"So, you're be going out to find the other Magician, Arcueid," Satsuki said to the True Ancestor who was doing stretches in anticipation of any coming showdown. While Satsuki didn't even think it was possible for the True Ancestor to get a cramp, she had to admit that Arcueid had been diligent ever since she 'acquired' boxing as a martial art. While it was amusing to see the vampire get into things such as martial arts and meditation she had taken to them with an awe-inspiring tenacity. Satsuki couldn't gauge any difference between before and after but Sumire had assured the True Ancestor that she was stronger than at the commencement.
"Yeah," Arcueid said flipping from her back onto her feet. "Rider already called the pharaoh and so I don't want to kill him by accident. So I will try avoid him and track down," she fished out a photo from under her shirt, "Aoko Aozaki," she said presenting Satsuki with a picture of the woman in person.
"Shirou's sister right," Satsuki said having heard the tale from Sumire. "How do you think she's going to take it?"
Arcueid just shrugged not wanting to speculate. "If you were a Magician where would you be," Arcueid speculated to herself.
"Being tended to by your beautiful servant upstairs," Satsuki quipped pointing where Shirou had been taken by his servant.
"I don't think that's a very common master-servant relationship," Arcueid said contemplating.
xxx
"Master, I've brought the hot oil. Its massage time," the green-haired young woman said dashing into her master's hotel bedroom dressed in nothing but a low-cut masseuse robe.
"Too bold Kiyo," the red-haired magician yelled out sitting up from her previously reclining position on the bed. "Man I wonder if any of the other masters have this problem," she muttered under her breath.
xxx
"Can't you sense the position of the magician," Satsuki inquired of the True Ancestor.
"No," Arcueid admitted. "I can only sense if there's a large amount of power being thrown around. Shirou is better at this than me and he still was unable to track down the specific locations of the ancestors in a town this big. I'm going to scope the hotels and hypnotize the staff for information on whether she is staying there. If that doesn't work I'm going to patrol."
Satsuki nodded, "I'm going to examine the lesser grail that Sumire and Shirou constructed. I have the notes they used to create it from Shirou, and I need to see whether the soul of the Queen's servant was properly absorbed or not."
Arcueid nodded. "If we could find their storage device we would be able to end the ritual right now." She sighed, "However that is unlikely to happen. They would most likely have it hidden or have Primate Murder guard it."
Suddenly Arcueid's phone rang playing a jaunty little tune from one of the many anime series that she liked to watch. Putting it to her ear Arcueid listened to the voice on the other side for about thirty seconds before she once again tucked it away. "That was Merem," the True Ancestor said. "He managed to get the name of the hotel that the Magician is staying in. I'm going to head there now." And with those last words, Arcueid bid goodbye leaving Satsuki to track down the location of the lesser grail.
xxx
Merem Solomon put back the phone in his pocket. Sighing he picked himself up from the grass in front of the church. "Polite as ever, Gransurg," he said to the man who stood in the shadows at the gate. "Thank you for waiting for my phone call to finish."
"And as usual you do your own thing Solomon," the man said stepping into the light revealing a bird shaped head under a mass of black hair. The half-man, half-bird monstrosity spoke with a hoarse voice. Two blood red eyes fashioned themselves upon Merem's form and clawed hands attached to wings hung idly by his side. "Trying to foil this ritual by stepping in as a mediator of the grail war. Aren't mediators supposed to be impartial?"
"Even the most rule bound of church members will not raise an objection if it is to oppose this ritual Gransurg. So yes while I am the mediator I am also an opponent of this ritual."
"It isn't too late to change sides Solomon," the bird headed Vampire said. "With both of us we can team up and take down the Eclipse princess then it would be simple for us to eliminate the other members of the ritual and take it for ourselves."
"I've chosen my side Gransurg," the Dead Apostle in the shape of a fourteen year old boy said. "This is not something that can be avoided."
In under a second he was off the ground with his left leg missing and held aloft by a flying beast. The creature was in the shape of a manta-ray and its white skin glowed beautifully in the night sky.
"I didn't think it would work out, but you can't blame me for trying," the birdman said a note of regret showing in his hoarse voice. He made a gesture and he was suddenly surrounded by minions each of them a mix of bird and human. "Prevent any from witnessing our fight," he said to them. "Eliminate all who do so." The creatures nodded and vanished into the darkness.
Gransurg leapt into the sky the feathers on his arms spreading to cover his body and in less than a minute his form was replaced by that of a giant crow. He spread his wings and ascended above the city his massive figure blotting out the moon and stars.
"Damn," Merem muttered to himself. "I forgot how big that thing was, this isn't going to be easy." He looked down at the demon that normally stood in for his left leg. The beast was huge at around two hundred metres but even it was dwarfed by the massive bird that circled slowly above him. "Oh well," Merem sighed to himself directing the King of Sky to attack. "It looks like it's going to be one of those nights."
