A/N: Ahhhhh, don't you all just love it when I take too damn long to update a story like this?
No? Don't worry, I don't either. :(
Obviously, my months-long absence can be mostly attributed to the fact that the final days of my spring semester were a real pain in the butt. Of course, there was a deluge of tests and assignments, which was then followed by finals week. And after that, I graduated from my community college with an Associate's Degree in English! Yep, you heard it here first, folks! HOORAY!
After my graduation, I spent the first month of my summer break celebrating this monumental occasion, working on my "Pokémon" and "Angel Beats!" fics, and planning my future fics. My school-related plans after graduation are transferring over to a four-year university nearby and pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in something that's writing-related. Wish me the best of luck, everyone! I think I'm really going to need it.
Now, before I get on with the chapter, I would like to take this moment to point out a message that I have for you all in my concluding Author's Note. I was thinking of putting it here, but it would've made this Author's Note so unbearably long, and the announcement is pretty important, at least to me, so I quickly decided to dedicate a whole section of the concluding A/N to it. I do hope you pay attention to it. And no, it does not regard the future of this story.
Alright, I'm done talking. Let's get on with this long-awaited chapter! ENJOY!
Edit: I changed a little error that a reviewer noticed. Thanks for the heads-up!
Homurahara Academy, Miyama Town
– The next day –
With a subtle look of concern, Jeanne, now wearing Laeticia's clothing, observed yet another totaled street of Miyama as construction crews scrambled to salvage the wreckage. A new day had just fallen upon Fuyuki, and news quickly broke of a horrendous, massive gas explosion that leveled dozens of blocks in Miyama. Of course, Jeanne knew that explosion was anything but accidental. She made a quick mental note of her intention to visit Saber of Black's Master and demand an explanation about his usage of a proxy Master.
It didn't take long for her to reach Homurahara Academy, and once she did, she immediately spotted the construction crews also working their hardest to restore the damaged areas. Then, she saw a large crowd of students gathered at the front of the gateway, observing the crews with curiosity.
Naturally, Jeanne overheard snippets of their blazing gossip.
"Do you believe it? A gas explosion did all this damage?"
"You know, my pa isn't buying the gas explosion angle one bit. He thinks it's some eco-terrorist group."
"Watanabe saw the explosion for himself. He says it the real deal."
"Really? Ito thought he saw robots fighting in the distance before the explosion happened."
"HA! Him and his love of mecha anime!"
Just then, an awkward silence abruptly fell upon a portion of the crowd when a few students spotted the approaching Jeanne. The saint pretended to be oblivious, shooting a confused stare at the direction of the destroyed school.
"What happened here?" she asked.
"Huh? You mean you didn't see the news, Delacroix?" one female student replied.
Jeanne looked back at the students. "I can't say I had the luxury to..."
"It figures."
"It was a gas explosion," another female student added. "It happened last night."
"Did you even hear it, Delacroix?" a third student asked suspiciously; this time, it was a boy.
"I did more than hear it, I saw who did it," Jeanne thought before replying aloud, "No, I didn't, unfortunately. I've taken up residence at the church during my stay here."
"The church? You mean that Christian church up the hill?"
"Yes, that's the one."
The student rolled his eyes. "Of course you would," he replied.
Jeanne suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Is there a problem?" she asked.
The boy looked away innocently. "No, there's no problem at all, Delacroix. Not at all."
But Jeanne knew he was lying. He was wearing an irritating, mocking grin, and the tone of his voice sounded absolutely irksome. She could tell he had already formed a low opinion of her based on her residency at the Kotomine Church. She was well aware of how unpopular she, or rather Laeticia Delacroix, had become because of her strangely distant and highly studious nature. And yet, it annoyed her greatly, knowing her association with a church would only bring further affirmation to those opinions. Do they really think lowly of her because she stayed at a place of worship? Was it because they also had low opinions of such a location, even though it was where they could seek comfort from a higher power?
Jeanne clenched her fist.
The Mackenzie Residence
"240 years ago, the Einzberns, the Tohsakas, and the Makiris, three families of mages, worked together to summon the Holy Grail, a device said to grant any wish, in Japan's Fuyuki City. They eventually succeeded in their endeavor, but the Grail could only grant the wish of only one family. As a result, their alliance was destroyed, and they turned on each other. That was the start of the Holy Grail Wars.
"Every 60 years, the Grail will appear in Fuyuki and select seven mages from all across the globe to compete in secret battles to the death, to determine who is worthy of holding it. Each participant, known as a 'Master', must summon a Heroic Spirit known as a 'Servant'. Each Servant is a representative of one of the seven classes: Saber, the Knight of the Sword; Lancer, the Knight of the Lance; Archer, the Knight of the Bow; Rider, the Mounted Knight; Caster, the Magus; Assassin, the Silent Killer; and Berserker, the Mad Warrior.
"Under these seven classes, the Servants will fight each other to the death for their Masters, and kill the Masters whenever possible. Their battles are supervised by an impartial representative from the Holy Church, known as the 'Overseer', and his or her Servant, Ruler, the Standard-Bearer Who Correctly Guides the Holy Grail War. The last Master and Servant pair standing is declared the victor of the Holy Grail War, and they each can have their greatest wish granted by the Grail."
"What a load of bull that turned out to be..."
Waver stuffed the textbook into one of his many suitcases, proceeded to bury it with a variety of other magical items, and zipped the suitcase shut. As he started to pack another suitcase, he heard someone approaching the door.
"Waver, dear?"
The Clock Tower student looked up and saw Martha Mackenzie. For a moment, he felt his heart stop, having not seen her in several hours. But then, he remembered his hypnosis spell was still in effect.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "H-Hello, Grandma."
"Are you sure you have to leave already?" she asked gloomily. "You just got back from overseas..."
"I have to, alright Grandma?" Waver noticed the old woman's look of disappointment and added sympathetically, "Look, I'm sorry, Grandma. It's just..." He resumed packing his suitcase. "Something unexpected came up at school and I have to get back as soon as I can. You don't want your grandson to pass with flying colors?"
"Of course I want you to pass, but..." Martha took a moment to sigh heavily. "I just wish you'd visit us more often..."
"Don't worry, Grandma," Waver lied. "When I'm finished with my thing at school, I'll come back right away. And then we can do..." He paused for a moment. "Grandparent and grandson stuff together..."
Martha smiled. "Oh, I hope so." The old woman then looked into the hallway, just as a cacophony of boisterous voices suddenly broke out. "You know, Waver..."
"Yeah?"
"I'm a bit worried about the crowd you're hanging out with. Most of them, anyway..."
Waver broke out a single bead of sweat. "Oh, yeah?"
"Yes. Their clothing and manners do not seem right..."
"I'm not really hanging out with them or anything, Grandma," Waver replied quickly. "They're just, uh...teammates. For a science project."
"My. That school of yours sure does accept a lot of strange characters." She looked back at him. "Either way, take good care of them, Waver, and hopefully they will take good care of you in return."
"Heh. If only I could..." Waver thought.
Waver heaved out a sigh as he trudged downstairs, dragging his suitcases along with him. He could hear Martha right behind him by a few steps. Once he reached the kitchen, was greeted with a rather abnormal sight.
Seated comfortably around the table were Irisviel, Kairi, Mordred, and Glen Mackenzie; and it looked like a feast was already underway. It looked like a starving bear had gone through much of Martha's well-cooked food, as it was almost finished. Mordred, dressed in her civilian clothing, was leaning back on her chair, chewing down hungrily on a drumstick while her unoccupied hand held another. Kairi and Glen were both drinking some of the latter's old beer while conversing about something like good old war buddies, and for once, Kairi's sunglasses were off, giving Waver a firsthand look at his sharp eyes. As for Irisviel, she seemed to be stuck in her own world, sipping from a cup of Martha's tea as she examined her surroundings like a curious child.
