While the city sky of Fuyuki City was alive with gunfire and cosmic bombardment, the coastline was fairly quiet. As Saber drove the car back to the Einzbern Castle, Irisviel was staring at the sea as they cruised by. Ever since they had left the docks, she seemed to be on edge for some strange reason. Like if something was watching them from afar.
"Child."
And then there was the voice in her head trying to speak to her. It was as if the eyes that were watching her was also trying to talk to her. She played it off as the Lesser Grail resonating with the servants that she had met earlier but as time passed on the soft voice persisted. As if it was trying to lull her with a lullaby. There was also this sound of dripping water that she kept hearing but she played if off as the sound of the sea. If only she knew that the sound of water was an augur of the insight of the Great Ones.
"You believe that you are special."
"That you are loved."
"All of them are lies."
"No," She refuted in her mind. Kiritsugu had showed her who she truly was. How beautiful he found her.
"Maybe, but you are chained to your body"
"A slave to your destiny."
"You believe that you are a mother."
"Stop it please, stop." She pleaded to the voice within her to stop its trail of thought.
"You will damn the wish of your beloved."
"For that is who you are."
"A tool," An image flashed of all the previous Einzbern Homunculus, staked on top of each other like cattle, dammed to the same fate of death for the Third Magic. All of them who looked like her, staring blankly at her; devoid of the freedom that she was blessed to have
" And very soon," Images flashed of her precious Illyasviel and beloved Kiritsugu. Both were smiling at her and beckoned her to join them.
"A murderer," The scene darkened as she stood before their corpses. Looks of betrayal etched onto their face as she held the knife that killed them. Dropping the knife, Irisviel clutched her head as she vehemently denied what the vison had shown her. All the while an encompassing void begun to envelop her as she tried to deny what she had done.
"No, no, no..."
…
"Irisviel? Irisviel!?"
Snapping out of the vision, she looked at Saber who was looking at her in worry. "Oh, its nothing Saber, I was just daydreaming for a bit." Dismissing her concerns with a wave of her hand, she tried to play off her haunting vision. Saber looked on in worry as it was obvious something had bothered her but she chose not to push. "I see."
"Anyway, Saber why have we stopped?" Irisviel observed their surroundings, noticing that the car had stopped somewhere along the coastline road. They were quite far from the castle to stop so what had Saber stop the car?
"Ah, I think you should look for yourself Irisviel." She said as she exited from the driver's side of the car and walked around the car to open the door for Irisviel. Stepping out of the car and letting the sea breeze tussle her hair, she found out what the problem was.
Overlooking the coastline, they saw the state of the Fuyuki sea. What might've once been a regular sea was now covered in a pale ethereal light. Stretching on for miles, the pale ethereal light was a blanket that hid the sea and the only way one would know that the sea was there would be the soft sounds of water.
"What is this?" Never in her life had she seen such a phenomenal site but she could tell that this was not normal.
"Is it not magnificent? A sight to behold and within that mist is unparalleled beauty." A familiar voice called out.
Looking toward her right in shock, Irisviel saw Maria, the kind women they met on her first day in Fuyuki City, walking towards them. Waving at the first friend she met in the city; Irisviel was about to rush over until Saber outstretched her arm, warning her to stay put.
"What are you doing here Maria?" It was strange that such a strange phenomenon to occur in the Fuyuki sea during a Holy Grail War, then out of nowhere Maria comes in. Such a suspicious timing had Saber wary of a scheme at play, one that she often had to watch out for from her sister, Morrigan.
"Suspicious are we now Saber? Then again you are the King of Knights for a reason." At her words, Saber materialized her battle outfit on and whipped out Excalibur, still cloaked in the Invisible Air: Barrier of the Wind King. Her prized noble phantasm was hidden with this special wind so that others wouldn't gleam her true identity.
Chuckling softly, Maria spread out her arms as mist enveloped her entire frame. By the time the mist had dissipated she was no longer in her casual city clothes. Now she was garbed in her Cainhurst Hunter set, light and durable to be Hunter gear but also elegant that one might find in a royal court. Patting down her clothes, enjoying the fact her trademark outfit was now back on, she formally re-introduced herself.
