The house was silent.
Shimada Yukiko sat quietly. Her previous meeting with the other Masters had gone… somewhat as she had expected. Aside from, perhaps, the appearance of the Einzbern homunculus and her near death at the hands of… well, she wasn't certain which Master had attacked her. Even the taller of the two girls who had objected to the possibility of killing another Master was a possibility, though the shorter wasn't a suspect. Well, most likely, at least, given she had foolishly rescued the Einzbern homunculus from death.
It wasn't as if Yukiko would have exalted at the death of someone who appeared to be so young, but it would have removed an incredibly dangerous enemy from the war.
In fact, the matter of Berserker was what she wished to discuss with her Servant, at the moment.
Shimada Yukiko lived in a very old home, a Japanese mansion in the oldest part of Minami, surrounded by bamboo. It was a household that had been in her family ever since they had arrived in this land, before the town even had a proper name. Before the creatures that were apart from humanity had become overlooked and forgotten by them.
She glanced towards Assassin, whose white mask obscured her features for the moment. If Yukiko was being honest, it had not been her intent to summon someone filling the class of Assassin. She had intended for a much stronger Servant to answer her summons, exploiting both her bloodline and the catalyst she had obtained in order to call her ideal Servant. Someone who would be boosted to an incredible extent by being summoned in their homeland of Japan, an incredibly strong Archer would could undeniably be a potential victor of the Holy Grail War.
Instead, she had summoned the Assassin-class Servant who had served her ideal Archer in life. Disappointment didn't even begin to cover her initial reaction.
However…
"Assassin, now that we've seen Berserker, what do you think can be done about him?" she asked. After a moment, Assassin removed her mask, exposing her face. One thing that Yukiko could not deny about her Servant was how beautiful she was. Even if those who recorded history had failed to properly note Mori Ranmaru's gender, they had certainly been accurate when discussing her looks.
"I suspect it will be incredibly difficult to infiltrate his Master's base of operations, to begin with," Assassin replied. "Additionally, my capabilities will not suffice for challenging Berserker in open combat. While I certainly would be able to outmaneuver him, a single blow would likely end my role in this war. To die as such would be a waste."
Assassin may not have been the Servant she desired, but there was no denying that Mori Ranmaru was an incredibly loyal Servant. All she had needed was to learn that Yukiko's bloodline was connected to that of Oda Nobunaga, and she had vowed to serve as best as she was able. When it came to an Assassin-class Servant, this was the best she could hope for. Granted, she wished that her Servant had not given up her true name in that battle with Saber, but as true identities went, well… what did knowing who Assassin was really give to her enemies? It didn't prevent Assassin from utilizing her skills, nor did it expose any special weakness. As long as her Servant could still operate in secrecy, she still felt some level of confidence.
Too much confidence, however, was foolish.
"I agree," Yukiko said, with a nod, "Battling Berserker would be stupid, to say the least. Do you have any suggestions for how to avoid a fight with him?"
Assassin nodded, immediately.
"To begin with, I feel the secret to defeating Berserker is simply not to directly battle him or his Master at all," the purple-eyed girl responded, brushing aside her hair with one hand as she spoke, "They are a massive target. There simply isn't any way that Berserker will not be a target for another of the Servants more suited to direct combat."
Yukiko nodded. This was solid logic, what she expected of her Assassin. However…
"Do you think that's enough? What if Berserker successfully defeats all the other opponents?" Yukiko asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Of course, Berserker is powerful enough that this is not an impossibility," said the black-haired Servant, with a nod, "However, I believe that Saber, Rider, and Lancer are all quite capable of putting up a struggle against him. Especially in Rider's case. Her chariot is incredibly dangerous."
Assassin paused for a moment.
This was true as well. Rider's chariot made her an incredibly difficult target, and her Master was a cautious person who avoided direct conflict. For all Rider paraded about without even attempting to conceal her identity, Yukiko was well aware that Assassin simply had no real chance against Queen Medb. It was to be expected. Typically, Assassin's purpose was to target enemy Masters, rather than Servants.
But that involved knowing how and when to target them.
"As a result, I believe that, even if Berserker is our final opponent, he will be weakened by that point in the Holy Grail War," continued Ranmaru, bobbing her head as she spoke, "Therefore, it will allow me to have a greater opportunity to assassinate his Master. It is an act I take no joy in, given her looks, and the way in which she behaves, but it is a duty I wholeheartedly accept."
"Excellent," Yukiko replied. There was no such thing as a guarantee, but that response from Assassin indeed filled her with confidence. It was quite a reasonable strategy for countering Berserker, as well.
But that wasn't the only thing the kimono-clad girl wished to discuss with her Servant. Smiling, she rested her head on one hand.
"Assassin… I want you to kneel for me," she said.
"Temporary Lord?" Assassin questioned, confused, though she knelt before her Master without hesitation.
"You killed Caster. I know this isn't the same as being praised by your Oda Nobunaga-sama herself, but…"
Yukiko reached out with one of her graceful, pale hands, and placed it upon Assassin's head. Wordlessly, she patted her Servant's hair.
"T… Temporary Lord…?" asked Assassin, eyes widening and cheeks slightly coloring with embarrassment as Yukiko stroked her silky, black hair.
"I am certain this is no substitute for the treatment my ancestor gave to you," began Yukiko, with a small smile, "But I should hope that it gives you some sort of gratification for your success."
"… Oda-sama was a shining existence standing above all else…" replied Ranmaru, blushing slightly as she averted her eyes. "… How… however, as you share her blood, I… it would… it would be a lie if I said I disliked this…"
After a moment's pause, Assassin quickly decided she needed to explain further.
"That is not to say you are comparable to Oda-sama, but that I can accept this treatment as something rewarding!" she asserted.
"I understand, Assassin. But the point is that it makes you happy, isn't it?" Yukiko responded, her smile broadening.
For several moments, Assassin was silent, as if she was attempting to discern just how she should respond to something like that.
"… My Lord's affection… can be felt through you, in a way, temporary Lord," Ranmaru finally replied, taking a deep breath after speaking. The depths of Ranmaru's devotion to Oda Nobunaga were unshakeable. To be honest, Yukiko doubted that Assassin would have allowed her to even touch her if not for her blood relation to the warlord, and indeed, her physical resemblance to her. It had been something of a shock to learn that Nobunaga was female, but it was rather satisfying knowledge at the same time. The fact that there was physical resemblance was a bit more surprising. Even if they were related by blood, Yukiko had always assumed it was more distant.
Of course, given she had assumed Oda Nobunaga was a man, perhaps she shouldn't have been so surprised at the news that they looked somewhat alike.
"Is that so?" she asked, "Well, I'm pleased to hear it."
She took her hand off of Assassin's head, and at her word the Servant stood up straight once more. Berserker was not the only obstacle in their way, of course. Saber had already proven herself to be a dangerous opponent. Assassin was perfectly accepting of the idea of dying in combat, but throwing her life away without reason was completely pointless. As a result, trying to fight with Saber in direct battle again was something only an idiot would do.
Lancer, too, was a poor idea to target. While she felt their Masters were fools, the two knights were formidable and excellent at protecting the ones who had summoned them. That made them difficult to counter with Assassin. However, that was where Yukiko could apply the strategy that Assassin proposed for Berserker to the others, as well. Allowing them to be engaged or weakened in intense battle meant that they became easier targets, or were less able to defend their Masters. The same held true for Rider, who Yukiko frankly considered to be the most dangerous Servant in the war due to the power and maneuverability of her chariot.