"And then I slammed that perv's head through the table!" Kairi exclaimed proudly. "After that, he never approached a woman ever again."
"My, my!" Glen replied, red-faced. "For a suspicious-looking person like you, you sure do adhere to a chivalric code of honor."
Waver noticed Mordred flitting her pupils at Kairi's direction, glinting with interest, but the freelance assassin apparently didn't notice.
"You should never judge a book by its cover, otherwise you'll never know anyone for sure." Kairi calmly took another sip of his beer, and unlike Glen, he seemed to have a higher tolerance to the alcohol intake. "Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of benefiting from the opinions of others. To everyone else, I'm just a street thug that should not be messed with."
"Maybe it also has to do with the way you treat people. No one's going to acquaint themselves with you if your response to lecherous people is to knock them clean out."
"Or maybe it has to do with that stench of his," Waver thought flatly. "It's enough to drive away a friendly puppy for life! How the hell can that man not smell him?! There's no way my spell affected his olfactory senses..."
"Perhaps so," Kairi replied. Then, he whispered something to himself, but no one else could hear it.
Having had enough of waiting, Waver cleared his throat, catching the attention of everyone else.
"I'm ready to go," he said forcefully.
"Already?" Irisviel replied, disappointed. "But I hoped I could see more of this place. I've never been inside of an actual Japanese house before!"
"Don't we have a science project to do?"
To his shock, Irisviel tilted her head with curiosity. "A...science project...?"
Fortunately, Kairi spoke up before Glen or Martha could become suspicious. "We've gotta get going."
"Don't worry," Martha said upon noticing the disappointed look on Irisviel's face. "When you're done with your work, you can come back anytime, Irisviel. We'll leave the door open for you."
"My, thank you very much, Martha-sama!" Irisviel clapped her hands together with happiness. "Even if you're foreigners, people in Japan are very kind and hospitable!"
As Kairi stood up from his chair, he looked at Mordred, who was still snacking on her drumstick like a spoiled child. "Mo-san, finish that up. We can't afford to be late."
"Alright, alright..." the Saber Servant replied.
Though she was obviously unhappy with having to leave this feast prematurely, Mordred stuck the drumstick into her mouth and yanked the bone back out with all of her might, essentially stripping it of all of its meat. As Waver, Irisviel, Glen, and Martha gawked in shock, she stood up from her chair and casually tossed her second uneaten drumstick back on the plate from which it came. It was at that moment she noticed all of the stares at her.
"What?" she asked with her mouth full.
Miyama Town
"D-Do-Don't you e-ever g-g-go b-back in sp-sp-spirit form?!" Waver howled over the blowing wind as Kairi's convertible sped down the streets of Miyama.
"Why not?!" Mordred cried, grinning hungrily. "A king should always be present on the physical plane for his subjects! If I'm going to prepare for my ascension to the throne of Camelot, then I'm not going to break the chivalric code of honor just so I can be invisible!" Then, she looked over her shoulder and shot Waver an alarming look. "Why? Do you mean to say you have a problem with my presence?!"
"N-N-Not at all," stuttered Waver. He looked away, knowing that if he said anything other than that, he would instantly be impaled by Clarent.
"You know you're going to expend Kiritsugu's mana more if you're not in spirit form!" warned Irisviel.
"So?! I thought my Master was powerful enough to support me either way! He certainly helped me through last night's duel with Father." Then, to everyone's surprise, the scantily-dressed Knight of Treachery pulled out a drumstick from her pocket and started eating it. "Besides, it'll teach him a little lesson on entrusting me to some strange, smelly man and not being present with me on the battlefield!"
Kairi eyed Mordred's drumstick. "Where the hell did you get that?" he asked.
"From the house." Mordred took another bite of the chicken meat. "I couldn't afford to leave it there like that."
"No eating in the car."
The Servant puffed her cheeks rebelliously. "What're you gonna do, Master? Stop me?!"
Kairi smirked and looked back towards the asphalt road. "No, I'm not."
"Good!" With that, Mordred triumphantly resumed eating her precious drumstick.
As the car continued to speed down Miyama Town's streets, Waver and Irisviel noticed the aftermath of Mordred's duel with Arturia. Many houses, restaurants, and other buildings were destroyed or damaged; many construction crews were working hard to salvage whatever they possibly can; the owners were stood on the sidewalks, left in utter dismay at the losses; and a variety of other citizens looked on with interest. They knew that the Church used their connections with the city to cover up the incident, but it did nothing to sate their concerns about all of the horrific destruction that was right in front of their eyes.
"So this is what a Noble Phantasm can do..." Waver remarked.
"Impressed?" Mordred replied, grinning toothily at the student. "That is only one of many skills and abilities that I have in store for this upcoming battle!"
"But perhaps you should learn to control where you aim your Noble Phantasm, Saber," Irisviel said warily. "Look at all of this! It's a good thing no one got hurt, or worse!"
"Oh." For a moment, Mordred seemed to finally process all of the wreckage around her. But seconds later, her expression reverted back to its original state of dark confidence. "But I had to demonstrate my power to Father! I simply could not abide by his constant refusal to acknowledge me and my heritage!"
"No one's saying you should've done nothing, Saber," Kairi replied. "They just want you to be a bit more aware of your surroundings. It'll be especially important when we attack Caster." He raised his face by about a centimeter. "Hey, kid."
Waver's body became upright and rigid. "Y-Ye-Yeah?!" he exclaimed.
"Assassin said Caster's hideout was in the sewers in central Fuyuki, near the Mion River, right?"
"Th-That's correct."
"There you go, Saber. Now, as the stand-in for your Master, I highly advise you to not use your Noble Phantasm in those tunnels. I don't think your Master would like it if his wife was buried alive in some underground swamp."
Irisviel briefly shuddered at the description. As for Mordred, her brow furrowed with understanding.
"That's true..." Then, she bared her fanged teeth. "But if we run into too much trouble and we can't get out of it, then I'm using my most powerful attack, whether any of you like it or not!" She clenched her fist. "I refuse to be slain so early in the Grail War by some pathetic magician! Do you understand?!"
Kairi nodded calmly. "Understood. Just...make sure you steady your aim."
Meanwhile, Irisviel pursed her lips with apprehension. As for Waver, he looked even more wary than ever.
"Some pathetic magician?" he repeated in disbelief. "Look, we're not talking about some third-rate mage here!"
"A third-rate mage like yourself?" Kairi asked.
"Tch! You guys know we're talking about Caster, right?!"
"Oh, really? I never noticed."
"Are you taking this whole thing seriously?!" Waver moaned and rubbed his forehead. "Look, when it comes to defending their lair, Caster Servants have a tremendous advantage over any attacker! And I never heard anything come out of your mouth that even remotely resembles a plan!"
"Why have a plan when you have me?!" Mordred proclaimed proudly, jabbing a thumb at her own chest.
"Plus we have your Assassins for cover and sacrificial decoys," added Kairi.
Waver's voice immediately dropped all emotion. At this point, he wasn't surprised by the responses.
"You're serious. Your plan is to burst through the front door."
"Pretty much, yeah."
Waver sighed. "It figures..."
"Listen here, kid," Kairi said, more sharply this time. "The Black Faction has dawdled on the topic of Caster for too long, and now we have blood on our hands. We must ensure this Servant doesn't compromise our chances at victory. Not for any longer. And if we're gonna do that, we're gonna use all the force we can muster. That way, the rest of the Faction will not have any second thoughts about our alliance."