Pulling out her prized weapon, The Rakuyo, she trailed her finger along its deadly edge. "I am Maria of the Astral Clocktower." Stopping her hand at the hilt of the double-bladed weapon, she swiftly pulled at the hilt so the double-bladed sword had now become two swords.
"So nice to formally meet you at last." She said before disappearing into fog. This was the art of Quickening, an art that the old hunters mastered that allowed them to move so fast that not even the eyes of their prey could track them. For Saber, even if she could not track the movement of Maria with her eyes, moved to meet the huntress.
In an instant their swords clashed, sparks flying from the direct content, and the two ladies of nobility engaged in their own elegant dance of clashing metal.
"Why didn't I listen to my peers when they warned me about the dangers of the Holy Grail War." Lamented Waver as he stood at the Fuyuki Bridge, looking at the chaos unfolding.
"This isn't so bad boy." Grinned Rider as he took in the rapid changes of the city.
"I-idiot!" He shouted before launching into a tirade of what had gone wrong in a matter of minutes. "First, I have to fight my old teacher who's out for blood, then we are dealing with an almost unbeatable servant that can summon an endless army that can make the strongest servants struggle, and all the while I have to worry about my grandparents!" While they were not related by blood in anyway, he had hypnotized them so that he had a place to stay, they had grown on him. Now he had to worry about if they were in harm's way.
Softening his gaze Rider saw his master in a new light. At first, he had thought him to be a spoiled kid that believed that they were on top of the world, now he saw a kid trying to mature into the person he wanted to be.
Patting his master hard on the pat he reassured the kid. "I am not Iskandar for nothing! Come let us blaze a path forward so that we may check on your grandparents' condition and crush any that stand in our path."
Waver was taken back by the declaration of his servant. Finally had he found an even ground to stand alongside with Rider. "I'm not crying!" He tried to deny as he embarrassingly wiped his eyes to which Rider laughed even more.
"A touching moment."
Standing alert, Rider pushed Waver behind him as he observed the newcomers.
Standing on the opposite side of the bridge, was their opponents. One was humanoid, ash billowing off of their witch hat, and the other a giant wolf, snarling as magma fell through its razor-sharp canines.
This was the Keeper and Watchdog of the Old Lords. Eternal watchers of the Old Ones and servants of their will. Reaching up to scratch the chin of the Watchdog, to which it purred with satisfaction, the Keeper looked at the pair. " So, you are the Master of Iskandar, King of Conquerors ."
"So, I am to assume that you were present at the docks then?"
"No, our master was present but we knew of your identity already, after all it is quite hard to miss a giant redhead attracting anyone's attention on the streets."
Gaping like a fish, Waver tried to not scream in frustration. Just when he thought that things had gotten well, past grievances had flared up. About to scream at Rider, he stopped himself. Screaming and shouting at him had done nothing but create a rift between them, maybe he would take a page out of Rider's book. He couldn't keep hiding like a coward like this, letting Rider fight in his in front of Rider, he gave what was probably the next bravest thing he did beside stealing his teacher's relic.
"T-then are you prepared to face our might, after all R-Rider is the King of Conquerors." Trying to speak with bravado, Waver could feel embarrassment creeping up, why in God's name did he try to act brave. After a period of silence, he looked back up at Rider, he expected to see disappointment.
He saw a proud smile on his face. instead
Laughing Iskandar placed a hand on his master's shoulder. No longer were they at odds but rather of equals.
"Impressive, maybe he was wrong about you Waver Velvet, Caster certainly painted you in the wrong light." Caster had painted Waver as a weakling, too weak to stand on his own two feet, and yet...
Here he was standing confidently almost like if he was Rider's...
Unsheathing his sword, the Keeper pointed it at the master and servant.
"No need for fancy introductions or whatnot, we are your opponents and that is it." The Keeper finished as he and the Watchdog ignited, their once relic and ashen bodies now illuminated by ethereal fire. Both of their burning eyes flashed once more before running towards the pair, the Keeper igniting his sword and the Watchdog wrapping themselves in flame. Accepting the challenge Rider charged at them on top of the Gordius Wheel, the bulls ready to dish thunderous punishment.
In Fuyuki City, across the rooftops, a chase was happening. Kiritsugu and his partner Maiya were currently trying to escape the madness that had enveloped the city. Unfortunate for them their chasers begged to say otherwise.