"What do you believe would be the best course of action in the following days, Assassin?" asked Yukiko, inclining her head slightly to the left as she spoke.
"I believe it would be for the best to begin by observing the remaining enemy Servants and watching for conflict," responded the purple-eyed girl, swiftly, "This is what will grant us the best opportunity to remove an enemy from the war."
This was exactly what Yukiko expected from Assassin. No matter how much she wished that she had been able to summon Archer, the fact was that she seemed to operate on quite a similar wavelength to Mori Ranmaru. In this way, was she similar to Oda Nobunaga herself?
Ah, but there was another matter she wished to discuss. Something quite important.
"You mentioned that you caught sight of Saber using her Noble Phantasm?" Yukiko asked.
"Yes, of course," Assassin swiftly replied, bobbing her head, "It was the finishing blow she used to slay the Quilled Boar. There's no longer any question of her identity."
Perfect. Even if it didn't allow them to find a weakness, it at least let them know what her capabilities most likely were.
"Who is she?" asked the kimono-clad young woman.
"The technique she utilized was unquestionably the Mumyou Sandanzuki," answered Assassin, a very slight smile on her lips as she spoke, "The simultaneous three thrusts that shatter reality at the tip of the sword. The only person to ever utilize that technique was the star swordsman of the Shinsengumi, Okita Souji."
So that was her nature. The Saber-class Servant of this Holy Grail War was Okita Souji. It explained a great deal, from her swiftness to the techniques she used with her sword. The famous swordsman who tragically died from tuberculosis, then… more than being surprised that Okita Souji was a woman, Yukiko was more concerned with what this fact told them. It was unlikely that Saber possessed any powerful ranged Noble Phantasms. Her sword was dangerous because of her skill alone, rather then any inherent supernatural properties. Additionally, due to her 'young' age, her parameters were likely quite low for her class.
For a moment, Yukiko couldn't help but question why someone would summon a Servant like that as Saber. But she realized, moments later, that it was for the very reason Oda Nobunaga would have been so incredibly powerful if summoned in Japan. It wasn't that their parameters would all be ranked up, or anything so straightforward. But being summoned in their homeland, where a Servant was most famous… it would give them a bonus.
It could be an additional Noble Phantasm, or loosened restrictions on a skill. Perhaps one of their Noble Phantasms would gain more functions, or something of a similar nature. This had to be the very reason that Okita Souji had been summoned as Saber. While she may have been weak, for a Saber-class Servant, the fact was that the Shinsengumi, and Okita Souji especially, were well-known names to the Japanese. Undeniably she would receive some sort of additional capabilities.
"… Excellent, Assassin," said Yukiko.
"Now we can begin."
Ai had awakened late that morning. Not that it mattered particularly much, after the entire student body and faculty passed out the local High School was closed for an unannounced period of time. The most recent news that she had heard about it was that they suspected some sort of gas leak, but there was damage in one of the hallways too. That must have been where she summoned Saber to her side… On one hand, this allowed her to focus on the Holy Grail War rather then anything else. On the other, going to school had begun to feel like something of a refuge where she knew there wasn't going to be a fight.
Breakfast was excellent, as usual. There was no way that Marianne would ever prepare a breakfast that wasn't nearly perfect, and for now it seemed as if it kept Saber's mind off of the events of the previous night. The same couldn't be said for Ai herself. She was concerned about Inoue Tsubaki. She'd been so tired that she'd just up and passed out like that… And Ai still couldn't really figure out how to help her. She couldn't figure out how to help Yumimura Saori, either…
After breakfast, Ai felt like she had to do… something. She didn't know what. During the day it wasn't as if the Grail War was going to be waged out in the open, and she didn't know if she should try and approach Saori yet. The small brunette also wasn't certain what she could try and discuss with Saber… but doing anything other than focusing on the Holy Grail War seemed wrong, after what had happened the previous night. Even so, as the girl tried to decide on what sort of strategy to discuss with her Servant, she fumbled, fidgeting awkwardly where she stood.
Saber notice how she was behaving rather quickly.
"Is something wrong, Master?" the silvery-haired samurai asked, cocking her head slightly to one side as she spoke, "If it's about last night…"
"N-nothing's wrong, e-er, I'm fine…" half-mumbled the diminutive brunette, shifting awkwardly as she responded. "U-um, it's just… it's… I guess… I don't really know what to do today…"
"… Ah… well… it's not as if resting wouldn't be a good idea," replied Saber, "You don't seem like you used too much mana, but if you're not sure what else to do… it's not like I was one to rest too much, but that doesn't mean you can't!"
Ai shook her head. If there was one thing she supposed she could compliment about herself, it seemed as if she really did have a large supply of mana. That, combined with the fact that it didn't seem like Saber needed to use much mana in order to use her abilities, meant that the load on her was… well, it was still the load of supporting a Servant, but all in all it wasn't as heavy as she might have thought it would have been prior to summoning Saber. Whether this was because of Saber's low mana consumption, her high mana reserves, or some combination of both, she didn't know.
But that was beside the point. She couldn't possibly feel comfortable simply sitting around and resting after what had happened.
"No, that's… I don't want to just spend this whole d-day sitting around, Saber, I…" Ai hesitated for a few moments, shifting from one foot to the other as she did, "It's… I want to do something. I want to try and bring the Grail War towards its end before anyone else like Yumimura Saori gets caught up in it."
"Ah…"
For a moment, Saber simply nodded, before she decided to speak.
"If that's the case… we could discuss our strategy for approaching the rest of the war," she proposed, "… I don't want to see anyone end up like Yumimura Saori, either. But… right now, I think she might be alright. I don't think that the girl from Atlas was lying."
She gave her Master a weak smile.
"It's not like I'm happy about it, but at least she's probably okay."
"I… I know…" responded Ai, fidgeting somewhat, "But… even so, I… er… what… what do you think we should do next, Saber?"
The silvery-haired Samurai looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Well… I'd say that the next most important enemy for us is Rider, if I'm being honest," said Saber, as she mulled over just what she felt was the best possible course of action, "It's not just her chariot. I'm sure you saw the flash of light, didn't you?"
Ai nodded. Of course she had. There was no way she could miss that brilliant rainbow light. There was no way it could be mistaken as anything other then a powerful Noble Phantasm being unleashed.
"That was another one of Rider's Noble Phantasms, the rainbow sword Caladbolg," continued Saber, "I've seen a lot of sword techniques, but I never saw anything like that in life. It was all… woosh!"
The mood was temporarily broken when Saber waved her hands illustratively.
"I… it was… woosh?" Ai asked, blinking. Every once in a while Saber would say things like that… and in spite of how she was feeling right now… "Th… that was kind of cute, Saber."
"Eh? Ehhhh?" the Servant's silvery-gold eyes widened, "I… what did I say that was cute?"
"… A lot of things… b-but, um…" the news that Queen Medb also had access to the sword wielded by Fergus Mach Roich, that could destroy mountains, was startling to say the least. It was another of the mystical items that Ai had researched leading up to the Holy Grail War, but she had never considered the fact that she could be facing it wielded by an enemy, "She… really had s-something like that…"
"Don't worry, Master!" declared Saber, confidently, placing her hands on her hips, "Even if she has something like that, there's no way I wouldn't be able to defeat her in battle if I can get her into direct combat!"
