's question followed Rider as she leaned carefully towards the window, her blindfolded eyes none the less seeing the small intruder that was making the noise.
"It . . . seems to be a bird of some sort."
Her interest piqued the Matou heiress slipped from her bed and padded over to where her Servant was standing. Oh, she wasn't taking the situation lightly, and even as she stood up she readied a couple of mysteries that she'd learnt for just this sort of occasion. Neither of them was particularly innovative or elegant, but they were the type that got stronger as you dumped more energy into them, in other words just the sort that played to her strengths. Thus prepared she came up just behind Rider.
Through the window she could see the culprit that had disturbed her, as it hopped along on the windows outside sill. In size it wasn't very big, perhaps a tiny bit larger than the average sparrow, but not by much. However the thing about it that really stood out was that rather than being flesh and blood the small bird was instead composed entirely out of metal. It was composed of copper, if she didn't miss her guess, or maybe some sort of brass. Whatever the case the workmanship of it was exquisite. Sakura didn't know too much about the forms of magecraft involved in the shaping and formation of metals, but she couldn't believe that something so intricate was easily achievable.
The pair of them waited for the copper bird to do something, to attempt to force entry or fly away, but instead it persisted in just hopping about on the sill and tapping on the glass. In the end it was the tapping that convinced Sakura, it was light, only hard enough to make a noise, but not to so much as scratch the glass. The bird might be small, but she was sure that had it wanted to force its way in then the window pane could have been broken, after all the glass had not itself been reinforced, it was utterly mundane.
No, whatever this thing was here for it most likely wasn't hostile, it was simply too small to be any real threat. It could be carrying some sort of explosive or poison she supposed, but between Rider's protection and the defences she had prepared it was unlikely to be anything to be concerned about. On top of that was the simple fact that she still possessed Zelretch's dubious protection, and that wasn't something one would risk without a lot of confidence to back them up. Still, there was no reason not to be cautious.
Ribbons of shadow began to manifest around the Matou heir as she silently gestured for her Servant to open the window. Had Rin been present there was a slight chance that she might have swallowed her tongue at the sight before her, but then one could hardly blame her. The prana constructs that were manifesting were almost identical to the ones that she'd used while under the sway of Angra Mainyu, but there were some differences. These were less refined than the ones she'd used then, and they also lacked the tints of red that had coloured them before. All in all they would have seemed . . . less than the ones Sakura had used as the corrupted Holy Grail she had once been.
Well, that was hardly a surprise since these ribbons were her own creations, something made using nothing but her own skill. What she'd managed during the Holy Grail War had been her natural ability pushed to the maximum by her contract with Avenger that had been nesting in the Greater Grail, but it wasn't something she could do on her own. At least not without a considerable amount of time studying and honing her skills.
However, for the purposes of defending against whatever tricks the metal bird might be concealing what she could do should be enough.
As it turned out though, her caution had been unneeded.
As soon as the window was open Rider had hopped back and prepared to lunge at it again if it did anything suspicious. But instead of anything hostile the copper avian fluttered over to Sakura's desk and perched there as it turned to face her. Looking closer at it she found herself wondering whether it was a mystic code or a familiar. Something about the way it moved seemed too . . . animated to be a simple creation. Perhaps it was a construct infused with biological parts, some sort of cybernetic mystic code?
"Sakura Matou."
The voice that came from the beak of the metal bird was clear as a bell, but modulated so as to be metallic as the one it came from. This meant that the gender and age of whoever was speaking was masked from being identified.
"My apologies for sending my familiar to deliver this message as I have, however given the nature of what I'm about to say."
The voice paused, and Sakura's eyes narrowed as she stared at it, her mind racing to try and anticipate what it might be about to state.
"I am aware that you and your sister will be taking part in the upcoming Holy Grail War. I am also aware that you still retain your own Servant from the last War, and will most likely be able to summon a new one as well. Also, I am aware that you possess the necessary prana to support two Servants without much difficulty. Lastly, I am aware of the good relationship between you and your sister, a relationship good enough to ensure that you will be working together when the War arrives. This means that you two will be at an enormous initial advantage."