Waver didn't say anything further, instead choosing to surrender himself to Kairi's unshakable logic. At that moment, he and Irisviel violently jerked to the left as Kairi swiftly rounded a corner.
"Sisigou-san!" Irisviel squeaked in terror. "C-Could you please go slower?!"
The freelancer shook his head. "No can do. If I do, the cops will become suspicious of me and pull me over. And when they do, our objective will be further delayed."
"BUT IF YOU GO OVER THE SPEED LIMIT, THE COPS WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO PULL YOU OVER!" Waver screeched in outrage.
Indeed, the earsplitting wail of a police siren filled the air. Kairi merely sighed and shook his head with some annoyance. Waver buried his face in his palms and groaned, his mind becoming overwhelmed with disbelief at the casual nature of his so-called teammates.
Perhaps he should've let that Magus Killer character kill him on that seedy hotel rooftop.
Unknown location
A baby, calm and content despite being in a scene of bloodbath, held in a pair of wicked arms...
The baby, now a boy, being raised by a faceless, shadowy woman...
The boy, now a teenager, weeping as he sealed his shrieking mother in a cave...
The teenager, now a man, discovering a simple wooden cross...
The man, coming across a village besieged by an evil dragon...
The man, standing over the dragon's lifeless body, now a hero to the villagers...
The hero, wandering across lands beyond mankind's understanding, bringing to salvation to those who were in desperate need of it, becoming something more...
The hero, staring at an endless horizon, towards the sunset-
Black Faction Base, Miyama Town
Caules gasped as he awoke.
At first, he still expected to see the distant sunset. But instead, he saw the classical Japanese ceiling. Realizing where he was, the Yggdmillennia Master slowly sat up from his futon with a groggy groan. He soon felt the corner of his eye itch, so he rubbed it with his knuckles.
Once he was satisfied, Caules prepared to lower his hand when he spotted, through the small fog of his blurry vision, the black Command Seals.
"What was that...?" he thought. "Was that...a dream? No...that felt too real..."
"Good morning, Master."
"ACK!"
Caules nearly fell over on his side when St. George materialized beside him. He was wearing his usual warm, kind smile, and his posture was still relaxed yet inherently mighty.
"R-Ri-Rider?!" Caules exclaimed. "Wh-What're you doing in here?!"
"I've been stationed to guard your private quarters for the night," the Rider Servant replied. "Surely you didn't expect the White Faction to be lenient enough to allow you a period of rest?"
"We-Well, I-I thought..." But then, Caules realized his Servant was right to think ahead. "Y-Yeah, I guess..."
He looked away as he reached for his glasses. As he did, Caules started to mull over his dream.
"That dream... My Servant was in it... St. George..." He felt his fingertips touch the frame of his glasses, and he picked them up. "Were those...memories instead? Did I just witness the life of my Servant unfold before my very eyes...?"
Caules put on his glasses.
"Morning, everyone..."
Caules walked into the living room, expecting to see Feend and Diarmuid seated...or more like kneeling at the classical-style table, but he only saw the small group of stoic Einzbern homunculi that Kiritsugu assigned for his group. In the nearby kitchen, he saw Feend's faithful maid Gudrun cooking what smelled like an excellent breakfast.
"Good morning, Master Yggdmillennia," an Einzbern homunculus replied in monotone. Caules recalled her name being Lucia.
Caules looked at Gudrun. "Hey, Go...uh, G-Gun...Gen...G-Gud-"
"Gudrun, my Master," St. George said via telepathy.
"G-Gudrun!"
In response, the maid raised her head slightly in acknowledgement, but otherwise, she didn't stray from her cooking duties.
"Uh, where's vor Sembren?" Caules asked.
"Out in that old storehouse in the backyard," Gudrun replied. "With...Diarmuid..."
Caules was quick to notice the strangely dreamy tone the maid's voice took on the moment she spoke Lancer of Black's true name. Nevertheless, he simply scratched his cheek and replied, "O-Okay... Thanks a lot..."
And with that, he left, failing to notice the soft smile that was forming on Gudrun's lips.
"Pardon for the intrusion..."
Caules opened the door to the storehouse, disregarding the creak it made as he did so. He immediately saw Feend vor Sembren standing before a trio of Golems, all of them larger than the ones he was usually creating. Taking a moment to gawk at the stony creations, Caules then focused his sights on Feend and Diarmuid themselves. Feend was reviewing a set of blueprints, while Diarmuid was standing silently in the corner of the storehouse, his eyes closed, his posture fully relaxed.
"Yggdmillennia," Feend said sternly, without looking up from his blueprints, "how many homunculi did Emiya assign us?"
"F-F-Four or five, I think," Caules replied hesitantly. "I don't know; I wasn't really paying much attention to them."
"That's alright. Your answer's satisfactory enough for me."
As Feend finally looked up from his blueprints, Caules struggled to process the fact that the vor Sembren Master finally issued a genuine compliment to a member of his own team.
"You wished to see me?" Feend asked.
"W-W-Well..." Caules rubbed the back of his head. "I just woke up, and I, uh... I just wanted to check on everyone. You know, for safety's sake."
"I see... Well, no matter. I was going to approach you with this request anyway."
Caules blinked, confused. "Request? Wh-What request...?"
"I need you and Rider to go to the outskirts of the city. That's where the Einzberns' villa is at, if my research is accurate. When you find it, review the lay of the land and report back to me once you're finished." Feend then looked up at one of his Golems. "And another thing. While you're there, under absolutely no circumstances are you to make contact with Emiya, his wife, Saber, or anyone else who comes in and out of that house. Make sure you're out of Saber's detection range."
Caules blinked again. "W-Wait a minute... So...you want me to go to another Black Faction base and check out the land? Without letting anyone know?"
"That's correct."
"...That sounds a hell lot like spying..."
"That's because it is."
"WHAT?!" The Yggdmillennia took a step backward. "You're telling me to spy on our teammates?! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble we'll get into?!"
"The reserve system of the Holy Grail War does not have an explicit rule forbidding the secret surveillance of one's own teammates. You should be fine."
"I'm not talking about repercussions from Ruler or the Church! Wh-What if the others find out about this?!"
"They won't."
Caules blinked yet again. "Do...Do Kariya and Edelfelt know about this...?"
"Unfortunately, I have no way of contacting them immediately. So you're the only one who knows about this."
Caules suddenly remembered something. "By the heavens, this Black Faction is falling apart faster than any disorganized army I've ever encountered."
Caules gritted his teeth at St. George's scathing review of the Black Faction's integrity last night. He clenched his fists and exclaimed, "I-I can't do that! This is going to drive the Black Faction apart, vor Sembren!"
Feend shot an intimidating glare towards the teenager. "So?" he snarled. "The Black Faction will be driven apart either way, by the beginning of the War's second stage. But you remember what happened last night. If Emiya and the White Faction continue to have their ways, the only one left in the Black Faction once the first stage ends will be Emiya himself! And I will not yield to a shameless disgrace like the Magus Killer!"
The vor Sembren Master walked towards Caules, who started to back into the storehouse wall. Every step Feend made was like a mighty stomp. Their eyes met, with Feend's staring down at Caules's. The Yggdmillennia Master wanted to turn away, but he was too perplexed with fear to even flee the storehouse.
