Dialog Types:

"Dialog"

"Dialog in thoughts/Memories"

(Thoughts)

Magic/Noble Phantasms

- Chapter 2 : Let the lesson begin -

"I'll ask again." repeated the white-aired man "Which one of you is my Master? I would guess it to be the mage, but I don't see Command Seals on him, considering the standard is for them to be on the hands."

Hearing this the deranged mage looked at himself before looking back at the kid, his eyes widening "That's not possible. My ritual worked, the selected masters couldn't be anybody but the ones in the center of the nexus. I cannot have made a mistake! Who the hell are you?!" He approached the boy, ignoring complitely the piercing gaze the older man had on his face "Did the Association send you?" He grabbed the young detective by the collar of his shirt.

He was about to shake him and demand some answers, but a strong hand grabbed his wrist "Now-now, this is not the way to treat a little kid. Expecially if, as I suspect, he is my Master." the mage had no time to reply before being thrown across the room like a ragdoll, falling on a table and smashing it to pieces, Conan now resting safely in the arms of his new-found savior (At least until I can assest his usefullness.) he added in his mind before removing the gag over the boys mouth.

He was expecint him to cry for him mommy or just say something unintelligible, instead what come out was not a tone a child should have "Who are you? What is going on? Nothing that happened does make sense!"

The servant raised an eyebrow at that "Well, the shortest explanation is 'Magic'. If you want something more we should discuss it in a safer location."

On that note a groan was heard from the remains of the broken forniture as the man named Satsu stood up. He seemed to be mostly fine, aside from a streak of blood running from the side of his head "Man, that hurt! Thank god I menaged to strengten my body in time" He cracked the side of his neck, where Conan could see strange circuit like patterns reciding insede his clothes " But I seriously needed that! Thank you Archer, that hit give me the wake up call I required to think more clearly." he breathed in and out deeply "If he was really sent here to get in the way of my ritual he would have been able to do so multiple times. I admit I didn't really have my guard up around him."

He rubbed his chin in thought "Uhm... the ritual is designed to specifically target the non-mages in the location my associates are in right now, but maybe if there was another mage in town? Dispite my modifications the Grail could theoretically select them as a more suitable contender. But I am sure the kid isn't a mage. Maybe some latent Magic Circuits from an ancestor? Or he could have been born with slightly more than normal and just has the potentioal to be a first generation mage?"

A grin appeared again on his face "You have just raised a lot of steps in my scale of interesting things! I can't wait to examine your body!"

"It seems you are forgetting about me." pointed out the Servant.

"Oh, I am not. I was referring to when you are gone. I mean, how long can a kid survive in a conflict between legendary heroes. Also, unless there are other special cases like him around in town, the other six servants should all work for the same guys I work with, meaning it would be one against six. I'll just ask them to try and keep his body as intact as possible." he stated as if it were common knowledge.

"Really? You think I'll let you out of here alive after you threatened my Master?" asked the older man while raising an eyebrow.

A strangely confident chuckle escaped the mage "Off course I couldn't even begin to imagine myself beating a Servant, let alone one of the knight classes. However I have not been here for several minutes."

In that moment, as if waiting his signal, the image of the man shimmered for a couple of seconds before him and some of the rubble he was standing on disappeared while waving at the new Master-Servant duo.

Silence reigned in the cabin for a couple what felt like a lifetime, Conan still shocked by what had just traspired, before Archer spoke again "So, not only visual illusions, but also auditory? He also made some fake rubble for the illusion to move so we wouldn't notice it not interacting with the environment. I must say that was more thought out that I imagined."

That broke the young detective's trance as he softly spoke "Who are you people? No, even better! What are you?"

"I see you like to ask that a lot." mused the Servant, before crossing his arms and addressing his Master "I would be happy to inform you, but this place is not safe. He could have trapped it or could be still listening with another spell."

"What? Spells? I don't und-" the boy couldn't continue his questioning, as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. He would have fell on his knees if not for his Servant catching him and hoilstering him up in his arms, the last thing he heard was a chuckling voice "I guess adrenaline could only get you so far. It is past your bedtime after all."

Archer begun to walk with the kid in his arms, stopping just at the trashold of the door and looking back at the room once more (The body and the circe should be disposed of, but for now I better see to my little Master's safety first. I can sense the Bounded Field up around the area, so I can expect no witnesses anyway.) with that he resumed his stride away from the building.