"Get the hell back here!" The lead Yahar'gul Hunter yelled as he fired a shot in hopes of trying to cripple Kiritsugu. Unfortunately, Hunter firearms were never meant to cripple their prey, only to stagger them, and as such the projectiles were slow. Easily hearing the shot, Kiritsugu jumped over the shot and returned fire with his own Thompson Contender. It was special in the sense that it was not a regular handgun but rather a Mystic Code that when fired the unfortunate soul that would be hit would have their mana go out of control in their own body, instantly ripping apart their own body. And for the poor Yahar'gul hunter that happened to get headshot by it, their armor having been paper for the bullet, it was in essence a one-shot kill.
"Maiya separate, divide and conquer." He simply said as Maiya understood the order and jumped across to another rooftop, running in a different direction.
"Dammit they're splitting up! Alright split into-" The lead hunter stopped his command as a lone feather fell in front of him, a shadow easily flying over him. Picking up the feather, he realized who had helped them out. "Alright never mind chase down the girl! Leave the other one for the Crow." With that they began pursuing Maiya.
After running for quite a while, Kiritsugu realized that they were no longer chasing him. Had they given up or had they chased Maiya instead?
"Worry about yourself first hunter," The strange female voice was the only warning he had as a blade came for his head.
"Time Alter: Double Accel!" Even being the renowned Magus Killer he was still bound by the limitations of the human body, but he could manipulate time around him so that he could move at the speed of a servant. However, this could only be done in short bursts as it also stopped his heart from beating in the use. Barely ducking under the edge of the blade, Kiritsugu barrel rolled away and fired his sub-machine gun at the assailant but she dodged out of the way.
"Oh, you're no regular hunter, are you?" Now having a good look at his assailant, he was able to note that she, in a sense, sported clothing that Caster wore; she was probably a summon then. Garbed in the Crowfeather set as the Bloody Crow, but this time complete with Crow Beak Helmet, Eileen stared down her prey. She was a true Hunter of Hunters for while there were hunters to hunt down beasts, her group specialized in killing hunters that had gone mad from the Hunt and a prey like the Magus Killer; there was no one more ideal than her.
"And you have your head in the right place, unseen in people of your kind, but a welcoming change nonetheless,"
"I am Eileen." Was all she said before slowly approaching toward Kiritsugu. She was not like others that rushed in to battle, she preferred a more patient look into battle, and when the time came, she would become a hurricane of feathers and metal.
Kiritsugu knew that he was in a disadvantage here but had no choice but to hold out against the Crow. He needed to wear down her stamina until it was safe to summon Saber, though she was in her own battle right now. Feeling the magic flowing off of the Command Seals, he fired at the approaching huntress, who weaved through the gunfire.
And so, one out of many more battles begun.
"Report Knight."
"Yes, my liege, we have successfully trapped Lancer and his master on the top floor of the Hyatt hotel, however we are unable to do anything as the lower levels have been rigged with various magical traps." Arriving on scene, The Bloody Crow had received word that Lancer had been cornered, and with every other servant having someone to fight, he decided to come here. While he took pride in his Cainhurst Knights and their abilities, they were no match for Diarmuid of The Love Spot.
Gazing up he contemplated the choices they had. Yes, he could send his knights into the hotel and overwhelm the traps but he would lose most of his knights and give his prey ample to escape or plan their defense. Plus, Caster would be less then please with the avoidable loss of his knights. That left only one option on the table.
Turning to a messenger he relayed his order. "Request backup from the Choir, we need someone of their caliber to break down this fortress now!"
While the Cainhurst Knights awaited reinforcement from the Choir, high above on the final level of the Hyatt Hotel Kayneth was looking down on the assembled group of chasers. From the moment that he and Lancer had attempted to leave the docks, they had been attacked by these armored hunters. While they may have been inferior to Lancer, their numbers had prevented any serious casualties among them; choosing to attack whenever a window presented itself.
One might expect him to ready his defenses, to plan out an escape if anything went wrong, but he had high confidence in his defenses that he had set up. Walking away from the window, he took a seat before pouring himself a glass of wine.
