Secondary Objective

(Shirou)

However, when Medusa suddenly seemed very anxious for Sasaku's attention, that caught mine in turn. It would have been precipitous to intervene without more information, proven when Sakura pretty much gave away that it, whatever it was, was from their end, and not Caster's. However, that didn't mean there was no cause for concern, since that girl seems pretty good at getting her way while, or perhaps specifically, as a result of, being taken advantage of.

Not that she would do anything bad to Sakura, I would like to think. Then again, her idea of what is good or bad isn't exactly the most obvious. Not a monkey paw, by any means, but nevertheless something to keep in mind - just because she can understand us doesn't mean she agrees.

"Hey, Sakura?" Shirou asked while idly playing with Sakura's violet hair.

"What is it?" she replied, putting down the ribbon she had just removed with an air of distraction. There were many reasons why that might be, but at the moment, the most likely one was -

"What exactly are you asking Caster about right now?"

Instinctively, Sakura shied away out of arms reach, though Shirou just remained motionless where he had been sitting on the bed. Though, when he noticed a small shift in her eyes which suggested she was about to, as many times before which he had previously not cottoned on to, go for a deflection, Shirou decided to head her off.

"If you're not going to say, just say so," he suggested directly. "I... don't know enough to understand why, but I know you have your circumstances."

The field, as it were, had been chosen carefully. On one hand, there was nothing between her and the door, and she had already put a little distance between them. But he had a pretty good idea that she didn't really want to get further away from him, quite the opposite. Hardly needed Saber to point out how quickly she got used to sleeping with me.

Sakura took a small breath. "Grandfather has to die. This requires Servants and a good plan."

He said nothing, though a chill went up his spine. It was rather stupid to even consider pointing out that it was murder by Servant, which he did not. On the other hand, he did wonder what exactly did he do to her?

Apparently Gilgamesh had seen something very frightening about the nervous girl facing him, which he had expressed to Sasaku. In between returning to them and the midnight meeting, she had taken the precaution of telling Saber, who suspected it was involved with Rider's earlier transformation into what Kuro had recognized as Gorgon, and the reason for the gift of youth potion. What a tangled mess.

"Is it just him?" Shirou asked carefully, realizing that during the earlier schoolday, Shinji had apparently skipped. And despite him having been sent to the church, he hadn't been there when they cleared it and extracted Illya.

"He's the last Matou magus," she explained simply, before adding. "It's been five hundred years." Ah. So that's why the doubt about Caster's discussion of life extension.

Just to confirm his earlier guess though, he followed up with, "Did you or she come up with the plan?"

"Er, neither. It was the Count's idea, but ironically I guess he ended up proving it was possible."

"Hm." Not quite sure what to make of that. Without any better idea, Shirou just patted his lap as an unspoken invitation.

(Sakura)

Unconsciously taking a step towards Shirou before realizing, when she did, Sakura went for it and rather recklessly thew herself at him, like she'd always wanted to do.

"Wha- hey-!"

Though he caught her easily enough, their now-combined momentum sent the pair rolling across the bed to crash into the wall between Shirou's room and Sasaku's next door.

I hope that didn't cause any disruption, Sakura thought hazily as Shirou, having had his side slam into the wall, was thrown back onto her, shook his head to clear it. "Are you ok?" she asked quietly.

In response he gave up trying to disentangle himself and pressed a light kiss on her lips before deciding to go all-in and pushing through to delve into her mouth. And then a little deeper.

"Um," she muttered with a mix of hesitation and regret during a brief moment for breath. Her partner paused, only now noticing the hand pushing, if barely, against his shoulder, and blinked in confusion.

"Don't want to?" Delivered casually though she could probably reach him by just sticking out her tongue slightly, they were so close.

"Would tonight be good?" she asked, blinking. It was hard to read expressions that close. Shirou didn't seem quite sure what the hangup was about until she added, "I have to work with Caster today, so..."

His expression turned serious as he separated himself and lay down next to her. "That serious? She didn't need any special preparation to graft part of herself, a Servant, into you."

"That was because my magecraft bypasses certain types of compatibility issues, right?" she replied, clasping his hand. "And she was pressed for time, I guess."

"I suppose," he accepted grudgingly. "But if you're contemplating something as risky as her practically suicidal plan then, I'll have Saber scold you until you change your mind." He turned to face her. "Because he apparently did, if after the fact."