- some time later: outskirts of the Park -

The night's air was cold as a middle-aged man was sitting on a bench, a sleeping kid leaning on him while wrapped in a butterfly-themed cape. Said boy slowly come into consciousness as his brain took a couple of seconds to remember what had happened to him, then another three to notice he was not alone.

He jumped down from the bench like a loosened spring, knocking the cape on the floor, and turned around to face the other man, who smirked before kneeling donw and picking his cape, hitting it a couple of times to remove the dirt from the ground "You know, I think it's polite to show some gratitude to the one that most surely saved your life, young man."

"It would be if said man didn't appear in a flash of light out of nowhere. I have already been there before and I am sure there are no trap doors or other places you could have hid in. Also, don't think I didn't catch the ease with which you mentioned killling that man! He may be a killer, but he should be judged and ponished in a court." retorted the clearly still nervous boy.

"Well, that is really smart talk for a kid your age. How old are you, ten?" chuckled the man as his cape literally disappeared into blue glowing particles "Also I am not some street performer or escapologist. I am a hero of legend summoned to fight and win in the Holy Grail War. And you, my dear, are my Master, as you can see from the Command Seals on you hand." he pointed towards his right hand.

"What are you talking about?" he asked as he glanced towards the place he was pointing. He was shocked to findo out that indeed there was a strange seal on the back of his hand, two circles inside one another passed by line. A Simple design that to him alsmost looked like a magnifying glass "Where does this thing come from? Did you do this to me?!" He shouted.

"Tecnically you could say I did. Though in an indirect way. I will explain everything if you calm yourself and listen without interrupting. God knows I hate a student interrupting me during a lecture." continued the man with a very relaxed tone.

The boy was about to complain about this stranger expecting him to remanin calm in this situation before they heard a voice "Conan!" They both turned around and saw a brunette girl running towards them before almost launching herself towards the young detective, enveloping him in a tight hug "I was so worried! One moment you were there and then you up and disappear in the middle of the walkway! Don't you ever scare me like that! I've been looking for you all day!"

"Big sis...Ran-" he tryed to free himself from the soffocating embrace "-can't...breath!"

Hearing this Ran immediatly let go of him "Oh! I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? It's just that I am so releaved I found you. I have to call dad." She took out her phone "He was searching on the other side of the park." she was about to dial the number but a cough drew her attention, making her notice the Servant who spoke up "Youth this days. After a certain age it almost seems like we elders become invisible to them."

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't notice you there." she quickly apologized before a thought came to her "Wait a minute. Who is this man, Conan?" asked the teenager to the kid.

Seeing his Master struggle to find an excuse that didn't make him look like a mad man, Archer responded instead "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is James Adler. I am but a humble businessman here in Japan for a meeting with one of my clients. Since it was such a fine evening I thought a stroll in the park would do this old bones of mine wonders."

He chuckled and gestured towards Conan "Imagine my surprise when I find this boy asleep on the side of the road. I was carrying him to the nearest hospital, worried he may have collapsed, but he woke up before I could find any locals to ask directions. We chatted for a while and I was about to offer to escort him home."

After saying that he pointed at Ran "That is when you showed up. Am I too bold to assume you are this young man's older sister, miss?"

"Yes, off course. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I'm Ran Mori and while I am not Conan's sister he has been living with me and my father for some time now. You could say we are his temporary guardians." Said the girl politely.

"Well then, everything is settled then!" Declared Archer with enthusiasm before producing an old pocket watch from his jacket "and just in time for my meeting. It's best for me to be on my way. I wish you both a good evening." He bowed and begun to walk away from them.

(What a strange man) wondered between herself Ran (I'm sure Sonoko would call him 'extremely old fashion' or something like that.) She chuckled at her own joke.

On the other hand Conan brain had just finished registering their conversation as his detective instincts screamed at him to not get a suspect away. He was about to take a step forward and yell at the still visible man in the distance to stop, but he was interrupted by the same man's voice resounding inside his head "Don't worry Master, I'll be following you from afar. We can resume our conversation later. Also did I mention we can communicate telepathically?".

"What?" Almost screamed the young boy, earning a courious look from Ran "Is everything alright, Conan?"

"It would be best to say something before she thinks you have hit your head and gone insane. If you want to speak to me this way just think what you want to say and focus a bit. You won't probably get it at your first try though" informed the voice inside his head.