Seeing the nonchalant behavior of her husband, Sola-Ui could only pinch the bridge of her nose at his deluded sense of superiority. Lancer was currently stationed in front of their door as a last line of defense, so she was left alone with her arrogant husband. Even with death literally right in front of their doorstep, he still took pride in his magus skills. "Is this really the time to relaxing now Kayneth?"
Chuckling at her misplaced fear, he assured her wife. "What is there to worry about my wife? Let our guests enjoy the magical atelier of Kayneth El-Melloi. Twenty-four field layers. Three mana generators. Dozens of ghosts and evil spirits roaming as guard dogs. Countless traps. Parts of hallways that open out to other worlds." Laughing as he listed their entire fortifications, there truly wasn't anything to fear. Those little hunters might have caught him off-guard but here they were worthless beneath his heel.
If Kayneth had even bothered to stop his arrogant laughs and humbled up a bit then he would've known that the instrument of his destruction had arrived to destroy his false sense of superiority.
"Can you do it?"
"Are you doubting my abilities Bloody Crow?"
"Cut the crap Irene, I hate having to work with you so just get this magical fortress shut down already." Irene was a renown Choir member for her fast efficiency but also her ruthlessness. She cared only for the results and if she had to throw her own humanity to accomplish her goals so be it, she practically had already.
Feeling coy, Irene caressed the Bloody Crow's helmet; mocking him. "Oh, Bloody Crow, if I can bring favor on our lord then you should be rejoicing my friend." However, the Bloody Crow was feeling otherwise. Grabbing her hand, he pushed it away from his helmet and held it in a firm grip. "Do not think we have forgotten the tragedies that your church has inflicted on my castle, how you violated my home and at the very least do not think we have forgotten how you murdered innocent Iosefka in her clinic."
On the night of Caster's hunt, Iosefka had set up a clinic in hopes of treating and protecting innocents from the ruthless hunt. Caster was smitten with her caring and selfless nature and tried to tell other sane humans to seek refuge at her clinic. However, Irene had found out and taken over the clinic, murdered Iosefka, and turn the refugees into her Choir experiments. It was safe to say that when Caster ascended, he dealt Irene her punishment that had scared many into acting in his good graces, lest they experience his anger once more. You thought you knew hell, let Caster change that for you.
Not having a sarcastic remark to fire back, Irene bit her lip as she wrestled her arm free from his grip and continued working. She needed to get in the good graces of Caster once more and if she needed to bring the head of Lancer and his master so be it.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here." Her insight had allowed her to scan the layout of the hotel's magical energy and she had to give credit to the impressive magical fortress that Lancer's master had set up. However, there was one glaring flaw.
"You see Bloody Crow," Her monologue had drew in his attention. "While this may be impenetrable at first glance, no defense is without its holes." Reaching into her white robes she pulled out a vial of cosmic slugs. Opening the lid, she allowed the little slugs to crawl out of their confinement. While their stature was small and non-threatening, inside of their little bodies held traces of the eldritch truth and the Choir had made suitable weapons from them, such as the devastating Call Beyond.
"This trap is impressive but such a trap is very intricate, a pain to restart if the master ever leaves the hotel lest it kill its own master when they return." Holding up one of the slugs to her eye level, she sent a silent prayer if the being would impart its power to her for just a moment. The little slug lit up, accepting her request. "So, the system has an identification system, something to identify the master by. This connects the master to the entire mainframe of the trap." She positioned the slugs as close to the hotel as possible, allowing them to ready up for the next phase.
The Bloody Crow was getting impatient with her ramblings. "Alright then spit it out already."
Chuckling she continued. "A tiny string connects the master to the trap so all we have to do is overload the trap with magical energy." All present slugs released their cosmic energy into the magical fortress. The first floor pulsated with blue light before traveling upward, overloading each trap that it touched until the top floor shined with blue light.
And a pain wracked scream filled the air as Kayneth felt the full brunt of magical energy entering through him from his connection to the traps.
"And let forth the hounds of war." She stood back as the Knights surged into the hotel. She would allow these zealous knights to throw themselves over each other for the prize and when the time was ripe, she would swoop in and take it.
Ascension may no longer be available but being the leader of the Choir for their lord? She briefly considered the idea of being Caster's consort but shot it down considering that place was already taken by Maria and she did not want to be on the receiving end of her anger when her place as consort was in question.