None of this was news to the Matou heiress; these were all details that she'd already discussed with her sister and with Rider.
"I shall be clear in my intent; I wish to join you in this alliance."
What?! That made no sense. Both she and Rin wanted the same thing, to get Sempai back, that was why they could be assured that they could work together. They were still a little unsure of how things would go in regards to their Servants, but the general idea was that if both of their Servants were still alive at the end of the War then they would have a fair fight between them to see who would be the winner. Rin was fairly sure that a Grail primed with the souls of six Servants would be enough to open a portal that Shirou and Illya could use to get home. Without the Greater Grail it wasn't something that could be repeated, but for a single occasion it should be sufficient.
However if someone else were to enter their alliance then it would no longer work, there would no longer be the trust that existed between the sisters. They'd both be wondering if this newcomer had their own plans, their own wish.
It simply couldn't work, and anyone with half a brain could see it, so why had this person made the offer? Were they hoping that both Sakura and Rin would suffer a moment of stupidity and accept? No, it couldn't be. Anyone able to make something like this bird couldn't be that foolish, so then why . . .
"I am certain that you are wondering how such an alliance could function, after all the need for the Grail would ensure that we would be at odds in the end, am I correct?"
Well, it would seem that at least whoever it was that had sent this message was no fool. They had seen the same issue that had immediately occurred to her; the question though, was how they would address it.
"What you must understand is that the War you are about to engage in is not like the one you fought in the past. I have access to a network of informants, and I have learnt that so far at least nine individuals, you and your sister included, have been selected as Masters. Moreover, a Servant with the class of Ruler has been in contact with the Church, and another Servant claiming to be of the Shielder class has been summoned in Italy."
All Sakura could do was gape at the bird as she listened to the words that were coming from it. Nine Masters, that made no sense! And 'Ruler', 'Shielder', she'd never heard of these classes before.
"According to those that I have spoken to, the general consensus is that since so much power has accumulated in the Holy Grail due to all the failures in the previous Wars it has lead to an . . . overflow in this War. Additionally due to the damage the Heaven's Feel system took during the . . . unfortunate events a year ago certain restrictions have been loosened, allowing for an unconventional War."
Something entered the speaker's voice then, an intensity that could be heard even through the masking effect.
"This leads to additional opportunities, since with more Servants there is a chance for more wishes. What I want is to enter this alliance with the understanding that I will aid you in the pursuit of your goals, but only if you will do the same with me.
"Do not think that I come to this with my hands empty though, I have already made preparations to summon a Servant of my own, and have managed to acquire a catalyst that will ensure I can call upon a strong one at that. I am making this offer to you and your sister because you are in a strong starting position, but also because you have decent reputations. If you reject this offer then there are others that I can make the same offer to."
There was a pause as the copper bird seemed to look directly at her.
"Take the time to discuss this with your sister, when you are ready to reply simply tell my familiar to remember your words, then speak you reply. It will return to me and relay your message."
The voice died, and the bird cocked its head to the side, watching her and waiting. Its metallic eyes blinked a couple of times, then it settled down on her desk, fluffed out its copper feathers, and to all appearances fell asleep.
"What do you think of this, Sakura?"
Rider's soft tone seemed oddly discordant after the metallic tones in which the bird had spoken. No, discordant was the wrong word, it was more a sharp contrast than anything else. Well, whatever the case she did raise a good point.
Bringing a third party into the partnership she had going with her older sister was a risky proposition at best, especially since it wasn't someone they could fully trust. On the other hand adding a fourth Servant to their group would ensure their advantage over virtually all other parties. The problem was that any agreement would have to be contingent upon the information the bird had spoken being true. If there were a greater than normal number of Servants in the War then it would allow for such an alliance to function, but it was still a tentative possibility at best.