"You must understand, Yggdmillennia," Feend continued, his pupils trembling madly. "Emiya's only out to satiate his own desires. He does not care for the majesty and grandeur of an event such as the Holy Grail War. And I suspect that he does not care at all for the Einzberns' ambitions for the Grail. For a freelancer who's supposed to be in it for the money only, he seems to have a lot to lose! He must if he's transferring many of his duties as a Master to another freelancer who's as bright as an amoeba!"
When Caules couldn't respond to that, the vor Sembren suddenly gripped his shoulders and started shaking him lightly.
"Don't you understand?!" he snapped.
At the corner of his eye, Caules saw Diarmuid shift in his position, as if he was debating whether he should intervene in his Master's borderline-breakdown. But seconds later, St. George materialized beside both males and latched one hand on Feend's shoulder, holding it tightly with a vice-like grip.
"Release my Master at once," the Rider Servant said in a disturbingly calm voice. "I sympathize with your frustrations, vor Sembren, but I will not continue to stand by as you frighten my Master."
Feend gritted his teeth, but he released Caules.
"Don't you see, Yggdmillennia?" he asked in a low voice. "This man, this...this disgrace of a mage has an endgame set for all of us. He's had it set since day one. We are his expendable pawns, and the Grail is his prize. The logic is sound, undeniable!" Feend clenched his own fists. "Please don't tell me you are still clinging on to some shred of goodwill for this man!"
Caules's posture relaxed somewhat, and he looked down at the floor with ambivalence.
"I mean..." he said, "he...he's called the Magus Killer, right...? So-"
"So what?"
"So he should know how to defeat the White Faction without any problems."
Feend scoffed. "You expect too much from this man, Yggdmillennia. One way or another, he will become your enemy."
"Not if I continue to be on his good side!" shouted Caules defiantly.
Feend tightened his lips with displeasure. "If so, then you have a death wish, boy." He narrowed his eyes. "What is it that you want, Yggdmillennia?"
"Me? I...I have no desire of any kind!"
"I'm not talking about your wish for the Holy Grail! I can tell you have none. But what is it that you want out of this War in general?"
"In general? Well, I just want to get through this War without dying. That's all I want." Caules faced his body away from Feend. "Nothing more, nothing less."
Feend scoffed. "Well, you're never going to survive this War without having at least one battle. The Holy Grail Wars are designed to be battles to the death, and there can never be two pairs of victors. The expectation of surviving without confrontation or inflicting bloodshed is utterly foolish." Feend looked down at the boy as he continued to cower. "You can be scared all you want, Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia, but the least you could do is bring honor to your clan."
Caules looked up at Feend. "Honor to my...to my clan...?" he repeated.
"Yes. My opinion of the Yggdmillennia may be very low, but I sense...potential in you. You're no different from any of my students at the Clock Tower." There was a glint now present in the instructor's eyes. "If you choose to be active rather than passive, then perhaps there'll be something you can learn about yourself. But only if you make that choice..."
Caules looked down at his open palm, pondering Feend's words.
Verde Shopping Center, Shinto
Klaus Edelfelt stepped out of the mall, followed closely by two Einzbern homunculi, who were both carrying two brown plastic bags in each hand. Since last night, he resolved to purchase all of the food and drinks needed to sustain himself and Kariya Matou Yggdmillennia. He was well aware that food service was guaranteed by the Hyatt Hotel, but given that the Magus Killer was the one who paid for their room, it was equivalent to accepting food from that disgrace.
And he just couldn't abide to that.
Klaus spotted the high-rise hotel and walked towards it. As he did, he noticed someone in the crowd of pedestrians that were crossing an intersection. At first, he didn't know why a member of the rabble was distinguishable enough to catch his attention. Then, he realized that person was...
"Yggdmillennia...?" he whispered to himself.
Indeed, it was Kariya Matou Yggdmillennia. He was camouflaging with the other shoppers, trying his best not to stand out...even though he was already failing in that regard, since more than a few eyes were gravitated towards his silver hair and purple hoodie. Klaus narrowed his eyes with suspicion.
"Could he be spying on you, Master?" a voice telepathically asked.
"I doubt it, Archer," Klaus whispered to thin air. "If he is, he is doing a remarkably pathetic job at it." He narrowed his eyes even more. "Something else is waiting for him here."
"Master Edelfelt, is there anything wrong?" one of the homunculi asked stoically.
"Nothing's wrong," replied Klaus. "Go back to the hotel with the bags. There's...something else here that I must attend to."
The homunculus bowed, as did her partner. "As you wish, Master Edelfelt."
Klaus nodded and walked down the same direction as Kariya, feeling the presence of Atalanta following right beside him.
Miyama Park, Miyama Town
It had been about an hour since he first started following Kariya Matou Yggdmillennia, and Klaus didn't observe anything out of the ordinary from his fellow Black Master. When they reached Fuyuki's Miyama Town, Klaus initially wondered why Kariya was compelled to leave the hotel and walk all the way there. But then, he remembered that the Magus Killer had set up another base somewhere in Miyama...the base Feend vor Sembren and Caules Forvedge were stationed at.
Caules Forvedge...the one Black Master who Kariya cared about the most.
But then, he was proven wrong when Kariya stopped at the park and observed the children for several minutes as they played soccer near a forested area that was cordoned off. Once that much was made clear to him, Klaus pursed his lips and walked up to Kariya's position.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, startling the Matou. "At the very least, you're going to bring a lot of discomfort to the parents here."
Kariya sighed with relief before replying, "Sorry about that. It's just..." He looked back towards the park with a soft and distant smile. "I was here to do some...reminiscing."
Klaus followed Kariya's line of sight and observed the playing children. He blinked and held back a smile of his own, for he remembered of all the times he took his niece to a park like this and played with her. Unfortunately, those days now seemed like a lifetime ago...and he knew there was no guarantee of him physically reliving those moments again.
"I assume you took the Forvedge children here," the Edelfelt Master remarked. "During brighter days."
Kariya's smile widened slightly. "Yes," he replied. "Plus...Aoi likes to take Rin and Sakura to this park."
"Aoi?" The smile faded from Klaus's face. "As in...Aoi Tohsaka...?"
The Matou narrowed his eyes at the surname. "Yes...that's her..."
Klaus pursed his lips and turned away from Kariya. "Tohsakas. They're part of the Three Founding Families and yet they are the one family that has a long history of crossing people. Normally it'd be a funny thing...if it wasn't for the fact that we are among those left behind by them."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Klaus blinked and slowly looked over his shoulder, at his fellow Black Master. "You're telling me you've forgotten our little exchange last night?"
"I didn't say Tohsaka crossed me."
"Not directly. But you speak very fondly of his wife. You say he does not treat her well."
"Before any of us were even thinking of this Grail War, he once said to me that Aoi was superior breeding stock." Kariya gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Superior breeding stock. Does he not feel any true compassion for her?! Does he just see her as a means to an end?!"
However, Klaus looked rather intrigued. "Superior breeding stock, you say?" he asked.
"Yeah. Can you believe that?"
"Not really. I thought the Zenjou family's Magic Circuits had recently died out?"
"Yes, but Aoi is still capable of bearing children with a great amount of Magic Circuits. Combine that with-" Kariya rolled his eyes. "Tohsaka's pure magical lineage, and you get-"
"The children, Rin and Sakura Tohsaka," Klaus completed.
Kariya promptly smiled again. "Yeah," he replied. "They're like miracles. They'd make anyone feel welcome."
All of a sudden, the Matou Master frowned again, prompting Klaus to ask, "Is something the matter?"
"He's going to do it. I know he will."
"Who?"
"Tohsaka!" Kariya snarled, glaring at Klaus with outrage. Spit flew out of his mouth as he spoke. "I know how you mage families work! By some insane logic, he's going to give Rin or Sakura away to another family!"