Ai at least felt confident in her Servant's abilities, and this was something had to agree with. Medb, no matter how much of a warrior queen she was, was likely unable to match up with someone who skill was focused on direct combat, such as Saber or Lancer. Queen Medb, as Ai recalled from her research, was the type of person who could fight, but was most suited to leading her forces rather then performing one on one battles. With that in mind, on foot, she felt quite certain that Saber would win. That being said… that involved forcing Rider to dismount.
"I agree… I think you can win on foot, but…" Ai hesitated a little bit. Rider's chariot was one of at least two Noble Phantasms she possessed. She had nearly utilized its full power, whatever it is that was, during their first clash with her. Her beautiful Saber was skilled, but how could she make Rider get on foot and engage her in single combat? Rider was undoubtedly one of the strongest Servants in the war, and while that didn't seem like it would let her win the day when it came to a one-on-one duel it meant it would be nearly impossible to force her off of her chariot. "Um, how can you force her to dismount from her chariot?"
"… That part's a lot harder, eh-heh…" admitted the samurai with silvery-gold eyes, scratching the back of her head awkwardly, "But I think Lancer can help with that. She used one of her Noble Phantasms to stun the Quilled Boar. The Trap of Argalia."
The Trap of Argalia?
"I remember reading about that when I was doing research before the war…" began Ai, trailing off. She'd done some research on all kinds of history and mythology, and both French and Italian writings featured a fair amount of information of information on the Paladins of Charlemagne. Among them was the most beautiful of the Paladins, Astolfo, a man who, among other things, wielded a certain lance… "That's the weapon that could knock anyone off their horse. And it was wielded by Astolfo…"
"That's right. I was wondering if Lancer could be Astolfo," responded Saber, "But I can't be sure… Aside from that, though, I think that Lancer could disable Rider's chariot!"
If Lancer could hit one of the bulls with the Trap of Argalia, that would almost certainly bring the chariot to a dead stop, wouldn't it? From there, Saber could attack Queen Medb and force her off of it and on-foot, meaning she'd have no choice but to try and fight in one-on-one combat, where Saber could win… of course, Ai rarely had very much confidence in any plans she herself was involved in, but she knew Saber was incredibly skilled, and so was Lancer… and she had faith in Tsubaki, as well.
"I… u-um, that could work, I think!" declared Ai, relaxing somewhat. Knowing there was a possible path to victory against Rider… it was reassuring, given just how powerful Queen Medb truly was. "After everything that's happened recently, it's good to hear something like that, eh-heheheh…"
Ai trailed off. Saber was so skilled, and had managed to reassure her a little… she was so pretty, too… ah… no, it wasn't good to go thinking about things like that again. It would just be strange, after all…
"Then I'll count this as a great victory!" declared Saber, brightly, "After everything that's happened, I'm glad a manslayer like me can still pick up my Master's mood!"
… Even though things like that made it hard for Ai to hold back… But the more her heartbeat quickened, the harder it became for her to speak. She knew that Saber would just find her strange if she said something direct… and the idea of saying something direct scared her to no end.
"U-um… um… y-you're not just a manslayer th-though!" the small brunette nearly shouted, immediately blushing with embarrassment at her outburst, "U-um… y-you're… you're my Servant a-and all… s-so…"
"… Ah, well…" for a few moments, Saber didn't say anything else, and Ai worried she'd said something strange. "It's nice to hear something like that, but the reason that I'm a Servant is because I was a manslayer. It's not like I have any regrets about that, Master. But I trained to kill men, and that's just what I did."
"I… b-but that doesn't mean it's all you are," Ai found herself saying, in spite of just how embarrassed she was. Saber had done a lot for her since she was summoned, and she was so pretty and… and… "Y-you… you're so skilled, and, um… you clearly… y-you're really loyal and you care um… and you… y-you're so pretty and cute and all, um… s-so… so you… you…"
The small brunette started to realize what she was saying. She caught sight of her Servant blushing faintly before she quickly averted her eyes, staring directly down at the floor. She'd made a total fool of herself, and said some weird things, and… and it just sounded really stupid, didn't it? This wasn't the time to try talking about such things, anyway…
"I… er… eh-heh… I… I don't know what to do when I hear you say things like that…" came Saber's voice, though Ai couldn't see her expression with the way she'd averted her eyes, "I'm glad you think I'm skilled… because I am!"
There was a moment of resounding pride echoing through the girl samurai's words, and Ai slowly looked up towards the taller girl.
"But all that stuff about being pretty and cute and things like that…" continued Saber, "I… don't know what to say about things like that…"
Saber gave Ai an awkward smile, and the short magus could see the redness in the swordswoman's cheeks.
"I… it's… it's just… h-how… how I feel, Saber…" Ai managed to blurt out, trailing off just as quickly as she'd managed to speak.
"… I guess I just don't know how to feel, eh-heh…" Saber replied, shifting uncertainly as she spoke. "I'm not really used to getting those sorts of compliments, I guess…"
Ah… she'd made Saber embarrassed, hadn't she…? And that… that was pretty cute! But she hadn't wanted to make her Servant get all flustered, no matter how cute it was. It still wasn't really right to make her feel that way, was it? It wasn't her intent… ah, she'd screwed it up, hadn't she? She had to have…
"S-sorry, um… I… er…" Ai fidgeted as she tried to apologize. She'd made a big mess, like she always did. That was just how it went when it came to her. Rarely did anything she was trying to do go right. Why had she ever thought she would be able to properly convey her feelings?
"You don't need to apologize!" interjected Saber, suddenly, waving her hands. She didn't? But why didn't she? She'd embarrassed Saber with the awkward compliments, hadn't she? That was enough reason to apologize. It was just another of the many things Ai had found herself screwing up with. Who knew what else she would mess up, really…
"I didn't know how to feel, but that doesn't mean it was wrong of you to say, or anything like that!" continued the silvery-haired girl, doing her best to calm her Master down, "It's just… I don't think anyone ever complimented my looks like that in life… I'm not really used to it, eh-heheh… but… um… thanks!"
She paused for a moment.
"… I don't really know what I'm doing, but… um… you're not just a really good Master who can supply a lot of mana, you're… you're cute, too!" declared Saber, finally.
Ai felt heat blazing in her cheeks, her golden eyes widening. Saber called her cute… Saber really, actually called her cute. Why had Saber called her cute? She wasn't lying, was she? It didn't seem like she was. That meant… she was telling the truth? But why? Did Saber really think she was cute? Was this the time to be talking about things like this? Was it okay to talk about things like this? She didn't even know what to say after hearing those words come out of her Servant's mouth.
"You keep saying things like that, so… it's only fair, right?" asked Saber, uncertainty still in her voice, "And, er… you do look pretty cute, so it's not like it's untrue or anything…"
Awkwardly, the girl samurai scratched the back of her head with a weak laugh.
"I don't really know much about giving out this kind of talk, though," continued Saber, shifting a bit where she stood. It was obvious that she wasn't feeling too certain about this course of conversation either. "I'm more used to complimenting people on how they fight! Like… 'the way you cut through that tatami was perfect!' or 'there's no way someone could shrug that off!' and that kind of thing! But since you keep saying that stuff I thought I'd do my best, eh-heh…"
For a few moments, all that Ai could do was mumble weakly to herself. Her Servant really, genuinely called her cute… Maybe she could… maybe she could try and tell her…
The small brunette shook her head. No… now wasn't the time for something like that, as it? They had to plan, and they had to help Tsubaki. They had to make sure that no-one else ended up like poor Yumimura Saori. There was no time for her to be foolish and try and tell Saber about things that she would doubtlessly screw up. They had to focus on the war, not on anything that wasn't important to their victory like that.