"No rest for the wicked," She thought before walking into the hotel.
At the Tohsaka Mansion, Tokiomi was currently brooding. He was the Guardian of Fuyuki City, responsible in protecting the citizens from any supernatural threats.
Now the people he had been protecting with pride had all but disappeared.
Kirei and Assassin had confirmed that not a living person was present in the city, only the magus freelancers that he allowed to reside in the city were still alive, and they were being hunted at an alarming rate. It was if they had simply vanished into thin air.
He was getting reports of the seemingly massive army that had commandeered the city in a mere second, turning landmarks into strategic strongholds, and the other servant and masters hunted with extreme prejudice. When he returned, he had activated the defenses of the household to ensure that no harm would befall his family. After calming down his distressed family, he moved them towards the workshop where they would be safe.
"What an interesting turn of events." Coolly commented Gilgamesh as he sipped on his glass of wine. "It seems that this will not be so boring after all."
He had to appeal to Archer to help cure this situation before it got any worse. "My king I humbly beseech you, Caster is playing with your possessions and city; he is tarnishing your name."
Let it be known that Gilgamesh did not like his master, in matter of fact he almost despised him. Where was the spine, the drive? All he did was bow his head in hopes of him following his commands. What did he think of him, a fool? The only reason he even allowed him to be his master was because he found his groveling amusing.
"It concerns me not what happens to the city, Caster has provided me with entertainment that I have not experienced in a long time. At the mention of Caster Gilgamesh did not know what to think of him. Somehow, someway Caster seemed familiar to him but he could not place his finger on it. Maybe he possessed divinity like he did or was it something else?
"Master, my king." Kirei addressed as he entered the study. He had come back to report his findings from his recon with Assassin.
"Kirei report."
Nodding he gave his findings. "It's as you fear, the control that we've had over the city is no more. Our familiars are noticing that Caster has amassed an army able to hold the city indefinitely. I fear that if this continues till day and the missing people are not returned, the Clocktower will intervene."
"And the Holy Grail War will be lost."
"Yes, it will." For Kirei he did not see this as a disaster like his master did. He knew it was wrong but he took deep pleasure in finding the mangled bodies of the magus bodies he was sent to rescue. He didn't understand why but he couldn't be disgusted at Caster's actions.
"Regrettable but-" Whatever Gilgamesh was going to say was cut short as he glared right at Tokiomi and summoned one his gates to fire a sword right at him. Unable to do anything he helplessly watched the sword fly at him...and pass by his ear, barely grazing it, and strike the darkness. About to ask the king what he had done, a groan could be heard as a Yarhar'gul hunter that was hiding the darkness slump forward before collapsing, a sword impaled between the lines of his helmet.
"It seems that we have rodents running around." Gilgamesh walked out, intent on killing the infestation that believed they could invade his garden. He would normally leave such menial tasks to his guards but he felt that he needed to send a message. After all what greater honor was there then to die by the hand of the true king.
At the other side of the workshop, in the workshop Rin and her mother, Aoi, were huddling up together as they gleamed the chaos of the city through the eyes of a familiar. As the chaos unfolded Rin hoped that Sakura was doing okay in all this mess. She could tell that her mother was also worried but chose not to say anything.
Hearing the door being knocked on. Rin rushed up to greet her father. Opening the door, she expected to see her father's smiling face.
What she saw instead was the grinning malformed face of a Yarhar'gul Snatcher behind its hood, looking down on her from his towering position over her; reveling in her despair.
She tried screaming before darkness enveloped her.
And in the darkness, the faint chimes of a lullaby could be heard.
And there it is Chapter 5 complete. To be honest this was hard to piece together because I didn't know how I wanted the chapter to be made. Originally, I would've separated all the encounters in pairs or something but it just didn't feel right to have the fight scenes also mimic the structure. So, I decided that the encounters would all be on one chapter and the fights be on separate chapters. Allows for all the fights to be meaningful and not rushed. So, expect the next 3-4 chapters to be fight scenes.
A cookie for anyone that can guess who Gilgamesh is going to fight.
Well that's it for now and as always...
May the Cosmos shine in your favor!