Having surpassed the point of freaking out about the days events the boy quickly apologized to his surrogate older sister as the two begun walking back home. Only one thought spiraling inside the young detective's head (Shinichi Kudo, what have you got yourself into this time?!)

- Later that night: Mori residence -

It had took some time and a hit on the head from kogoro, but eventually Conan menaged to convince Ran and his father that he just lost himself in the park and fell asleep because he felt tired while looking for a way back, meaning they didn't have to take him to the hospital or something as drastic.

And to make matters worst, when it looked like his charade was woking, Kogoro noticed the signs on his hand "What are those, Brat?"

"Uh. they are-" he had to come up with an excuse fast "-Mitsuiko wanted me to try these instant tatoos he has heard so much about! I didn't want at first, but he wouldn't stop talking about them, so I just had to try them out!"

"Is that so?" the kid gilped loudly as the older man looked at him with an intence glare. That is, untill he shrugged and said "Well, if it's one of this things youngsters are into, I'm not gonna judge. But don't get strange ideas in your head when you grow up! If you want a real one you'll have to get your parents permission. And Doctor Agasa's doesn't count!"

Thankfully the 'great detective' hadn't caught up on his lie as things fell into the routine not long after. They had a pleasant dinner, at least untill Kogoro sat on the couch and begun screaming at the television while drinking sake and watching a Yoko Okino concert.

Eventually the program ended and they all went to sleep. Everyone except Conan, off course.

He had to wait a while to be sure the other occupants of the apartment were fast asleep before gingerly sneaking out of his room "Hey, are you around?" he tryed to ask in his mind. He was a bit surprised to recieve immediate response "Yes, I am currently on the building's rooftop. I am surprised you picked up so quickly on the mind link. Are you perhaps used to speaking with voices inside your head? Fuhaha!" he chuckled before adding "Would you like me to come down?"

"No, I'll come to the roof. Its should be less risky than speaking in my living room or bedroom." He believed he closed the comunication as he grabbed a coat fit his size and slowly walked up the stareway that laid towards the roof "Ok, Shinichi. Be calm and address the situation with logic." He paised for a second before screaming internally "MAGIC IS REAL! HOW CAN I BE LOGIC ABOUT IT!" He took a deep breath "No, Focus. There has to be an explanation for all of this."

His thoughts were interrupted by his Servant "It seemes you left the connection between our minds open, Master. Maybe you are not as good at this as I assumed."

A groan escaped the boy's lips before he focused more intensily on shutting the man up. After a couple of minutes he tryed again (Can you hear me now?) There was no answer this time, which made him sigh with releaf, never the less he left most of his speculations untouched untill he finally reached his destination.

He was actually surprised to find the rooftop complitely empty as he looked around "Where is he?" the kid spoke out loud.

"Right here master." said a spectral voice as the man he was looking for appeared in front of him in a flash of blue particles.

That did spook him a little, though he had expected the unexpected, knowing his new acquaintance previews recod "So, Magic?" asked the young detective.

"Yes. Magic." responded Archer in matter of fact way.

The newly appointed Master sighed for what was probably the tenth time that day "Fine! Tell me everything."

That gained a raised eyebrow from the gentleman "You seem rather accepting, considering your previews reaction."

"Some times a Detective has to accept the evidence even if it is hard to believe." he stated out of poor instinct, not bothering to come up with some other excuse.

"A Detective, Uh?" an amused giggle escaped from the Servant's mouth "I suppose it is fitting in a way." he noticed his Master's perplexed look "Well, no matter. If it is your will, then I should ablidge." he cleared his voice "Let's begin our lesson."

He started pacing back and forth "I already told you magic is real, which you thankfully menaged to accept in some capacity, and I'll prefer to leave the heavy explanations on how it works for another time, so I'll focus more on the situation we are in. I'll ask if you have any doubts or questions, so please do not interrupt."

The nod from the boy prompted him to continue "Good, now what you have found yourself involved in is a conflict commonly known as the 'Holy Grail War'. The abridged definition is of a conflict between a selected number of mages, seven to be exact, called Masters who each summon aHeroic Spirit of a legendary hero, called Servants, and do battle among themselfs. The reward for the winners, that is the last pair alive, is the Holy Grail itself. Are you following so far?"

The 'student' of the situation rubbed his chin in thought "I am not a mage. I didn't even believe magic to be real until yesterday. How can I be a 'Master', as you said?"