… Are you alright, Master…?" asked Saber, to which Ai hastily nodded, as fast as she could. She didn't need to talk about anything silly, the only thing that was important was what would let them claim victory in the Holy Grail War.
"U-um, I was… I was being silly, Saber…" said Ai, averting her eyes, "It's not that important, um… j-just… w-we should focus on the war… we should help Inoue-san too…"
"I don't know, but… well… in any case, it's not like I don't think we should focus on our plans for the Holy Grail War," responded Saber, still blushing somewhat faintly. "And I want to help Inoue-san, and Lancer… I definitely want to have that rematch, too."
Saber nodded firmly to herself. It was a reminder, that while they might be allies right now they would eventually have to fight Lancer. All that Ai could hope for was that it was a duel on good terms, like her Servant wanted. Certainly, she felt sure that's what Lancer wanted as well, but there was the matter of ensuring that they have such a duel at all. That they were the last two Servants remaining in the Holy Grail War. It was a bitter thought, in a way, that it was how she had to hope the War would end… but she knew it was something that both Saber and Lancer knew, and certainly Tsubaki knew as well.
The Grail War was a battle in which only one pair, one Master and one Servant, could remain standing in the end.
"… So… so what do you think we should do about the eighth Master?" began the small brunette, taking a deep breath, cheeks still hot, as she spoke, "Rani-san said she wasn't going to fight, but I don't understand how she could summon another Servant… there were seven already."
Saber sighed heavily.
"It doesn't make any sense to me either… it's like she's breaking the rules of the Holy Grail War! That kind of thing would definitely get her disqualified from a tournament," Saber declared with certainty, nodding firmly as she did. "It's not how the Holy Grail War is supposed to work. Summoning more then seven Servants isn't supposed to be possible! But… I don't know much about magecraft, so maybe there's some way…"
Saber folded her arms.
"She said she wasn't going to become an enemy to any of the participants of the war," added the swordswoman, "But it's still strange…"
It really worried Ai. Not that she felt like Rani was lying, but more that she didn't know how such a thing could occur. Did this mean more additional Servants could be summoned? What was the experiment that Atlas was conducting, exactly? At least she could feel fairly certain that Yumimura Saori wasn't going to be somehow involved in the experiment, but aside from that there wasn't really anything that she could be sure about, when it came to Atlas and the eighth Servant. Just who were they planning on summoning, anyway? Nothing that Rani had said really gave anything away.
"It is… I don't understand how it's supposed to work…" responded Ai, her shoulders sagging. It was just too confusing… Yet another element to the Holy Grail War that they had to be aware of. As if there wasn't already enough danger involved in the situation. For now, however, Ai was beginning to come to the conclusion that the best course of action for today would be to check and see how Tsubaki was doing. After all, it was difficult to do anything else involving the War during the day, but she had to do something… Even if it was simply making sure her ally was doing alright.
"I don't know if there's anything we can do about it right now, though…" continued the small brunette, trying not to think too much about the attempt she'd just made at telling Saber anything about her feelings, "Not when we have no idea where Atlas is working from. If we did, we could try and find Yumimura-san…"
Saber nodded.
"I wish there was some way to find out," responded the swordswoman, folding her arms across her chest once more as she spoke, "But I don't know where we could even begin."
There was nothing else that they could do right now, when it came to Yumimura Saori.
"… I suppose… right now, er… maybe we should just… see how Inoue-san is doing…" said Ai, finally, the small brunette's shoulders sagging a little. She really, desperately hoped that the other girl was doing well, after everything that happened recently. Seeing her pass out from exhaustion like that, if Ai was going to be honest… it had been pretty scary. Not as frightening as finding herself in the middle of a deadly battle between Servants, but still… it wasn't nice seeing that happen to someone whom she now considered to be a friend.
"I think that's a good idea!" declared Saber, "If she's still asleep, Lancer could probably do with some company too!"
The silvery-haired girl smiled brightly, but her expression suddenly became serious.
"Not only that," continued Saber, "But she's vulnerable right now, so we could help keep her safe as well."
It was true. If Tsubaki was so tired that she had to spend most of the day resting, and Lancer was trying to avoid consuming very much energy, that left the both of them in a very vulnerable place. That meant that even if Lancer was in her physical form, she would be trying to avoid operating at full power.
And so, bidding farewell to the maids, Saber dressing herself in a blue shirt with black shorts and thigh-highs, the Master and Servant pair departed from the Matsushita mansion. It was a somewhat overcast day, though it didn't look like it was going to rain. At least, Ai hoped it wouldn't. As she headed down the street, however, something occurred to her.
It occurred to Saber, as well.
"… Master, we've never actually been to Inoue-san's house, have we?" she asked, "I have no idea where it is, either…"
"Ah…" Ai trailed off, realizing that she genuinely had no idea where it was the tanned girl lived. They'd never met there, always at a restaurant or just about anywhere else. They'd never gone back to her home after meeting, either.
"… That's… that's true, isn't it… eh-heheh…" the short brunette chuckled awkwardly, shifting from one foot to the other. "I guess… um… well… maybe… we can find it? Somehow… er…"
Ah… this was embarrassing, wasn't it? Ai felt completely foolish, having set out to try and check on Tsubaki only to realize she had absolutely no clue where Tsubaki was. Maybe, hopefully, that meant that none of the other Masters knew, either.
It was at that moment that something completely unexpected happened.
Ahead of Ai and Saber was a wider intersection, where multiple paths could be taken. For the moment, Ai was trying to figure out what direction she was supposed to go in. She guessed that Tsubaki's house was further away from them, at least, given the direction that they had always headed in to meet her. She wasn't really paying that much attention, but Saber certainly was.
It was Saber who noticed first.
"Master!" she shouted, suddenly stepping in front of the small brunette. For a moment, Ai was confused. She didn't understand why Saber had so urgently moved to shield her, until she peered around her Servant and caught sight of just who had stepped from around the corner.
There stood the smiling form of Alysvial von Einzbern.
"A… Alysvial von Einzbern…"
The little girl's smile grew wider, and she cocked her head to one side cheerfully.
"Hi there, Matsushita Ai!" she began, brightly. Saber stood at the ready, eyes on the small shape of the Einzbern girl, but both Master and Servant knew hostilities were unlikely in broad daylight. Still, though…
"… What… why are you here?" asked Ai, finally. It wasn't as if there was any way to use Berserker subtly, after all, and Alysvial had seemed quite dedicated to her cause of eradicating all the other Servants in the Holy Grail War. So why was she greeting them so brightly, when it wasn't even close to getting dark out?
"It's only polite to thank someone when they do something for you, isn't it?" asked Alysvial, her smile fading slightly, "Matsushita, I thought you would remember… you saved me yesterday! But I didn't thank you… and that isn't right at all!"
Yesterday… when Ai had used her ice shield to defend the red-eyed little girl? She hadn't expected to be thanked, she just couldn't let someone like that get killed…
"I wanted to invite you to my home to thank you!" continued Alysvial, her smile returning in full force, "We might have to be enemies, because I'm here to kill all the other Servants, but right now we can be friends for a little while, right?"