"I don't think that'll happen," she giggled at the thought. "Since Rider wouldn't stand for anything like that."

"Yeah. Though, aren't she and Kuro actually chasing one another around the courtyard like a couple of kids right now?"

"... yes."

(Tuesday morning)

"I guess I'll be taking the kids to school?" Kojirou, back in the suit from yesterday, was looking at the group of Shirou, Rin and Medusa, who were all wearing uniforms.

"Rider and Saber will be with the away-group," Caster explained. "While Kuro will help hold down the home front. Sakura and I have some work to get done, ideally before everyone returns, but if there's a situation then she'll let Rider know and she'll pass the message. Otherwise just stay in Spirit Form."

"You could pass for it, but there's no way Medusa would be mistaken for a student in that section, even if she's wearing the right clothes," Rin added. "I suppose you have an excuse in mind?"

"Don't worry about it," Sakura replied. "Let them call Grandfather, he'll deal with it." Medusa disappeared in a sprinkle of gold and the trio remaining at home waved to the trio departing.

"Alright," Sasaku turned immediately to business, and headed back to her room with Sakura following. "The faster we get this part done, the less likely it will be noticed."

On the floor of the room was an odd looking magic circle, made of words written in rune-like script spiraling around like a whirlpool with various designs of flowering and thorny vines wrapped all around. Two other smaller and less ornate circles sat nearby, linked by said vines.

"What are those?" Sakura asked curiously, eyeing the set up with some interest. "Those don't look the normal runes magi use."

"That's the old script of my people. As you can guess, this is akin to a formalcraft ritual," Caster explained. "But there's no ambient mana here in the Realm, so this functions more like magical machinery that integrates with and uses the Realm, rather than me with my own magic circuits. More stable for this application."

Sitting down in one of the smaller circles, Sasaku motioned towards the clear space in the larger one. "If we isolate this area from scrying and other magical interference, the main danger is obviously physical. From the... parasites. So as a counter, this, a variable effect paralysis. Similar to when one is asleep, it should also allow use of magecraft. Which you will be using to take over control from your Grandfather."

"Sounds about right." Sakura settled into a seated position, facing Caster. "So what's the schedule like?"

"Based on what you've told me, your ability to use the Matou magecraft should increase with each Crest Worm you successfully bind. So I expect starting with the weakest, probably in the extremities and working upwards for phase one, with the critical areas of, let's see, heart, spine and brain stem for the phase two. Medusa will be there for that part."

"Got it." She had steeled herself for this moment, though oddly enough that had not prevented her from being able to sleep soundly earlier.

"You'll have to message me via the Realm using magecraft," Caster added. "Since standard speech would be inhibited. Let me know immediately if you experience any pain in the process. It's critical that the worms are as close to totally immobilized as possible, since even a little damage to the heart in phase two, for example, could be fatal."

Sakura nodded before closing her eyes to aid in concentration as the circle around her began to fill slightly with magical energy under Sasaku's control.

"I'll be sending you scan data from the circle," Caster said softly to avoid breaking her focus. "But something is interfering with it, so I'm giving you control access to that function. Try the right hand."

l

(Tuesday afternoon)

(Medusa)

A fairly uneventful day over, as everyone returned, Medusa hurried over to Caster's room to check in on her Master, and was relieved to find her resting on the bed. "How did it go?" she asked the other Servant who was watching over Sakura.

"Very well," was the answer. "As expected, it wasn't perfectly tuned, but that has been ironed out by now. Everything healed up with no complications. Is everyone outside?"

"Illya's group prepared something for them to eat, should I bring Sakura something?"

"Something light would be a good idea. I guess now is a good time to quickly brief Kuro on her part with Saber, so I'll ask one of the maids to bring it. You stay here." With that, Caster left to finish preparations for phase two of the day's plan.

Rider had suspicions that the next part would be harder, if anything. She turned to Sakura. "How are you feeling so far?"

The answer was encouraging, but also a little concerning.

"They're mine now, I feel their power in my grasp."

"I see." Looking deep into her eyes, Medusa wasn't sure if perhaps there was something deep in those depths which hadn't been there before. Was it more of a light at the end of a tunnel, or a flame at the bottom of an abyss, she couldn't say for sure.