"For that I am not sure myself. But if I had to point my finger at someone, it would be the actual mage that was with you. However he seemed as surprised as you, if his last words before leaving are to go by." informed the man.

"I guess you are right." he mused before asking again "and if I am the Master then you are my Servant? A Hero form some legend?"

"Yes, you are correct, and this also brings me to my next topic. While this War's choise of master may have deviated from the norm, Servants seem to follow the standard pattern, at least at first glance."

"In what way?" asked the young detective.

"It is simple. There are three main features that are the same in every Master Servant-Relationship, that is if we consider our situation as an example."

He raised his right hand with one finger up "First: Each one of the Seven Servant is assigned a 'Class'. This class sistem let's the Master better identify their strenghts and weaknesses. For example I am from the Archer class, and dispite not using a bow in battle, it still means I specialize in ranged combat, so I'll be weak against the more close quarters oriented Classes, unless I have a head start and can hit them form afar. The Classes are Archer, Saber, Lancer, Assassin, Rider, Caster and Berserker."

This time it was Conan's turn to pipe in "So Saber is close quarters with swords, Lancer with Lances, Assassin is covert operations, Rider has some type of vehicle, Caster is a Mage himself and Berserker is crazy?"

The man did a double take on that "Wow, I must confess I am Impressed, Master. There are more nuances to it, off course, but you did summarise them enough. The only things I'll like to add for now is that the Saber class is usually considered one of the strongest, since they have good phisical power, but also high resistence towards magical attacks, Lancers are the fastest fighters, Assassin are the best at taking out the Master himself, but are weak at direct conforntations, Casters are most dangerous if you give them time to prepare a lair and Berserkers are not just crazy, they have traded their sanity for raw strenght."

"They also all have passive skills to help them perform better in their roles. Taking me again as an example, I have an ability called 'Independet Action', which lets me operate much further from my Master than the other Servants. It also lets me survive for a couple of days after my master's death, instead of immediatly disappearing." He held up another finger "Which takes as to the second trait of our bond. Although faint I can feel a connection has been formed between us, as every Servant is summoned and contracted to their Master. They become our anchor to this word, since we are essentially just phantoms given shape by magic. If the Servant dies the Master is pretty much uneffected, but if the Master dies the servant looses his anchor and will vanish shortly after."

"So, going after the Master is the most efficient way, because the Servant will die to." a line of sweat came down the kid's forehead.

"Unfortunatly that is the course of action most partecipants would take. That is probably the reason why that mage was so sure you would die during the conflict." informed Archer with a serious tone before resuming his lecture and raising a third finger "lastly the contract is sealed by giving the Master what are called Command Seals."

He pointed at the marking on his hand "You have only three of those, so don't waist them. They rappresent three absolute order you can give your Servant. Just say 'By the power of my Command Seals I order you...' and I'll be compelled to follow whatever you say to me. It is the ultimate way the Masters can impose their will upon us Servants. You could order me to follow a plan I do not agree with, fight even if I want to run or even to kill myself if you think me too much of a nuisense."

That did cause the boy to gasp (I could tell him to kill himself without him being able to oppose it!) He almost felt disgust as he glance towards his hand and back at what he could only call his Slave.

The Aforementioned glance didn't go unnoticed "Do not worry Master, for those seals are also your strongest weapons! When I said they will force me to answer I wasn't just talking about my actions. If we are far apart and you were to order me 'Come forth!', the fabric of space itself will bend so I am at your side immediatly, or if you order me to 'Fight with all my might' it will give me the power to do things I normally could not. The way they are used are solely up to the Master."

That did somewhat calm th kid as the older gentleman observed him with interest.

(So far he seems to be able to follow along pretty well) a small smirk formed on his face (Smart and perceptive, with an open mind. He is pretty much a kid version of that man! Even if he seems a little bit too good natured for my taste.) he continued "Now To go back to our former subject. The Master and Servant fight to the death so they can obtain the Holy Grail. You will off course ask why that is. Well, the magical Cup will grant the winners of the War, both Servant and Master, one wish each. Considering we are talking about a pretty powerfull magical artifact I doubt there is much it cannot give its bearer. Eternal life? Knowledge behond comprehension? The love of a person you fancy? Correcting a past mistake in your life? Theoretically speaking, anything is possible with an all-might wish granting device."

"Anything?" the thought of solving his shrinking predicament immediatly crossed the young detective's mind.