And of course, that was all dependent upon the information that had been provided being the truth. On the face of it the concept should have been ridiculous; a Heaven's Feel with so many Servants was absurd. However on a purely instinctual level Sakura had the sinking feeling that the claims were accurate. She could remember it, the feeling of overwhelming power that had been resting in the Grail when she'd been connected to it. So much power, more than a mortal mind could really grasp, it had felt tight, squeezed, contained as though it were just waiting to overflow in veritable tide of unfathomable might.
Then there had been the damage that had been inflicted upon the whole system over the years, between the interference of the Einzberns, the infestation by Angra Mainyu, the disastrous end of the fourth War and the positive debacle of the fifth it would hardly be a surprise that the Heavens Feel would be behaving erratically. For a new War to come so soon, and to be irregular in such a way . . . yes, she could well believe it possible, even if she hadn't seen it coming.
In fact, now that she thought about it, nobody had, at least not as far as she knew. From what Rin had told her after learning just how close the fifth War had come to becoming an extinction level disaster the higher ups in the Clock Tower had begun to make plans to disassemble the entire system. The work had been scheduled to begin next year, if she remembered correctly, and had been delayed due to having some trouble finding someone to handle the project. Rumour had it that Lord El-Melloi II might be the one tapped for the responsibility, given his own dealings with the War in the past, but that seemed to be largely irrelevant now that the War was in full swing once more.
Still, that brought something to mind, namely that the Einzbern family had been surprisingly silent during the whole thing. The Matou heiress didn't know too much about Illya-chan's family, but what she did know made her wonder why they hadn't protested more when word of the Grail being disassembled had gotten out.
With a sigh she sat back down on her bed. More details, more pieces to the puzzle. Had she been more rested she might have tried to put it all together, but right now she was suddenly feeling too tired. For now there was nothing more to be done, Rin was away on her trip to summon a Servant, and given that she still refused to get a cell phone there would be no easy way to contact her. Sakura did have a mystery that would send a signal to her, but it was thing meant for emergencies, a signal telling her to return as fast as she was capable of. She had said she'd be returning soon though, whatever she had planned, it would resolve itself one way or another in a day or so. When she did they could discuss this development, she could afford to wait.
Looking over at the small copper bird Sakura made a quick decision. Getting up she picked up a spare towel that had been hanging on the back of her door and carefully approached the familiar. When it didn't react she threw the towel over it. As it still didn't make any move she carefully wrapped it up and took it downstairs.
It was here that she'd set up her workshop, a small room that in years past would have served as a laundry room, but was now largely empty since the washing of clothes could be handled with a washing machine rather than a whole room. Now it was something of a mess, her equipment placed wherever there was room for it, her materials left where they had been used. None of that was her concern at the moment though; she could worry about getting this place tidied up once she had some spare time. The current focus of her attention was the large metal chest that was located in one corner of the room. The Matou heiress had acquired it so that she could place some of the more volatile research materials in there, and not have to worry if they should destructively fail. The chest was reinforced with both metals and mysteries, none too sophisticated, but they did their task well enough. Right now she had no such materials to worry about, so the chest was empty.
With that in mind she placed the wrapped up bundle into the chest, then brought the lid down and carefully locked it.
She was willing to give the offer of an alliance some thought, but that didn't mean she was going to go to sleep with that odd familiar free to do as it so pleased. Rider might be an excellent bodyguard, but Sakura wasn't going to take any chances where she could help it.
Now, time for a good night's sleep.
-()-
The Grail wasn't alive, not in any way that could be related to a living human.
But it was complex, intricate enough that it could fake it to an almost worrying degree. Angra Mainyu was gone now, so the malicious consciousness that had once permeated the system was gone, however that presence had left damage and changes in its wake. In its perfect state the Grail would only summon 'true' heroes, however under the influence of the bearer of all human evils this function had been warped and broken. The result had been such insane and malicious Heroic Spirits like Gilles de Rais, Medea, the Witch of Betrayal or Medusa, a god become monster that had never been mortal to start with. The damage was done, and so that would continue, evil Servants could now be called by those foolish enough to want them, or with hearts dark enough to be compatible with them.
