2023, nearly twenty years after the Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail War.
"Alchemy allows for the manipulation of matter as we understand it in a scientific sense, but traditional alchemy also holds the ability to use certain materials as catalysts in rituals based on what those materials symbolize. For example, salt can symbolize the body and it is through this that one can replicate God's feat of turning Lot's wife into salt. The body and salt are equivalent in alchemic philosophy and so the former can be transmuted into the latter under the right conditions."
Waver stood at the front of a lecture hall in London, teaching his Modern Magecraft Theory class. The last two decades have gifted his face with more lines and turned his hair a dark gray. Not much had changed for Waver, he was still a professor of the Clock Tower and a famous one at that. He was almost fifty but that didn't stop him from being a sex symbol for many of his students. He was still a weak magus, but his progressive theories have become more and more popular. The most overt change was that he wasn't Lord El-Melloi II anymore, his time as a stand-in for the true heir having passed. It was nice not having so many responsibilities, but he still had new troublesome students every year and would encounter new mysteries that needed to be solved. Overall, things have been relatively peaceful.
"By streamlining these symbolic rituals we ca-"
"Rin Tohsaka, I knew I smelled your poor stench! How has it been riding on Kaleidoscope's coat tails?"
"Oh, Luvia, good to see you! Hey, just letting you know, but you don't need to scream like a banshee when the person you're talking to is right in front of you. Maybe you should go back to preschool so you can learn what an inside voice is."
And there went Waver's peace.
The two voices outside the classroom kept squabbling loudly. Waver put his hand on his forehead and dragged it down his face.
"Apologies, but I need to go handle the commotion outside. Everyone please study quietly until I come back." Waver rushed out of the room and followed the echoing voices that were coming from the other side of the Clock Tower. He was getting too old for this nonsense, the long dash leaving him sweaty and with lungs begging for oxygen. When he finally arrived at his destination, Waver found two women who were gripping each other's collars in the middle of the Clock Tower's courtyard.
At first Rin and Luvia seemed to get along well due to the camaraderie they felt during their time in the Fifth Holy Grail War, but over time the incompatibility of their personalities caused any good will between them to break down. Now they're always a step away from trying to kill each other.
Rin's hair was long and wavy, its color a gradient going from brown to red. Despite her status as the Magician of the Second Magic, she dressed simply. A red sweater, a black cardigan, a white skirt, red stockings, and dark boots. If she hadn't become such an icon in the world of magecraft, you'd never know she was one of the strongest beings in the human world. She's had a hand in so many major events that she's always expected to show up every time a new form of magecraft is created or a new way to repair the degradation of Mystery is found. Both the title of Red and of Grand had been granted to her thanks to her achievements. You'd think she'd be a well respected figure, and she was to a degree, but she was also feared for the chaos that often followed her.
Luvia, in contrast to her nemesis, wore a long sapphire off the shoulder dress with detailed gold patterns embroidered onto it. Her hair was shaped into ringlets that went all the way down to her knees. In her free hand was a parasol that she was just about ready to shove down Rin's throat. Though not as famous as her rival, Luvia had also become a successful and influential magus thanks to, well, doing what the Edlefelts have always done, forcing themselves into conflicts they had no business in and taking the spoils for themselves. At least Luvia mainly focused on cleaning up conflicts that threatened to cause great collateral damage if left as they were, the majority of which being Subcategory Holy Grail Wars.
The Subcategory Holy Grail Wars. The Fifth Fuyuki War seemed like it would be the last ritual for attaining a wish granting device, but a magus named Doctor Heartless had observed the war and discovered how to replicate it. They disseminated that information and now there were countless Subcategory Holy Grail Wars, incomplete simulacrums of the original ritual that usually just existed to generate large amounts of magical energy. Most end up spiraling out of control so they've become a serious problem, Luvia, Rin, and some other magi having taken it upon themselves to handle these Grail Wars themselves. Luvia once dealt with a Grail War taking place in the Seventh Labyrinth of Caubac Alcatraz, and Rin won a Grail War where each Master summoned two Servants rather than one. Heartless used these fake Holy Grail Wars as a method of directing attention away from himself so he could continue his work unbothered. He also used many of the Subcategory Holy Grail Wars to gather magical energy for his own use. He partnered with Francesca Prelati to create their own Holy Grail War that used a fragment of the Fuyuki Grail that they had salvaged to make a new Grail. This "Sixth" Holy Grail War threatened to cause another World ending catastrophe, but Rin and Luvia worked together to destroy the Grail and end the Heartless and Prelati's plans.