Merem's mount sped upwards at speed far surpassing the speed of sound. Hurricane force winds blew from the wings of the giant crow but the beautiful creature rode the winds slipping through the squalls without even slowing down. A battle for the skies is innately a battle for the upper ground and it was this principal that led to the dance between the two creatures. The massive crow climbed ever higher while lashing out with wings and claws and beak at the smaller creature while the King of Sky danced nimbly around the larger beast avoiding each and every attack.
But a battle couldn't be won by defence alone. A barrage of feathers with the sharpness of blades were fired at the mount and in response the creature fired back glowing balls of light formed into the shape of creatures which swam through the air intercepting the feathers and scoring hits upon the flesh of the crow. The image of the King of Sky shimmered and faded leaving behind the starry curtain of the night. Then the stars started to multiply in the sky joined by balls of light that floated around the crow.
Gransurg swiped his wings intending to blow the balls away from him but it failed to affect them at all. The balls unexpectedly coalesced into four larger orbs and then expanded bubbling up until they were shaped into the otherworldly forms. Each form was of a creature composed of light and had no close analogue on earth.
The first was a blueish jellyfish like creature with an eyestalk, containing a flashing red eye, which grew from the top of its bell. Where the earth creature had stingers however, the ethereal equivalent had multiple bony arms with grasping claws attached to the end. The creature immediately attacked by latching onto the back of the bird and digging into its soft flesh.
The second was a serpentine creature with a set of four magnificent wings. It glowed yellow and was eyeless and had no apparent mouth. It drifted towards the Black Wing Lord and attempted to sluggishly constrict around one of its legs. It was immediately torn into pieces with one swipe of the giant crow's legs and proceeded to explode sending feathers from its wings biting deep into the flesh of its opponent. The pieces that remained formed into more of the creature which continued its march.
The third glowed red and appeared to be some unholy cross between a bull and a dragon. Its back half tapered off into a series of spinal bones that moved like streamers behind it. The beast charged into the breast of the crow causing the creature that was nearly a hundred times its size to physically recoil from the force of the blow. Its horns slammed into the creature and it retreated from the retaliatory strike and charged again into the crow.
The last one shone a bright white. It appeared to be a tree that grew larger and larger a swipe from the massive wing was caught by the creature that then absorbed some of the prana from the bird. Immediately roots and seeds dug into the wing of the creature and burrowed down feeding of the prana contained inside of the bird and causing the tree to expand.
Gransurg immediately tried to dig out the tree identifying it as the largest threat. His prana while massive enough to sustain this form indefinitely wasn't infinite. He backed off dodging the winged blue snakes that advanced on him like a flood slowly boxing him in. Seeing no other way out of the situation he angled his claws upwards and ripped off his whole wing letting the appendage flop down to the ground far below. Pumping additional prana to that area he caused the effects of his time curse to increase pulling him out of the sudden descent but not soon enough to avoid getting a few more hits scored on him by the blue snakes. Relaxing for the barest fraction of a second once he was out of their way he was once more hit by the vermilion bull creature that launched him into a trajectory that almost sent him into the tree again.
Turning around and launching a blow from his claws that knocked back the bull momentarily. He took notice of the one remaining creature that he hadn't focused on. The blue jellyfish still remained on his back and he was feeling a familiar numbing feeling there. Launching feathers from his back he was surprised to see the creature go down so easily. He didn't relax his guard however as the very next instant he was engaged in a fight with the scarlet bull that came after him with a vengeance herding him into the slower creatures.
However despite the creature's toughness he was able to catch it with his other claw when it faltered after a hit and an instant later it was crushed in two by the pressure of its beak. Gransurg ascended to the sky ignoring the poison in his back. He searched for his old friend. Suddenly a pain resounded through his bones that gave him another feeling of familiarity.
"Poison, leeching magic, explosions, and physical damage and now a curse," he thought to himself shaking his head. "I underestimated Merem."
"Moult," the words came out in German from the crow's beak and he expelled a huge amount of prana. The effect was spectacular. All the feathers of the Giant Crow fell off leaving a much smaller version of the crow behind. Despite this loss of mass the bird still was still a kilometre in length and Gransurg swiftly decided not to hold back anymore.
"Midnight Dreary," he intoned and all the feathers that had fallen off were transformed into crows. They darkened the skies in their multitudes and cast a shadow over the waxing moon. "Spread out," he commanded them. "Hunt down Merem.
The birds scattered into the night sky and almost immediately he felt the sensation of minor resistance coming from a certain spot. He flapped his almighty wings causing small tornadoes to shred that area and he was unsurprised to see Merem atop the King of Sky appear a short distance away from him.
"Phew that was close," the member of the burial squad said cheerfully and then his smile disappeared. Looking down at his mount there was a small hole in the membrane of the wings, most likely caused by a crow. Gransurg saw this at the same time and he immediately directed the crows to go after the beast once again. The Divine-class beast dodged the first wave but the second wave saw a few more of the crows manage to penetrate the membrane of the beast and the third tore huge chunks of it. The wings tore more and more until eventually they lost the ability to maintain themselves entirely and with one last look at his foe Merem fell into the darkness of the night below.