However there was more than that. In the last War the Grail had finally been completed. Linked to Angra Mainyu as she was Sakura had slain and consumed Heroic Spirits enough to fill the sacred cup to capacity. Saber, Berserker, Caster, Assassin, Lancer, Gilgamesh, they had only been six rather than seven, but Saber and Berserker were exceptional Servants, each worth as much as two lesser ones, and Gilgamesh was an existence that surpassed even them, filling the Grail even more.
Even more than that, the final clash between the sisters had released even more absurd amounts of prana into the atmosphere. Connected as she was to the greater Grail Sakura had possessed effectively infinite prana, Rin by contrast had been using the Kaleidoscope to harvest the endless mana scattered across the innumerable parallel realities. In the end it had been a contest of the infinite versus the unending, and the sheer amount of prana it had left in its wake had been vast, and it had been greedily absorbed by the Heaven's Feel.
Now, the system was bloated with power in a way it had never been before, yet at the same time the power was not what it needed to complete its function. It knew, in the way of a cold unfeeling mind, that the War had been fought many times before, and that never had it been able to complete what it was meant to do. The Grail had no feelings, not in any way that a human might understand, but it did have purpose. It had been created to complete a specific act, to fulfil a predetermined function, and that was the sole drive that propelled it onwards now that the interloper no longer existed within it.
And it knew, in a way that had no words or emotions, that this War would be the last. This was its final opportunity, its last chance. Too much had gone wrong before, too much damage had been inflicted, even if the system itself survived then the magi would not allow it to continue. This time was all that it had, so if it sought to fulfil its function then it had to ensure that this War would be pursued to its conclusion.
So the Heaven's Feel system had set about preparing for not just any Holy Grail War, but THE Holy Grail War.
All the power that had been left untouched, all the prana it had soaked up after wish upon wish was unmade; all of it was brought to bear upon the task. Under normal circumstances only seven Servants would be called upon, that had been a rule placed by the founders of the War to keep things controlled. Seven was the optimal number, enough to provide the power needed for the completion of the ritual, but too few escape control and run amok. At least in theory anyway.
However there were also contingencies in place, circumstances under which that restriction would be lifted. The Great Holy Grail War was a scenario where entire teams of Servants would compete against each other. Likewise the 'True' Servants could be summoned in place of 'False' Servants, a rule that had been used in the last War when True Assassin had been summoned from the body of 'False' Assassin. Had the Grail System been operating at its ideal state it would not have been possible to override these restrictions, but that was not the case. The Grail was damaged, broken, barely recovered from the possession by Angra Mainyu. Entire 'sub-systems' had been lost, others damaged or pressed into service as work arounds.
Ultimately, the restrictions failed.
Masters were chosen, seven of them for the seven Classes. Then more Masters were chosen as the overflow of energy opened up 'slots' for more Servants, opportunities for some of the Classes to be summoned twice. Other restrictions tried to cut in, to prevent the system from overstepping its bounds, but the damage was already done. Instead of seven Masters there were now ten. But the Grail was not yet finished.
Power remained, more Servants could be summoned, but the customary vessels had been sealed from use. Very well, the Grail still had other resources.
There were other Classes, irregular Classes.
Ruler would be summoned. This was actually within the parameters that the founders had established. With the already irregular nature of this War it was permissible for Ruler to be summoned to ensure the integrity of the ritual.
Avenger, an irregular Class created by the Einzberns in an attempt to summon a Servant unbound by the normal restrictions placed upon Heroic Spirits. The vessel was prepared, and waited for a Master.
Shielder, a proposed Knight Class that had been created and then discarded in the initial stages of the Heaven's Feel's creation. Another vessel, another Master.
On and on it went, using the Classes that had been discarded as too dangerous, too hard to control, too irregular, or too weak. It would have its war. It would have its completion. And it would finally have someone make a wish upon it.
Already it could sense the Masters begin to Summon their Servants to their sides. This was no longer something that could be stopped, not with the momentum it was gathering. War was coming.
The final Holy Grail War.