Klaus raised his eyebrows. "Really? You don't say...?"
"I know it'll happen! It doesn't matter who wins. He's probably made a choice already! And after this War is over, the daughter who draws the short straw will be given away like some pet! ACK!"
Kariya clutched at his forehead, and Klaus's posture became defensive. He could feel the mighty presence of Berserker strengthening even more, aggravated by his Master's spike in rage.
"Master-" Atalanta began.
"Wait," he whispered. Then, he said aloud, "Matou, calm yourself-"
"It's Yggdmillennia, you bastard!" snarled Kariya. "ARGH!"
"You speak of this scenario as if it'll completely damage the fabric of the Tohsaka family. But I'm afraid you're mistaken."
"What did you say?!"
Klaus sighed. "From what you have told me, it is my belief that both Rin and Sakura Tohsaka possess equally rare gifts and magical abilities. But a family can only protect and nurture one child for the sole purpose of preserving the family's magic. Under normal circumstances, nurturing two children at once to inherit the family magic is an impossible feat."
"What about you Edelfelts?!" Kariya demanded.
"Excuse me?"
"You may think of me as some sort of irresponsible traitor, but trust me, I'm not dumb! I did my research on your family, and I know all about you! Including your Ore Scales Trait!"
"I didn't say the world of magi was without exceptional cases."
"Then tell me, why must it be so difficult for the Tohsakas to try that out?!"
Klaus pursed his lips, struggling to contain his own anger. Then, he calmly replied, "Because the Tohsakas are without shame. They cling on to their traditions, in spite of what they take." He looked away, towards the playing children. "And besides, the Edelfelts haven't produced any heirs with Ore Scales in a long time. Not since...the last War..."
"So I guess you don't have to worry about giving away any extra children to strange families," Kariya said sarcastically.
"Why must you look down on our practices like they're immoral, Yggdmillennia?"
"That's because they ARE immoral! Tearing beloved sisters apart, forcing them to be raised by rival families, making them fight each other if needs be-"
"But what family would not ask for a more honorable way to exercise the full potential of both children?"
Kariya's eyes widened with shock. "Wh-What?"
Klaus slowly looked at the silver-haired man. "Though I loathe Tokiomi Tohsaka with every fiber of my being, even I have to acknowledge his tact to the situation. Both of his daughters are now in need of being raised by a mage family. Will the vast potential lurking deep inside one daughter be wasted for the other's future? I cannot imagine a father doing such a cruel thing to his children. Not even Tohsaka."
"Don't tell me you're buying into this crap! Especially when you hate Tohsaka as much as I do! ACK!"
Klaus looked upon Kariya as the weaker magus clutched his head again. He narrowed his eyes at him for a moment, but then, a subtle grin formed upon his elegant face.
"If you wish to prevent such a thing from coming to pass," he said sagely, "then all you have to do is defeat Tohsaka and win the Holy Grail. As an omnipotent wish-granting device, it is your only hope of keeping both sisters together."
Kariya suddenly stopped withering, and lifted his hand away to look at the Edelfelt.
"W...Win the Holy Grail...?" he repeated.
Klaus frowned. "That wasn't your intention before?"
"I was...more preoccupied with...protecting Caules...and Fiore..."
"Fiore Forvedge, the Master of Berserker of White?" Klaus smirked a little. "You're quite the ambitious one today, Kariya Matou Yggdmillennia."
"It's not ambition, it's called caring for innocent children!"
"Children who will experience what this world truly has to offer them, sooner or later, with or without the Grail. It's called fate. The real question is, do you think you can circumvent fate, Yggdmillennia? Do you think you can protect all of them with the wish-granting device?" The Edelfelt Master's eyes glinted. "Do you think that you can overcome all odds and preserve the innocence of these children?"
The Mion River, Central Fuyuki
– The following evening –
"I can't believe I was part of a high-speed chase! It was so exhilarating!"
Irisviel, Kairi, Mordred, and Waver finally got out of Kairi's convertible, with Waver immediately collapsing to all fours, struggling to hold in the food he ate at the Mackenzies'. In a rather surprising contrast, however, Irisviel was prancing around and giggling like an excited schoolgirl.
"You...actually...enjoyed that...?" Waver heaved out between deep breaths.
"For much of my life, I never got to see the outside world and experience what it has to offer," Irisviel explained fondly. "Kiritsugu educated me on everything he could through books and movies, and among my favorites were the ones where the law enforcement officers chase the bad guys!"
"So you're saying we're the bad guys?" Kairi asked dryly.
"Oh, no! I wasn't implying that!" Irisviel faced the rest of her group, and she was illuminated by the glow of the setting sun. "It's more like...we're misunderstood. After all, they may not know it, but we are tracking down someone who poses a serious threat to their existence..."
All of a sudden, her expression turned forlorn, and she raised a hand over her heart. Mordred was the first to notice this, and the Saber Servant stepped forward.
"Milady, what's wrong?" she asked, trying her very best to sound chivalric.
"It's...It's nothing, Saber..." Irisviel replied. She proceeded to slowly walk towards the Mion River and look down at the water's rippling surface, seeing her reflection. "It's just..."
Her voice trailed off, prompting Mordred to ask, "What? It's just what?"
Irisviel was silent for a few moments. Finally, she lowered her hand and looked back at Saber with a newfound look of determination.
"We cannot postpone this any longer. We've lost the officers, so now we can go down the sewers and take care of Caster however we can! Many lives depend on it!"
Mordred blinked and stared at Irisviel with confusion. Then, she shrugged off her concerns and grinned toothily, just as her silver-and-red armor materialized all around her body.
"Alright, then!" she growled with a bestial voice of excitement. "Let's go take this bastard down!"
Meanwhile, Waver sighed. "Oh yeah, of course... Let's go fight Caster on his territory... What could possibly go wrong?"
The sewers
"RRRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"
A helmeted Mordred led the way through one of the many underground sewer tunnels. As she went along, she swung Clarent over and over again, her sword nothing more than a silver blur as it cut through flesh and bone. Powered by her Mana Burst, she slashed through the hundreds of echinoderm-like creatures at superhuman speeds, leaving hundreds of dismembered limbs and spatters of blood in her wake.
Following right behind her were Irisviel, Kairi, and Waver, who were back in Kairi's convertible. The car ran over anything that might've survived, all the while providing light for Mordred's path ahead with its headlights.
"This sure is working out splendidly," Kairi said, smiling confidently at Mordred as she continued slashing and hacking away. "I have no doubt that we'll be able to take down Caster."
"AGH! Oh, gross!" Waver started swatting away at his cheek, trying to wipe away small spatters of blood that landed on his cheek. However, given the unknown properties of the bodily fluid, he tried his best to get it all off as quickly as he could without maximizing contact with it.
As for Irisviel, she had her eyes closed, trying to keep her attention away from the all the bloodshed.
"Are we there yet, Einzbern?" Kairi asked, refusing to avert his gaze from what was ahead.
"I'm...I'm not sure..." Irisviel replied. "I can't detect a Bounded Field of any kind, or any other high amounts of magical energy anywhere."
"I-Is there a chance we passed Caster's lair or something?" Waver asked, as he got the last of the blood off his face.
"No, we couldn't have. Caster Servants prefer having a lot of space for their Workshops. This tunnel doesn't even come close to qualifying as potential terrain. We'll know we're there when we- AGH!"
Two creatures had latched themselves onto the convertible's hood. They let out nightmarish squeals as their tentacles reached towards the vehicle's occupants.
"DAMN!" Kairi snarled angrily.