Given the way that the delicate little girl had so recently completely rejected treating any other participants in the war as anything other then enemies, it was a surprise to hear something like this from her. Once again, the way Alysvial spoke so innocently about killing the others, about how it was what she apparently had to do as a sort of duty… it was strange.
"You certainly didn't seem inclined to friendship before," commented Saber, warily.
In response, Alysvial tilted her head, simply appearing to be confused by the swordswoman's words.
"I thought I was being pretty nice, though…" said the little girl, slowly trailing off as she did. Did the Einzbern girl really believe that? Given everything Ai had heard from her previously, it seemed like perhaps she did.
"But the important thing is that I want to thank Matsushita properly!" she continued, her bright smile returning as she spoke. "You saved my life!"
Before Ai could respond, the little girl raced over to her, grabbing her hands in her own excitedly. With some irritation, Ai noticed there was very little difference in height between herself and Alysvial, when she was this close. But now wasn't the time to be concerned about something like that. She couldn't let herself focus on something so trivial.
Saber, meanwhile, still seemed somewhat wary, but also seemingly concluded that Alysvial wasn't going to try anything, given she had shown up in the middle of the day without Berserker.
"Are you going to come home with me?" asked the little girl. Ai wasn't quite sure what to say. She hesitated for a few moments, uncertainly, before finally deciding to make her reply.
"… I-I'll be able to bring Saber with me, won't I?" she asked. If she couldn't bring her Servant, she would be reluctant to go. Even if she was able to summon Saber to her side with a Command Seal, she had no idea what awaited her in Alysvial's home, and Berserker was dangerous even if the little girl didn't seem to be planning anything dangerous.
"Ah? Um… okay! But there won't be any fighting," Alysvial answered, cheerily, "It's going to be a no fighting day, since I want to thank you properly!"
It was surreal. Alysvial was an incredibly dangerous due to the Servant she had summoned, but she seemed so innocent. There wasn't a single sign of deceit or malice… It wasn't that Ai hadn't already seen this behavior, but it was even stranger now… even after nearly dying, Alysvial seemed like she was so cheerful and didn't behave at all like someone in a war… She didn't deserve to be here. Someone like this shouldn't have been involved in a life or death battle.
But what could Ai do? She had no idea what the circumstances revolving around Alysvial's participation in the war were. She had no idea if there was any way to help her. On top of that, the little girl was normally adamant about their opposition to one another. Even now, she said this was only a day of friendship, rather then any kind of allegiance like she had with Tsubaki.
"Is something wrong?" asked Alysvial, tilting her head.
"Ah… no, um…" Ai shook her head. For the moment, she had to try and focus on the here and now, and the simple fact was that Alysvial wanted an answer. "… I-I'll go."
"Yay! I'm so glad!" declared Alysvial, "I'll lead the way! Follow me, Matsushita, Saber!"
With that, the little girl turned on her heel and began to walk away. After a moment's pause, Ai glanced towards Saber, who was watching Alysvial walk, before beginning to follow her as well.
"Oh, and this is special treatment, Matsushita," said the white-haired child, suddenly, her crimson eyes glancing briefly over her shoulder as she walked, "No-one else in this war is going to get a ceasefire from me! All their Servants are going to be killed as fast as Berserker can do it!"
Seeing that innocent, cheery look on her face as she talked about the slaughter she wanted Berserker to carry out… Alysvial was cute, but there was no denying how unnerving that was.
"I'm going to tell you lots and lots of things that nobody else will get to know!" continued Alysvial, brightly, "Isn't it exciting? I guess your Servant will get to know, too, but it'll be secret from everyone else!"
As Alysvial walked, she was practically skimping, her arms held outward, swaying slightly with each step she made as she walked along the very edge of the sidewalk.
"… Er, yes!" Ai agreed, nervously, not wanting to upset the little girl, "It's very exciting!"
Alysvial's bright smile grew at Ai's words.
"So," Saber said, bending down slightly as she moved forward to address the white-haired child, "Did you see who might have tried to hurt you, Alys-chan?"
The swordswoman's demeanor changed rather quickly. She'd gone from wary of Alysvial, to treating her rather nicely, talking in a soft tone and smiling at her. After a moment's thought, Ai recalled that Okita Souji apparently did well with children.
The Einzbern girl shook her head.
"I don't know. I could feel the mana building up, but it was like they were trying to mask what they were doing. I didn't know it was happening until Matsushita saved me," Alysvial responded, her voice sounding more serious as she did, "I know it was one of the other Masters… whoever it was is Berserker's number one target, now!"
It was what Ai had expected. There was no way of telling exactly who had initiated the attack, and they'd probably utilized the distraction of the fight with Caster to ensure that would be the case. All the small brunette knew for sure is that it wasn't her, and it wasn't Tsubaki. She felt it was unlikely that it was Theomanius, but she didn't know enough about him to be certain.
Indeed, all that she could be certain of was the fact that it wasn't her, nor was it Tsubaki. Speaking of which, she hoped that the other girl was doing well… it definitely looked like she wouldn't be going to check on her now. Alysvial was humming to herself at this point, a tune that Ai didn't recognize exactly. There was an unusual sort of familiarity to it, as if it wasn't something she had heard, exactly, but something similar to a song she had heard once.
"Alys-chan, do you really know what the Grail War is all about?" Saber asked, still talking to the little girl in a friendly manner.
Alysvial's response was almost immediate.
"I'm supposed to get rid of all the other Servants!" she said, insistently, "That's what it's about!"
Did she not know what the real purpose of the Holy Grail War was? It almost sounded like she didn't. But why would that be the case? As far as Ai knew, the Einzbern were an important and powerful family of magi. Admittedly, she wasn't the most familiar with them, but she was certain that was the case. Was it because they had entered a child in the war that they hadn't told her everything? Did they not believe she needed to know that the Holy Grail would provide something so valuable?
"A-are you sure there's no other reason?" asked Ai, picking up the pace to approach the little girl. Alysvial paused for a moment to turn to face her, looking thoughtful.
"… Nope, that's all!" she declared, before quickly heading on her way.
Whatever the case was, it was clear to Ai that Alysvial had been told her only purpose in the war was to kill the other Servants. She had no idea why, but she'd never been informed of the Grail's purpose. Was it because of her age? Did they think it wasn't a good idea to let a child know what the true purpose of the Grail was? If that was the case, though… why would they have her participate in the Holy Grail War in the first place?
It was cruel.
But before she could try and talk to Alysvial more about how she'd come to be involved in the Holy Grail War, they turned another corner and…
Had… had that mansion always been there? It didn't feel like it had been. Ai swore she'd walked by this place recently and she hadn't seen it. Before she could question it, Alysvial happily strolled up to the front door.
"So… is this where you live, Alys-chan…?" asked Saber, following the little girl to the door. Ai followed her, looking at the building in wonder. It was a large, western mansion, with grey walls and blue rooftops, almost looking like it had been taken out of some kind of fairytale. As the small brunette approached the mansion, she tried to figure out just how this was possible. It had to be some sort of bounded field or something, didn't it? That could hide the presence of such a huge structure…
"It's a very large house… are you all alone?" asked Saber as they approached the door. Alysvial shook her head.