Gransurg sighed, or made the closest equivalent a crow could make. He took no pleasure in killing his close friend but it had been a tough fight and twice he had been forced to take off bits of himself to regenerate. Looking down below where the tree and the snake were he realised that they were gone, probably as a result of the King of Sky taking on too much damage. He prepared to descend to check the body when his entire underside was ravaged by metal. Screeching in pain he resisted moulting again, it really used a lot of energy and he didn't have that much to waste, and instead looked at his assailant.
It was a plane that had a boat-like shape with an open cockpit. The body was golden with green wings attached to a golden frame. Its owner sat upon a resplendent throne and next to him on one leg stood Merem. Furthermore its owner did not in any way diminish the majesty of the craft. He sat there in his golden armour with his red eyes inspecting Gransurg.
"I'm afraid that I cannot allow people to go around killing priests in this area," he said a slight smile showing briefly. "We've barely gotten over the sudden death of the last one."
"Who are you," the giant crow asked his hoarse voice loud amongst the silence of the night. "What manner of creature are you."
"You are free to go," the golden man said. "I have no further use for you. Leave this city and I will not pursue."
The crow just stared him down. "I'm afraid I will have to decline your offer," he said. While he wasn't in the best shape right now, he prided himself on his word to much to lie just to escape.
The man sighed as if disappointed. "Truly the King's mercy gets ignored so often nowadays. So be it."
Golden portals glowed around him and weapons were launched at supersonic speeds. Gransurg tried to defend himself sending out crows and feathers to intercept the weapons but all the crows were shredded and the feathers were cut in two by the various swords, axes, spears and other assorted armaments that were approaching him.
The weapons bit deeply into his flesh causing the gigantic bird to wince in pain and attempt to attack the man directly. Using his powerful wings he dove at the flying machine only to be astounded as the machine disappeared at speeds so fast he could barely see. In the very next instant his left wing was sheared straight off his body and he managed to barely catch the glimpse of an enormous sword before it disappeared into motes of light. No longer containing enough energy to regenerate his bird he found himself returning to his human sized form and regaining control over his flight.
Biting back the continuing pain that plagued him, he was forced to use his trump card. "Nevermore," he said forgoing any aria due to lack of time. His world expanded and the stars were blotted out under the constant sound of the wings that he knew were attached to ravens. The shadows around them grew darker absorbing all light. They were even hazardous to his crows as when a few of his winged familiars entered all that exited were bird bones. He was inordinately proud of his Reality Marble that none so far had seen and lived. It was for this reason that what happened next was such a kick in the pants.
"I see so the shadows and the ravens delineate the edge of your personal reality," the golden man said. "The ravens are merely decorative, it is the shadows that swallow a person's existence," he further mused ignoring the surprised look on his opponents face. Reaching backwards into a golden ripple he pulled out something that caused Gransurg to break out in a cold sweat. "I wouldn't normally use this," the golden man said. "But more and more recently it has been a lot more eager to be used. Its power now unleashed can even make me feel a bit of fear," he said smiling ruefully.
The weapon that he drew now had the appearance of a large drill. Three segments spun opposing each other. The servant held it aloft and Gransurg could feel his very reality marble recoil as the entire world warped and wavered as if it was a transient illusion. And then the servant brought it down.
xxx
Miles away on the opposite edge of town a pair of vermillion eyes snapped open before returning to their normal brown shade and Shirou Inke sat up in bed.
Author Note: This chapter took me forever to work out how to approach it. I even almost completed a chapter on my other story in the mean time. Now it's done and I'm just posting it. Fun Fact: Blackmore's bird form is described as kilometers big. That is not a number a person can conceive.
EmeraldGirl12 Yup. She basically called him Sun Wukong.
Guest Ruler is Holmes. I mentioned this before.
They're not fighting because they're all adults. Even the ones that look like children. There is nothing preventing them from killing each other. Just goodwill I suppose.
aznxa21 As much as I love everything Gabriel Blessing has ever done. I have no wish to copy him.
The Rupture Hmm I don't know yet.
Lord Jace That is pretty cheap. Probably won't do that.
DPSS He broke the Reality Marble much like Gilgamesh can. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and I will reply.
General points mentioned by multiple people
Emiya is there because of the will of Alaya. Alaya does actually want to kill Shirou due to the fact that he is a magician who escaped the notice of the counter force not making them happy. Emiya's secondary objective is to keep an eye on the ritual.
Sumire is an antagonist in this Arc. None of the main characters actually want the grail. Shirou wants to fight Gilgamesh. Satsuki wants to prove herself. Arcueid is doing it for the hell of it. Rin is just doing it out of obligation, she would leap at the chance to do away with the war.
Sumire also has her reasons for participating on the apostle side.