He slammed his foot down on the brake hard, and the poorly-lit tunnel was filled with an earsplitting screech as the car skidded to a heart-wrenching stop. But the two creatures held on to the hood with suction cups on their limbs. Once the car stopped, one of them reached its tentacles towards Kairi.
Acting quickly, the freelancer pulled out his double-barreled shotgun and aimed it at the closest creature. One of its tentacles wrapped itself around his arm, but before it could do anything, he fired through the windshield, striking his assailant in its mouth. Flesh and teeth flew everywhere as the monster let out a gurgled screech of agony.
A second later, it was silenced by another shot.
"And I paid a lot of money for this damn car," Kairi snarled gruffly.
"EEK! Sisigou-san!"
Kairi looked over his shoulder and saw the other monster reaching for Irisviel and Waver. Knowing there was not enough time to reload, he instead pulled out a Mauser C96 pistol and fired at the creature. Unfortunately, he only had regular bullets loaded into the gun, and the creature, unaffected by them, used a tentacle to knock the gun out of his hand. This fortunately gave Irisviel and Waver enough time to flee the car.
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out an eyeball with a green pupil, ready to use it. But the creature seemed to know what he was doing, so it slapped the eyeball out of his hand with the same tentacle. Then, it prepared to reach for his neck...
"RRRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"
Mordred had noticed Kairi's predicament and cut the creature in half with Clarent. Its halves twitched and squirmed, the tentacles trying to reach for Mordred's feet during the last moments of life. But she smirked and stomped down on them repeatedly, crushing them in seconds and splattering blood all over the side of the convertible. The tunnel became silent.
Once she was done, Mordred glared at Kairi, Irisviel, and Waver with triumph.
"We're here!" she announced.
Indeed, the group had just reached the other end of the tunnel, which led into a vast chamber with many pillars. It was murky and dark, barely illuminated by the car's headlights. As Kairi got out of the car, the others already entered the chamber, with Mordred choosing to remove her helmet.
"Is this...some sort of water storage system...?" Waver asked.
"It-It appears so..." Irisviel replied, her voice still shaky from her close call with the horrific tentacled monster. "I detect a great quantity of magical energy in the area. This must be Caster's hideout...but it appears that no one is here..."
"I guess Caster and his Master must've left to attend to their atrocities," Kairi replied. However, he reached into his car and retrieved his shotgun. "Nevertheless, it's best we stay on high alert. We don't know if there are anymore of those creatures lurking in the dark-"
"There aren't any."
Waver gasped and nearly fell over as several Assassins materialized within the chamber. The sole female, Asako, stepped forward.
"We have done a scan on this room," she continued, her voice shady and toxic in tone. "Rest assured, Master of Saber, this place no longer contains any threats to your being. You may be at ease."
"A-A-Assassin!" Waver snapped in outrage. "Wh-Where the hell were you guys?! D-Do you know that I just nearly died?! To a freaking starfish?!"
"We're aware of that," another Assassin replied with a booming voice. "But as we all can see, you survived in the end."
"Yeah, without your help!"
"Obviously you greatly overestimate our abilities," a third Assassin croaked, his gold tooth glinting even in the faint light. "We would've been honored by your flattering opinions, had you not been so...inadequate as a Master."
Waver blinked before shouting, "E-Excuse me?!"
"Look, let's save this for another time," Kairi suddenly said. "Even if Caster and his Master aren't here, we still have an opportunity to leave him vulnerable."
"Leave him vulnerable?" Irisviel asked, as she started walking forward. "How so?"
"We destroy his hideout." The freelancer looked around curiously. "Without it, Caster and his Master will be left with no other choice but to go out in the open, exposing themselves without their greatest source of energy. This will allow us to-"
"Finish them for good!" completed Mordred, her grin wide. "I like it!"
"I guess you'll be able to use your Noble Phantasm in this place after all, Saber. We just need to quickly hightail it out of here before we're buried alive."
"Are you sure about that, Sisigou-san?" Irisviel asked. "I don't think that's a good-"
She was abruptly cut off when she heard a soft splatter underneath her. She looked down and realized she had stepped in something. At first, she thought it was water, but after checking on the sole of her shoe, she realized it was something else, for there was a dark, wet stain there.
"What...is this...?" she asked, just as Waver approached.
"That's strange," the student remarked upon seeing the stain. "This place looks rather dry." He started to reach towards his pocket. "Let me light it up a little-"
"Master," Asako interrupted calmly, "I would advise against that-"
"Oh, shut up, Assassin!" Waver snapped irritably as he pulled out a couple of pills, one red and the other blue. "If you're not going to be of anymore help for tonight, then just do what you always do and go slink in the shadows."
"Unfortunately, that order will not work given your intent to shed some more light. But also-"
"Please don't make me use a Command Seal to shut you up," the student deadpanned.
The Assassins didn't speak anymore. This allowed Waver to clap his hands once, crushing the pills between his palms and causing them to glow green. He then threw the substance in the air, where it exploded in a small but brilliant flash of green light that continued to last.
This allowed the group to see what was before them the entire time.
Blood everywhere imaginable, and piles and piles of mangled corpses...all of them children...
"We told you..." Asako said gravely, as she and the other Assassins de-materialized.
"NO!" Irisviel shrieked, covering her mouth. "OH, NO!"
"Oh, my God..." Waver whispered, completely overcome with horror. "Oh, my GOD!" He then looked away, collapsed to all fours, and finally threw up.
Kairi showed the least reaction. Though his expression was stoic, his brow was furrowed, and there was an ambiguous look in his eyes.
As for Mordred, she walked forward, staring upon the ghastly scene with wide, horrified eyes. She then looked down at the closest body, which was miraculously one of the least mangled. It was of a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, still in her pajamas, and there was a small lion plush toy still tucked in her arm.
Mordred's eyes softened sadly at the sight. The knight knelt down and, after some reluctance, pulled the toy away from the girl's reach. She stared into the toy's beady eyes for a moment, then at the girl. Her brown eyes were still open, and they were staring off distantly. Mordred could tell those eyes once used to shine with happiness and innocence...just like hers once did when she was so young...
Mordred stared at the girl so deeply and intently that she didn't hear Kairi approach her.
"Saber," he said, finally breaking her train of thought. "We have to leave now."
Mordred didn't respond, but her grip on the lion toy tightened. Kairi spotted the girl's body and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, Saber. No one deserved to see this. Certainly not you."
Mordred pursed her lips and stood up. "I will kill him," she said in a low voice.
"What?" Kairi replied.
The Knight of Treachery turned around and faced her proxy Master. Her eyes were aflame with rage.
"I will kill that wretched monster, Caster of Black, and I will make sure he dies begging for mercy, just like those children did!" she proclaimed loudly, her voice channeling her unmatched fury. "I will avenge those children! And I...I will see to it that Father witnesses that great act of glory!"
Miyama Town
Reika Rikudou hummed and bobbed her head merrily as she sauntered down the moonlit sidewalk, through a street of local stores. It had been a full day since she, Ryuunosuke, and Bluebeard went out to look for Jeanne, Bluebeard's other half, but none of them had any success. Whilst Ryuunosuke and Bluebeard decided to go back to the sewers they now called home, Reika realized it was her turn to lure in more children for Ryuunosuke's art.
She stopped for a moment to admire the metal wristband Bluebeard fashioned for her. It was these objects that made the act of kidnapping much, much, much easier for her and Ryuunosuke. Now, she couldn't imagine a life without them.
In fact, she couldn't imagine a life without Bluebeard's assistance. That was why it was so important for her to find this Jeanne woman. Reika couldn't tolerate making good use of Bluebeard's powers and abilities without giving something back to him. Something very precious...