"No, Berserker is here too," said the little girl insistently. Without her action, the door opened seemingly on its own, and the three girls proceeded into the mansion. "And all of them, too."
Immediately upon entering, Ai noticed the maids. There were many of them, immediately curtsying as they caught sight of their mistress. A few things stood out to the short magus instantly. Firstly, she couldn't help but notice that they resembled her own maids rather distinctly. The same white hair and exceptionally pale skin, albeit darker, more red eyes. The second thing Ai realized was just how closely every single maid resembled Alysvial herself. Certainly, their hair was styled in various different ways, but there was no ignoring their facial features.
Were all of them related to the little girl…?
"Greetings, ojou-sama," the maids said in chorus, paying almost no attention to Ai or Saber.
"… Ah! She has even more than you, Master!" declared the girl samurai, looking around with a brief look of wonder on her face as she did, "I didn't expect that."
It didn't look like her Servant had noticed how closely all the maids resembled their mistress, and Ai herself wasn't sure if Alysvial would like it if she mentioned that fact. Rather then attempting to speak up about it, she instead stayed quiet. She didn't see Berserker anywhere, either…
"… Saber, is Berserker nearby?"
"Of course he is!" declared Alysvial, before Saber could respond, "But he's too big to fit through the doorways, so I have him stay in spirit form in the house."
A nod from Ai's Servant confirmed to her that this was the case. Berserker was present, but not currently in a physical form.
Ai hoped that this wouldn't become relevant information. So far, it seemed like Alysvial hadn't become upset, nor did she intend to call off the ceasefire while they were here. It wasn't out of the fact that she genuinely thought the little girl was liable to suddenly turn on them. But Berserker was incredibly powerful, and it felt like a good idea to be aware of his location.
By this point, Alysvial had approached one of the many maids.
"Prepare some tea!" she declared, and the maids swiftly nodded and departed to the kitchen, presumably.
Now that Ai's attention was off the maids, she could take in her surroundings better. It wasn't a very decorated mansion. In fact, there was an almost clinical feel about the entrance hall, though as Alysvial beckoned them further inside and up the stairway adorned with purple velvet carpeting, that feeling decreased.
"So, we're going to have tea, Alys-chan?" Saber asked, to which the little girl nodded enthusiastically.
"We'll talk over tea and sweets!" she added, brightly. One of the most dangerous Masters in the Holy Grail War was having them over for a tea party.
Ai couldn't say she had expected that at all.
When they reached Alysvial's room, beyond a large wooden door, Ai was immediately greeted with the sight of a large four poster bed, that seemed to be inhabited by a wide variety of stuffed toys. They ranged from teddy bears to a large stuffed lion, and there were a large number of frilly pillows as well. Other things of note included a small table, large enough for three people to sit at comfortably, a door to what was presumably quite a huge closet, a dresser, a desk, and a doorway out to a balcony. Just what kind of magecraft was capable of making a home like this appear from no-where?
"Come here!" declared Alysvial cheerfully, heading over to the table and taking a seat at one of the puffy-looking chairs. It was hard to refuse such a bright and cheerful-looking smile, even if Ai had wanted to, so both the small brunette and her Servant made their way to the table and sat down at each chair.
"This is the perfect place to talk," continued the little girl happily, as if feeling a sense of satisfaction over her decision to have a tea party in her room. "But what do you want to talk about? You should take advantage of this chance, since it's only going to happen once!"
"U-um…" Ai hesitated for a moment, uncertain, before finally blurting out what was possibly the most obvious thing she could have thought of. "T-tell us about yourself!"
"Ehhh?" Alysvial tilted her head, then took on a thoughtful expression, her feet kicking as she did, "Well… I'm just here to win! That's all! I'm not as interesting as my predecessor!"
Her… predecessor? That was a strange way to put it. What could she have meant by 'her predecessor'? Did she mean one of her ancestors?
"Your predecessor? Who was that, Alys-chan?" asked Saber, cocking her head slightly to one side as she did. At this point, it seemed like Saber was the best one for talking to the little girl. She really did take to children quickly…
"Illyasviel!" cheerfully declared Alysvial, "Illyasviel von Einzbern! No-one in the Einzbern family has ever surpassed her!"
Illyasviel? Ai was beginning to put this all together, now. Illyasviel must have been an ancestor of Alysvial's who was extremely accomplished in some manner, someone that the little girl looked up to. That had to be it, didn't it?
"Illyasviel participated in the last true Holy Grail War!" continued Alysvial, brightly, "And she had one of the most powerful Servants! No matter how powerful I am, it was impossible to make me as strong as big sister Illyasviel. I wish I could have met her…"
"The… the last true Holy Grail War?" asked Ai, wide-eyed. What did that mean? The last Minami War? No, it didn't sound like that. "Alys-chan… um, what do you mean, the last True Holy Grail War?"
"Ah?" the little girl tilted her head. At that moment, her door opened, and her maids proceeded inside. They carried a tray of freshly-brewed tea, and an assortment of small pastries, slices of little cakes and fancy cookies that they quickly placed on the table.
"Your tea and snacks, ojou-sama," said one of the maids. Brightly, Alysvial clapped her hands together, and for a moment the serious conversation completely halted as Saber gazed at the snacks with shining eyes.
"Thank you!" said the pale little girl, brightly. As the maid's departed, she happily began to sample one of the snacks, a checkerboard cookie. Given how quickly Saber was digging into the sweets as well, Ai decided it would be wrong not to do the same herself. And… they… did look really good… picking up some sort of small pastry filled with cream, the short brunette took a bite.
Immediately, the light, flaky pastry gave way to a cool and creamy interior, a wonderful contrast combined with two sweet flavors that blended together perfectly… Ah, she didn't regret coming here at all, just for the taste of this snack! And… really, Alysvial was so adorable, that was kind of a bonus, too! Even if she was a scary enemy Master, that wasn't all she was…
Saber clearly agreed, after all, given how eagerly she was digging into all the sweets!
"Haaah, so tasty!" commented Alysvial as she chowed down on another cookie.
"These are great!" exclaimed Saber, "I just can't get enough!"
Ai nodded, smiling.
"I'm glad I came here, just because of these sweets…" she said. Alysvial almost seemed to be exuding an air of smug pride, as if she was incredibly satisfied at the popularity of the snacks her maids had prepared. However, a few moments later, Ai remembered herself.
The last true Holy Grail War…
"R-right, um, Alys-chan, what I was saying before… what did you mean about the last true Holy Grail War?" asked Ai, more insistently this time. The little girl paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, as if she was trying to decide how to explain what she was thinking.
"The Minami Holy Grail Wars are wrong," she finally settled on, though the way she spoke about it made it seem as if she wasn't too certain of what she meant, either, "They shouldn't be happening. That was what the old man said. That's why I'm here. To make it stop."
What did any of that mean? It was strange. She'd never heard about anything like this before…
"… But… what was the last true war you were talking about, Alys-chan?" asked Saber, equally confused.
"The last true Holy Grail War was in Fuyuki City, in 2004," explained Alysvial, "The one Illyasviel got to fight in! That's just one reason I'll never be able to match her."
Ai vaguely recalled that there had been previous wars in another city. But… what made that specific war the last true Holy Grail War? It was yet another confusing piece of information among all the others. Just what had Alysvial been taught? What did she think was wrong about this war?