"Essentially yes, though I personally doubt it could do things like 'bring world peace' or 'end all hunger in the world' without some more specific directives, but I digress. While I am interested in what you could desire, my dear Master, that could wait for now." clarified the Servant before clapping his hands "In fact, I believe that was essentially the crush course on the Holy Grail War. We could go in more details tomorrow, as I believe it is time for you to go to bed. Sleepless nights will stump your growth, you know?"

A couple of veins popped out on the kid's forehead "Why does everyone keep bringing that story up? I get plenty of sleep!" he puffed his cheecks out in anger and Archer had to hold back a laugh at how adorable his Master looked "But I have still a couple of questions before we call it a day!"

"Oh? And what, pray tell, are they?" asked the man in a theasing tone.

"How are the Servants chosen? Are they summoned at random?" begun Conan.

"Well, off course not! Usually every Master uses a catalist, something belonging to the Hero or something that rapresents them. The more close is it to his or her legend the better. In your case though I didn't see anything in the room that rapresented me, wich brings me to the second case. If a catalist is not presented the Servant summoned is usually the one with a fitting personality or goal for the Master himself." explained Archer.

"You should be the perfect fit for me? I admit we haven't talked enough for me to be sure, but I just have this gut feeling that we couldn't be more different" argued tha kid with a frown on his face.

"Some say opposites attract each other." replyed weakly the Servant "But I must admit you have me agreeing with you. Maybe you unknowingly had something on you that could be used to summon me?"

"Perhaps it's something like that." the youn detective mused before looking at his Servant directly in the eyes "But there is a simple way to answer that. My next and last question, the same one I asked you before. Who are you?"

The smiking man couldn't help it but chuckle (Should I lie and pretend to be someone else? Maybe I could say I am but a nameless gunman? No, it has been to long since I felt the thrill of talking with another person of logic. Would playing a game with him be as entertaining? Let's test him out!) "I should ask you the same thing, Master. They way you speak and act are not one of a child. At least around me. I suppose I should feel honored I don't get the innocent kid mask you seem to wear around your guardians. Although I suppose it is because we met under a tense situation." He rubbed his chin in thought "If you give me a direct order I could tell you without any reserves, but I think we should make this more interesting."

Somehow Conan could feel some evil sceme forming in the gentleman's mind as he continued "Why don't you try and deduce my identity. You called yourself a detective after all. I gave you plenty of clues by now. Half of the solution already escaped my mouth. What do you say, little Holmes?"

The young Master was about to call him off on his stupid challenge, but his last words caught his attention "How did you call me?"

"What? You don't like the little nickname I came up for you. You do remind me a lot of him." clarified Archer.

Immediatly, not unlike the times the last piece of the puzzle finds its place during a case, his mind flashed to everything he said.

"I will explain everything if you calm yourself and listen without interrupting. God knows I hate a student interrupting me during a lecture."

"My name is James Adler."

"A Detective, Uh?" an amused giggle escaped from the Servant's mouth "I suppose it is fitting in a way."

"Let's begin our lesson."

His eyes widened "You knew Sherlock Holmes personally?" The Servant nodded "The way you speak. You sound like a teacher, a professor pehaps?" another nod signaled him to continue "You introduced yourself to Ran as James Adler. Adler was the surname of one of the most important womans in Sherlock Holmes life, but she didn't have any relatives named James, neither there are any male characters in the books that go by the same surname and have an important role. With 'half of the truth' you meant only half of that name is your real identity, isn't it?"

This time the laugh coming out of the man was thunderous, with a sinister tint to it "You are correct! I imagine you would be a fan of Sir Conan Doyle's works! Indeed I am non other than that man!"

He spun around with a flourish, his cape materializing around his shoulders, in his hands the chain holding the giant coffin and the strange sword-gun hybrid "Servant Archer! My name is James Moriarty! I am both a professor by trade as well as the head of an evil organization! Fuhahahaha! Worry not Master, leave everything to me and I shall conquer the world twice over!"

- chapter end -

Second of two chapters I'll post togheter.

This one is all about Archer explaining the Grail War to Conan, all while leaving hints on his identity untill it is revealed. I hope I was somewhat good enough and didn't confuse anybody. I know people search of fanfictions about stuff they already know, but I did come across people that are usually only interested in half of the story.

In the next chapter we will se some of the other masters involved, although most of them are pretty obvious!

Feel free to leave Reviews with constructive criticism and, if I am lucky, praises.

Untill next time,

Bye!