"Hey, babe..."
Reika looked away from her wristband and saw that a trio of men had approached her. One was looking at her directly while the other two were clearly checking out her body. She couldn't blame them; after all, she was wearing a skimpy green dress that barely reached past her hips, a furry brown jacket, and thigh-high boots.
"What's a lovely lady like you doing out here all alone...?" the man asked.
Reika gave him a sultry smile. "Oh...I'm just out on a little business..." she replied.
"A little business?" one of the other men asked. "You know, babe, I'm thinking about making a little investment. Where exactly is your business?"
At the corner of her eye, Reika saw a dark alleyway. She grinned, pointed towards it, and replied, "Over there."
The man grinned. "Over there, huh?"
"Yes, of course!"
Then, she started innocently fiddling with the zipper on her shirt, carefully making sure it was sliding down and exposing more of her cleavage centimeter by centimeter. The men quickly noticed this and stared intently, only to become more titillated when Reika spoke again.
"Do you want to make an investment now?"
One of the men looked like he was about to have a massive heart attack.
An hour later
The last of the men fell to the ground, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, his chest torn open. A bloodstained Reika heaved out a disappointed sigh before bending down and picking up her discarded dress.
She let the men have their way with her body in the alleyway, but that only lasted a couple of minutes. It all ended the moment one of the men tried to kiss her on the lips for whatever reason. That, she couldn't tolerate, not one bit. So, she used her metal wristband to have her way with their bodies. What happened between then and now was exhilarating. Fascinating. Inspirational.
Titillating.
"Ryuu-kun..." she thought as she put on her dress. How she wanted to see him now, to embrace him, to touch him, to feel him...
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw, to her complete surprise, a young girl peeking her head out from a set of trash cans.
"Well, well, well," she whispered.
Once she was finished zipping up her dress, she walked up towards the girl. Not unexpectedly, the girl's eyes widened, and she withdrew behind the trash cans. This didn't daunt Reika at all. Instead, she smiled sweetly and approached the trash cans.
"Hi, there," she greeted. "Are you lost, sweetie?"
She got no response.
"Ahhh, a shy one, huh? Don't worry. I'm a very nice person. And I'll bring you back to your mama and papa. Only if you come with me. How does that sound?"
Still, there was no response. Reika puffed her cheeks with dissatisfaction.
"Look, you can't stay here in this alley. There are many bad men here. Trust me, I speak from experience. Come with me, and I'll bring you home."
Once again, no response.
"Why'd I even bother?" Reika thought. "Ah well, I'll just use this."
She then raised her wristband and was about to use it when, all of a sudden, the girl emerged from her hiding place. Her gaze was averted, but otherwise, her stance was surprisingly submissive. Reika blinked with confusion, unsure whether this meant the girl was now able and willing to go with her.
Her uncertainty was resolved when the girl said in a very low voice, "I have no home..."
Reika felt her heart melt at the girl's innocence. This was too good to be true!
Einzbern Villa, outskirts of Fuyuki
Irisviel, Kairi, Mordred, and Waver entered the villa in silence. None of them could talk about what had just happened.
After recovering from their initial revulsion at Caster's killing ground, Mordred used her Noble Phantasm to destroy the chamber where he and his Master set up their workshop. As expected, the immediate area collapsed as a result of the freakishly powerful attack, but the quartet escaped in the nick of time thanks to Kairi's convertible (which, miraculously, was still operational despite being attacked by those horrors in the tunnel). After fleeing the sewers, Kairi sped back to the villa, nearly getting the group pulled over by the police again.
When the quartet entered the living room, they were greeted with an unusual surprise.
"Kiritsugu!" Irisviel cried, finally breaking the gloomy silence.
"Iri-" the Magus Killer began, his voice monotone, but he was quickly cut off when his wife ensnared him in a tight hug and started weeping into his shoulder. "Iri...?"
He looked at Kairi, who merely sighed heavily and shook his head, looking exhausted. Then, he looked at Mordred, and was greeted with a scathing, accusatory look.
"It was so horrible, Kiritsugu... I...I can't believe there are people like that out there..."
"Why did you go? You knew what you were going up against. And Sisigou has control over Saber now."
Kiritsugu and Irisviel were standing on a balcony overlooking the surrounding forest. The moonlight illuminated the villa, giving its surface (as well as them) a pearly glow. The only other sounds in the air were the soft breeze and the chirping of a cricket. The scenery would've been so tranquil had it not been for Kiritsugu's hardened look and Irisviel's absolutely broken expression.
"I just had to!" Irisviel cried. "I-I wanted to be of use!" Then, she looked down at the cobblestone ground. "But I...I..."
"You never expected to see...that?" Kiritsugu asked, his voice a little coarse. When Irisviel merely nodded, he said, "This is what we are up against, Iri. The powerful White Faction. A rogue Black Servant who's indiscriminately killing children. Discord among our ranks. And...Shirou Kotomine..."
"Sh-Shirou Kotomine? Wh-What about him?"
"He's up to something. My familiars are tracking his movements, but he seems to evade them every time. He's going around the city, doing various errands. And last night, he just hired a mercenary of his own."
Irisviel's blood-red eyes widened. "A mercenary?"
"Yes." Kiritsugu's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I do not know him. He seems to be a newcomer, but Kotomine has a lot of trust in his skill and judgment. ...He...Kotomine...has an endgame already set for this Grail War, but I just can't figure out what it is. I can't figure out his next step." He pursed his lips as his resolve started to break down. "I...I can't even begin to imagine what'll happen if...if...he gets-"
He was silenced when Irisviel hugged him from behind.
"He won't," she said, "because you'll be there to stop him. I know you will. You would never let that man, or anyone else in this War, see their wishes be granted. Not when you have been fighting for so long to achieve the world you dreamed of for the longest time."
Kiritsugu raised his hand and clasped it over Irisviel's. "But I...I don't know if I can do this anymore, Iri..."
"Don't say that, Kiritsugu! Even if you don't know, you would still do it, because it's what you believe in! You would never give up on something as pure as that!"
The man gritted his teeth. "I can, if it meant giving my all for you and Illya alone and no one else!"
Irisviel broke apart from her husband with horror. "I can't believe you're saying this, Kiritsugu! After what I just told you, I thought you'd-"
"I'm sorry, Iri, but you thought wrong." Kiritsugu turned around to face her, and his fists were clenched. "We can escape, Iri. We can find some place far away from the world, from all of this. We could make a new home there. And I can go to the castle and get Illya and kill everyone in my way! I will even kill Grandfather Acht and the rest of the Black Faction if I must! After that, we'll have a future together. The future that we deserved!
"We can do this, Iri! We can escape, if we go now!"
At first, Irisviel watched on with horror and disbelief as her husband started to pour out his true feelings to her. She just couldn't believe she was hearing those words from the man who taught her to appreciate the world. But when Kiritsugu started talking about their future, the one that they deserved, she exhaled with a mixture of sadness and relief.
Then, she started walking towards Kiritsugu, causing him to fall silent again.
"You can't turn your back on this," she said. "Not now. You...You'd eventually kill yourself. I know that for a fact. You'd spend your last days riddled with guilt over leaving this opportunity in the hands of another. That's not the future...that we deserve.
"The only future that's ahead of us now...is more beautiful than you could ever imagine. It's a world where you and Illya can share your happiness with others, with those who'll no longer cry, who'll fully appreciate the purity of their lives and of this world. Even if I'm no longer here, it is the future that we deserve."
"But...But I-" began Kiritsugu.