"But what's so wrong about this war, compared to the other Holy Grail Wars, then?" asked Saber, leaning towards Alysvial slightly as she did. Certainly it seemed as if the Servants hadn't detected anything that was amiss. Given where Caster had chosen to place her workshop, she certainly hadn't. What was it that Alysvial thought was wrong?
Aside from the idea of dying in the war…
"It's… wrong! It shouldn't be happening here! At all!" declared the nearly-albino little girl, insistently, brow furrowing as she spoke. Had she even been told why it was wrong? "That's why I have to make sure it ends!"
For all of Alysvial's innocent and childish behavior, even though she didn't seem to be able to provide more of an explanation for just how the Minami Holy Grail War was 'wrong', she certainly seemed adamant about it. Ai could tell it was a belief she felt incredibly strongly. The old man she spoke of before must have ingrained this into her as deeply as he could.
"I don't want to win because I want the prize," Alysvial continued, arms folded across her chest, "I want to win to make sure the war ends! And Berserker won't lose!"
Certainly, the little girl was very confident in herself. And Ai couldn't exactly argue with her, even if she'd wanted to. She summoned and controlled Berserker, a class that consumed a great deal of mana for its upkeep, without even the slightest sign of any sort of strain. There was no question that, especially given her age, she was an incredibly powerful mage and one of the most dangerous masters in the war.
And yet, right now, she was a cute little girl, getting frustrated over the talk about the wrongness she believed was present in this Holy Grail War.
"That's that! There's nothing else to it!" declared Alysvial, insistently. At this point, it was clear Alysvial truly didn't have any idea what it was she thought was wrong about the Holy Grail War, or that she was unwilling to say what it was.
"That didn't really explain much, Alys-chan," commented Saber, though she was still trying to give the white-haired girl a pleasant smile.
"Well, that's how it is!" was the only response that Alysvial was willing to give. It didn't take an expert on human behavior to know that the little girl didn't feel like talking about this anymore.
Still sitting, the Einzbern girl placed her hands on her hips, leaning forward slightly.
"And I thought you'd want to hear all about Illyasviel instead of the war! We've been fighting the war every day, so I don't know why you'd want to talk about it even more," she continued, with a pout. "It's all wrong, but It's not like you would just give up."
Ai didn't know what to think about that. Giving up… it would be wrong to do that to Saber, and it would be a betrayal of the people who had helped her so much in life. But she wanted to know just what was so apparently wrong about what was occurring. Aside from it being a war where people could die, at least… but she could guess that Alysvial was unwilling to talk about it more, if she even knew what it was she was talking about.
"It's okay, Alys-chan," Saber said, quickly, waving her hand at the disgruntled little girl, "Don't worry about that. It's not like we're not curious, but you don't have to talk about that if you don't want to. Um…"
She paused for a moment.
"… What would you like to tell us about Illyasviel-san?" she asked, finally. That seemed to be a topic that the little girl enjoyed a great deal, at least. And while it wasn't as important as the reasons she had for thinking the Holy Grail War was wrong… well… at the moment, Ai guessed it was just something he had been told by the old man she'd mentioned before.
"Lots of things!" declared Alysvial, brightly, "I can tell you she's the strongest Einzbern homunculus ever! Ever!"
Homunculus? An artificial human? If Alysvial's 'predecessor' was a homunculus, did that mean… just what was the little girl's nature?
"… A-Alysvial… are you a homunculus, too?" Ai asked, hesitantly. Of course, she didn't want to upset the Einzbern girl, but she'd openly referred to Illyasviel as a homunculus, so she didn't think being called such a thing would bother her.
Indeed, Alysvial simply nodded her head.
"I was made to end the Grail War! Getting to summon Berserker and fight is just like Illyasviel…" the extremely pale little girl let out a dreamy-sounding sigh as she spoke about her predecessor again. "But I'm no-where near as good as her."
She existed because she was supposed to end the Grail War? For a few moments, Ai simply stared. That was so… so cruel. The only reason she was alive was for the purpose of fighting? How could someone do that to a little girl? Tell them the reason they existed was to fight and kill? And yet, it seemed as if Alysvial herself didn't mind at all… She seemed just as cheerful as she had moments before.
Saber, too, wasn't certain what to say for a few moments, instead remaining quiet.
"… Alys-chan, you were made for this?" she asked, slowly. Her cheery, good-natured attitude, which had been on display in full force only moments before, had suddenly become far less bright.
"… Yes? Why?" she asked, tilting her head, "That's just why I exist."
"… I see…" Saber's eyes drifted downwards, somewhat. Ai had a feeling they were thinking along the same lines. That it was terrible to give someone a purpose that was simply to fight without even telling them why, or how serious it was. Especially given the way Alysvial behaved… why would someone do such a thing to someone like her?
"… Heeeh, you're not eating your snacks, anymore…" the little girl began, leaning forward slightly as she did. "Aren't they good?"
"Oh… o-of course, Alys-chan," responded Ai, quickly, picking up another cookie. How did you address a subject like this when it was someone so young? Should she even? It didn't seem as if Saber knew what to do, either, and Ai ended up quietly eating her cookie. Needless to say, the revelation that Alysvial had literally been born for the purpose of fighting in the Holy Grail War, one that she believed was wrong in the first place, had put quite a damper on the mood. And yet, it truly didn't seem was if Alysvial understood why things had suddenly become quite a bit less lively.
She just seemed confused.
"A tea party is supposed to be something happy," commented the little girl, with a frown, "I'm supposed to be thanking you for saving me, but it's no good if you're unhappy…"
Quickly, Saber shook her head, waving her hands.
"No, that's not it, Alys-chan. It's nothing you did, so don't worry, okay?" she said, giving Alysvial a reassuring smile as she spoke. It wouldn't do any good just to upset her, especially after hearing all that… "The snacks are great, by the way. Your maids are really good at baking."
The little girl's mood perked up almost immediately.
"They are! I made sure they all knew how to bake anything I could possibly want!" she declared, proudly. At least seeing how eager she was to talk about the skills of her maids made Ai feel a little bit better. At least she seemed happy… but… the fact that she was a homunculus explained a lot. How she was able to support Berserker so easily… weren't homunculi essentially human magic circuits? It was her understanding of them, at least. It also explained her involvement in the war, even if that didn't make it any less sad.
"Really? So they can make any kind of sweet at all?" the swordswoman asked, possibly trying to distract herself from the dark topic as well. It was something they would have to discuss later, when they weren't talking to Alysvial. It wouldn't do any good trying to discuss it with her, since she didn't seem to realize just how cruel it was.
"That's right! Each one of them can do it all!" responded the little girl cheerfully, kicking her feet as she spoke, "Isn't that amazing? You can't help but praise how amazing my maids are, right?"
"I guess they are pretty amazing if they can do all that," agreed Saber. For a moment, Ai wondered if Marianne and Charlotte were suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of jealousy that they couldn't explain. Then again, Saber had praised Marianne's food preparation skills plenty of times in the past. Charlotte… well, Saber had never seen Charlotte cook before and it wasn't anything Ai was about to show her Servant. There was no need to make her ill.
"Illyasviel had maids too," added Alysvial, cheerfully smiling, her feet kicking, "And I bet they were even better then mine! And my maids are already the best, so Illyasviel's maids had to be better than that."
"So… where is Illyasviel now?" asked Ai, finally. She couldn't help but be curious, and keeping the discussion away from Alysvial's origins seemed like a good idea for the moment.