Two individuals stood behind Luvia, one being her sister Henriikka who had become so used to Rin and Luvia's spats that she was just looking at her phone. She wasn't as paranoid as she used to be. The old her would have been freaking out that her sister was about to get into a fight with a Magician. Henriikka had mellowed out after getting married; apparently her husband helped her get out of her comfort zone and not be such a shut-in. The plump girl wore a blue sweater and gray jeans while her hair was tied into a neat ponytail.
The other person behind Luvia was her butler, Taiga Fujimura. She wore a stereotypical butler tuxedo that gave her an elegant air that paired well with her mature face and short hair. At her side was a sheathed katana with a tiger phone strap dangling from its guard. She was smiling as she watched Luvia and Rin yelling in each other's faces. The ex-yakuza was, as far as Waver could tell, enjoying her life as Luvia's attendant. Every time Waver had seen Fujimura since she became a butler, she was always smiling or at least possessed a spring in her step. She always accompanied Luvia on her missions to dismantle out of control Grail Wars, making the world a better place to make up for her past sins.
"You wanna see my new Mystic Code, bitch?" Rin summoned a weapon that resembled a macuahuitl, but instead of obsidian lining the club's edge, it was instead covered in jewels carved into teeth, each a different color and each housing a different spell. The teeth began to revolve like a chainsaw which released a rainbow of light and a high pitched whine. The saw used the multi-dimensional refraction phenomenon to power itself with infinite magical energy to be able to cut through anything, unleash myriad spells, and exist in several places at once. It was a Mystic Code so gaudy and over the top that it would revolt any traditional magus.
"Unlike you, I don't need to rely on fancy toys to get the job done!" Luvia tossed her parasol at her sister and pulled out a fistfull of jewels. Her Magic Circuits lit up as she used an earth spell that gathered ambient carbon to create a black epidermal armor over her skin that was harder than diamond while also having excellent shock absorption. Luvia's shell became filled with numerous colors. The exoskeleton had a crystalline structure that allowed Luvia to transfer the spells in her jewels into it. This meant she could infuse spells into her martial arts in a way similar to Rin's Shin Madō.
"Ms. Tohsaka! Ms. Edelfelt!" Waver cried out as he stomped over to the two beasts in human clothing.
"Professor." Luvia's armor crumbled as she released Rin's collar. Rin did the same, releasing her rival and making her chainsaw-thing disappear.
"Can you two just tolerate each other for the day? You don't have to like each other, just ignore each other." Waver thrust out his open hands.
"I'm sorry for my immaturity." Rin bowed.
"My apologies." Luvia's posture lost its straightness.
The rivals glanced at each other and grimaced, but looked back at Waver before they could start another argument.
"You're both nearly forty and you still act like children when you're together." Waver walked over to Henriikka and Fujimura. "It's good to see you both. I hope you've been well."
"Things have been nice. How are you?" Henriikka had a weary smile as she shook Waver's hand.
"I've been okay. Tired, but okay. There are always some problem children in my classes that I have to deal with."
"The trick with those kinds of students is to figure out their preferred method of learning and how you can cater to them without pandering to them." Fujimura said.
"Indeed. Personalization is ideal, though that can be difficult when you have so many students."
"That's why smaller class sizes are better than large ones."
"But then you need more teachers."
"Which is why measures need to be taken to make teaching a more appealing job."
"That's true, but we're getting off track. We have important matters to discuss and I'm supposed to be teaching right now. Head to Lord El-Melloi's office while I finish my class. I'll meet up with you in…" Waver looked at his watch. "eight minutes."