Irisviel interrupted with a fond kiss to the lips. It was brief, but they both wanted it to last forever.
"No matter how difficult this War will become, know that I will be there to protect you."
"You?"
"Yes." Irisviel smiled softly. "I now understand that what I will experience will haunt me to the end of my days. But now I think I can overcome it, because I know it is the first sacrifice I must make to ensure your future. So please, Kiritsugu, do no lose hope...for I will be with you till the end. And so will Saber...and Maiya..."
Irisviel's voice seemed to change in tone when she mentioned Maiya's name, which left Kiritsugu extremely worried. Was she starting to catch on...?
His concerns were assuaged, just for one moment, when Irisviel kissed him again. It was a kiss more wonderful than the last, reminiscent of the white snow that fell during their first bonding moment...
Chapter 8:
The Search for Horrors
Tokiomi: We must investigate where the Black Faction holds their base...
Fiore: All I can hear is...the roars of madness.
Itsuki: This is something my family must not hear about, okay?
Bram: For...give me... Ack...
Rider of White: MAGNIFICENT GLORY AWAITS US!
Next Time:
The Search for Glory
A/N: And this concludes our newest chapter! I had a lot of fun writing this, even if we only had one small action scene. It's quite fun developing existing and original characters for a "Fate" story, believe it or not.
Alright, now before I get on to the reviews, here's the very important announcement that I mentioned earlier: I'm planning another "Fate" fanfic.
Alright, you may be wondering why the hell I'm making another "Fate" fic when it's clear the one I'm still working on is already so complicated to begin with, not to mention the fact that I'm juggling three other fics as well. Well, this project has really been brewing in my head ever since I watched "Fate/Grand Order: First Order", perhaps even before that. Unlike "Fate/Rule Zero", which simply merges the universes of "Fate/Zero" and "Fate/Apocrypha" into a semi-AU, this planned fic is a full-on, unadulterated AU. But it is also one where EVERY SINGLE WORK of "Fate" is implemented proportionately into a melting pot of sorts. I'm not kidding, EVERY SINGLE WORK has been thrown into this AU that I've created.
So, what the hell kind of monstrosity am I concocting, you might ask? Well, believe it or not, it's a magical high-school AU, based on similar works of fanfiction like "Highschool Of Heroes" by ginobi47, "High School Grail Wars: The Nobody & the Knight" by Shirou Fujimura, and "Luna" by SaberAoi. (I recommend reading those stories; they're actually pretty good.) It's also based on every fantasy/magical high-school anime I've ever watched or heard about. In this AU, you will see characters from every single work of "Fate" in some sort of major role, and our main protagonists will be Ritsuka Fujimaru (the male protagonist of "Fate/Grand Order", who was given that name in the "First Order" movie, which I will be going with) and fan-favorite Mashu Kyrielite/Shielder.
There's still a lot of world-building for me to do (and believe me, I'm trying my best to create a distinct universe so it doesn't look like every other magical high-school anime you've seen before). But I just wanted to let you guys know that this project is underway, because this is perhaps my most ambitious fanfiction project ever and I already need some attention on it. I will give you guys a sneak peek, either in an interlude chapter and/or a "pilot fic" of sorts, but that won't come until we're about a dozen more chapters in. In the meantime, I'm still world-building and figuring out my story.
So yeah, expect that coming your way sometime in the near-future. Hopefully by the time my project rolls around in full swing, I will have finished at least one ongoing fic of mine in order to give myself some breathing room.
Alright, I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:
-mastergamer98007:
1) Prelati? Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I think that's one character too many for this ever-expanding cast of characters.
2) I fixed the errors you pointed out. Thanks for the heads-up! :D
-Guest reviewer #1:
1) Did you not read the prologue? (I understand if you didn't, given how regrettably long it is.) If not, then this is what happened, in layman's terms: the timeline diverged from the canon during the Second Holy Grail War, when the Himuro Master could not control his Berserker Servant and caused a massive bloodshed during that War. Since then, the Ruler Servant became a required Servant to be summoned for future Grail Wars. Other than that, the timeline of "Fate/Rule Zero" is no different from the one established by "Fate/Zero". Does that make sense?
2) Kiritsugu's so removed from his team because he doesn't trust any of them. After all, he's working with the type of people he hunts down for a living. In a way, he's treating the entirety of this War like a standard Grail War, just with the incidental teams.
-The Joining (review #1):
1) It's ironic, given that the inspiration for my story, Teerexil's "Golden Prayers", has Gilgamesh declare Jeanne a sworn archenemy just because she resembles his beloved Saber. Here, Jeanne has taken Arturia's place as Gilgamesh's one-sided love interest.
2) I've since learned that "Fate/Apocrypha" takes place in the same year as "Fate/stay night". That was a mistake on my part, because I was somehow led to believe that Apocrypha took place in the same year as "Fate/Zero". But at least you guys are not bothered by the presence of these characters. I don't know how I'm getting away with this. XP
3) Huh. I guess I misinterpreted something in the English dub for "Fate/Zero", because that's where I got my Ryuudou Temple info from. Whoops!
4) Yeah, I think I'll have to pass on that idea. It's already a chore getting myself caught up in-between updates. It's a good idea, though! Thank you very much for suggesting it! :D
-miguelgiuliano . co:
1) Once again, I ran your review through Google Translate, so the responses here might not be what you're looking for. I'll try my best to address all of your review's points and concerns.
2) I changed the error you pointed out. I also understand the abysmal disadvantage of having three kings in one team. Ohhhhh, lordy... XD
3) I just did some research on what you said about Arturia's Divinity, and I think I now know what you're talking about. I don't know how I missed that; I thought I was being thorough when it came to turning Arturia into a Lancer Servant. I'll see what I can do to rectify that, but if it means changing too much of the final story, I might have to take some outlandish creative liberties. My apologies.
4) I plan on having this story end a little differently from "Fate/Zero", rest assured.
-Guest reviewer #2: Well, sorry to disappoint you, but it did take me that long to update. Hopefully my summer break gives me enough time to update this story once a month for a couple of times.
-Mastermind4892:
1) Sadly, I stopped watching "Fate/Apocrypha" after the first few episodes, not because I hated it, but simply because I became lazy in general. Hooray for me. :(
2) It's a good thing I didn't have Medea and Iskandar interact yet. With this information, I could come up with a variety of more interesting interactions between them. :D
-The Joining (review #2):
1) Thanks for the character study of Arturia and Mordred. Given it's been a while since I updated, I needed some time to catch up on my characters again. This will be a great reference to fall onto whenever it's needed.
2) I promise I'll try to research beyond the Wikia. In fact, I might have noticed a few small things seemingly missing during my research and casual web-surfing.
-darthwolf:
1) Perhaps. I intend to have the true Siegfried actually do something in this War before I start considering the possibility of Sieg taking over for him.
2) No.
3) No, unless what I'm setting up is a REALLY good reason for EMIYA to come in and I'm not aware of it.
-TheMaster4444:
1) I've always thought that Kirei was a very complex character. He's a villain in the "Fate/stay night" canon, a good but flawed guy in other canon, and a total troll in "Carnival Phantasm". I think I'm going to enjoy toying with him and his character development in the form of two conflicting sources of influence: Jeanne and Gilgamesh.
2) Oh, Jeanne's reaction is going to be interesting...
-metacllica: Thanks for the review! Were there any specific characters and/or moments that you liked? Anything that needs improving? I'd love to know!
-ulttoanova: Could you please be a bit more specific in your review? I'd like to know what you liked in particular, and what you think needs improving.
Well, hope you enjoyed this long-awaited chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!