For several moments, the little girl was completely silent, her feet having completely stopped kicking. She glanced to the side, her smile fading before she finally spoke.
"… She's not around anymore," answered Alysvial, "I never got to meet her…"
Ah… that had been a mistake, hadn't it? Ai immediately felt rather guilty. It was clear the fact that Alysvial had never met her predecessor was upsetting to her, and had quickly put the girl into a much less upbeat mood. Had Illyasviel died in the 'last true Holy Grail War'? She wasn't about to ask more then she already had, for fear of upsetting their host further. The way Alysvial had spoken about Illyasviel had made her curious, but it wasn't worth making her sad to learn more.
"I-I'm sorry, Alys-chan," said Ai, doing her best to give a reassuring smile like Saber had done, "You don't have to talk about that anymore, okay?"
Alysvial shook her head.
"No, you didn't know… it's fine…" she responded, before taking a deep breath, "But… but I don't want to talk about that anymore…"
Ai nodded, and so did Saber. They both understood exactly why.
And then…
Saber suddenly shot to her feet. At her side, her sheathed katana materialized almost immediately, and she placed a hand on the hilt.
"There's another Servant here," she said, immediately, "Aside from Berserker. I can feel it!"
"Berserker sensed it too!" cried Alysvial as she sprang to her feet as well. Quickly Ai got out of her seat. There was a third Servant present? If Lancer was still watching over Tsubaki, like she was supposed to, there was no way it could possibly be her. That left one of the other Servants… but who? It was obvious both Saber and Berserker were present here, wouldn't it be foolish to attack under those conditions? Even Rider would at least step back and think twice, wouldn't she…?
"S-Saber, can you tell who it is?" questioned the small brunette. Swiftly, the Servant shook her head. She had no way of knowing exactly whose presence they had detected. Didn't that make it unlikely it was Assassin? Wouldn't she be using presence concealment?
That felt likely in Ai's mind, at least. It made sense to her.
For several long moments, all three girls stood ready. Alysvial was prepared to call Berserker from spirit from at a moment's notice.
And yet, nothing happened.
"… They disappeared…" said Saber, finally, straightening slightly. "I can't sense their presence anymore."
Ai couldn't hide her confusion. A Servant had appeared with their presence unmasked for a brief few moments, and then simply left? It didn't make sense. What purpose could they possibly have, and just how did they get here?
"… If they penetrated the bounded field, was it Assassin…?" asked Alysvial, her tone suddenly more serious.
… Was it…?
Ai couldn't be certain.
Slowly, Rani blinked her eyes open. She was lying on her side, near the summoning circle. Her mind was swimming, her thoughts scrambled and incoherent for several moments, as if she had been asleep for a very long time. Her entire body felt like lead, and it was difficult to even move. For a few moments, the dark-skinned girl struggled to recall what had happened, to remember what had followed the ritual. She had conducted the summoning just as ordered, following the directions to the letter, and then… something strange had happened.
Shakily, the purple-haired girl sat up, weakly shaking her head. Even her vision seemed to blur and swim for a few moments… she thought she saw some sort of dark mass, but it was difficult to perceive what it was, even as she shook her head. Had she been knocked unconscious…? By what?
As her vision cleared, she began to realize other crucial details. The entire chamber had been damaged, chunks of the ceiling torn down, windows shattered. It was almost as if some sort of explosion had gone off in the middle of the room. And yet… she didn't feel as if she had been harmed. Perhaps her body had gone into shock, but aside from the strange heaviness afflicting her body, she couldn't detect any injury.
As her mind cleared, however, she froze.
The corpse of one of the Atlas agents who had accompanied her laid on the ground, on the opposite side of the summoning chamber. His head was simply gone, a charred stump being what remained of his neck. Around him was a dark, black substance, that seemed to seethe unnaturally. Rani's eyes widened, and slowly she managed to stumble to her feet. What happened? Why was he dead? Had the summoning gone wrong? But she'd followed every specification, and even waited until…
Slowly, Rani's eyes travelled upwards.
A young woman was floating in the air. Her skin was deathly pale, her hair a silver, almost white. Her eyes were a dull gold, and on her upper arms and face were strange, red markings that almost seemed to move of their own accord. Rani was a homunculus, she had not been created to feel any sort of fear. She existed for the purpose of conducting her duties as an agent of Atlas. And yet, something about this woman… she felt wrong. Her body was clad in a strange, dark red dress, the skirt seeming to be composed of wide rectangular strips of cloth.
Rani stumbled back. But she felt so strangely heavy… why? It was as if there was a weight on her… magic circuits…
A homunculus was created to be a magic circuit in the form of a human, and Rani was no exception. And yet, the weight she felt… it was undeniable. Her mind began to finally perceive just what the woman in the air was. In fact, at this point, there was not mistaking it. There was no denying just what she was looking at.
Her Servant.
Something had gone terribly wrong. Something had killed one of her fellow members of Atlas, and torn this room apart, and produced that… horrible black mud. Simply looking at it told Rani just how dangerous it was. It was something terrible, composed of darkness… Was everyone else in the base alive? Was the vampire safe? What was going to happen? Thoughts ran through Rani's mind at the pace of a bullet train.
Trying to shake off the weight on her body, Rani attempted to conduct an analysis of what had just occurred. Somehow, the summoning had gone wrong. She couldn't understand how, but the circle seemed to be intact. Had her Servant been responsible for knocking her unconscious? Was she responsible for the deaths and destruction, or had something else occurred that had caused it? She was incredibly beautiful, and yet at the same time she was so… wrong. Something was terribly off about her, even if in all respects she looked like a young woman sculpted to perfection.
Rani stepped back again, and she felt her back hit the door to the room. It didn't open. She couldn't retreat and attempt to figure out a plan… so… she had to contain this incident herself, didn't she? It was the only option she could foresee. But she didn't even know where to begin. That black, seething mud was slowly vanishing, seeming to curl into itself. As it brushed past the dead man's headless corpse, Rani could smell the terrible stench of smoldering flesh. Had that been what beheaded him? At the very least, seeing its effects, Rani could attempt to make a guess at its nature. It had to be some sort of extremely powerful curse, something that had the very nature of 'anti-humanity'. Even the agent's corpse burned on simple contact as the mud slowly drew itself into a single point, before flowing upwards and seeming to vanish into thin air. At least, that's how it seemed.
Rani hadn't been able to catch just what happened to the mud, where it had vanished to. It seemed like it was suddenly gone, but she almost thought she heard some sort of click, as if something had opened and shut. What she did see was the fact that the floating young woman was now looking directly at her.
Had she been the cause of all this? Had the Servant Rani summoned caused this destruction? In the end, it began to seem like that was the only option.
Raising her hand, Rani looked at her command seals. If that truly was the case… wasn't there no choice but to end it here? If her seals didn't work, however… the contract would be ended. It was possible an order to kill herself would be rejected strongly enough. Was this even intentional? Rani's attempts at analyzing the events around her had so far failed, no matter what she tried to do.
The woman began to descend. There was no option, but to attempt to utilize her command seals, was there? She could not take a single chance.
As she raised her hand, the Servant landed in front of her, gently taking her hand and lowering it away. Her facial expression was completely blank.
And then, she spoke.
"Servant Avenger, summoned by your words."
She stopped speaking, and for a moment was completely silent. Then…
"Are you my Master?"