"Apologies for distracting you from your class." Rin said.
"It's fine. I'll see you in a few minutes." Waver jogged off. He was once again reduced to a shaking mess by the time he returned to his lecture hall. There wasn't enough time left to cover everything he planned for that class, but he at least managed to finish his earlier discourse on modernizing symbolic alchemy. Upon the class' end, Waver apologized and explained he had an important meeting that couldn't wait. This disappointed several of his students who wanted to talk to him, including Monji Gatou who wanted to go on another of his weird religious tangents, and Tsubaki Kuruoka who had questions about alchemy's ability to modify the human body.
One more exhausting run and Waver reached the door to the office where the meeting would be. He grabbed the doorknob and stopped, letting himself recover from his exhaustion for a minute before he steadied his breathing, stood up straight, and entered the room.
"It's good to see you so energetic, elder brother."
"Hello, Lord El-Melloi."
"So formal."
Reines was the current Lord of the Archibald family and the Department of Modern Magecraft Theory. She took the position after she came of age and Waver managed to repair the El-Melloi Crest. Under her care, the Archibalds and the Modern Magecraft department were in the middle of a golden age thanks to her intellect and ruthlessness. She had cleared the board of all dissenters and old blood in her clan, transitioning to the Democratic Faction. That ended up being a fiasco worthy of being called a war, but it ended surprisingly well. As a magus, Reines has more than lived up to Kayneth's legacy despite lacking the raw power he had thanks to her masterful magical energy control. Compared to two decades ago, Reines was taller than she used to be, though she was still relatively short. Her hair was still long and blonde, her eyes were still full of passion, and she still wore a doll-like cobalt blue ensemble with an accompanying beret. The biggest change in her appearance was that the right side of her face was covered in burn scars caused in the conflict that arose during her coronation as a Lord. She sat at her desk with her head resting on her interlocked hands. Behind her stood Trimmau who looked no different than she did nineteen years ago, though she now had many new functions thanks to Reines.
The desk was at the back of the office where there was a large window, in front of the desk being a long table surrounded by plush chairs where Rin, Luvia, and Henriikka all sat. Fujimura stood behind the Edelfelt sisters, ready to protect them if need be. On the table was a teapot, multiple full cups of tea on saucers, and an afternoon tea tower with various sweets, scones, and sandwiches. Bookshelves lined the walls that housed grimoires, jars full of pickled body parts, and boxes with powerful relics and Mystic Codes in them. There were various plants in the corners, near the window, and hanging from the ceiling. There was a door that led to a dark room where Reines kept her large supply of wine. Waver probably needed to stage an intervention for her soon.
"Sorry for the wait, everyone." Waver stumbled over to a seat and sunk into it. He sipped some tea and took a cucumber finger sandwich to nibble on. Normally he'd be too reserved to just start eating like that, but he was too tired to care and most of the people present at the meeting were either the cause of his exhaustion, or were enjoying his pain.
"Now that everyone's here, how about we end the small talk and move right along to important matters." Reines said. Waver wasn't even going to get a moment to decompress before everyone got down to business.
And so everyone began discussing various subjects that mainly involved Grail Wars. This group was an unofficial council that investigated any and all matters involving Holy Grails and Holy Grail Wars, interfering whenever necessary. This often led to butting heads with the Holy Church and other magi. The dangers these Grail rituals posed made it necessary to properly regulate them, and who better than magi who have experience with the original version of the Holy Grail War? They also just didn't want to see any more tragedies like the ones they saw during the Fifth War. Thankfully there hadn't been any major Subcategory Wars lately, so there was little to talk about, and in turn there was little to worry about.
After the important topics were covered, the conversation gradually shifted into small talk.
"By the way, Rin, where's your apprentice?" Luvia bit into a scone.
"She's finishing up a mission I gave her as a test. There's a magus that can use the primordial language of humanity who's been causing trouble, so I sent her to deal with him."
"Who's your apprentice?" Henriikka asked. "I haven't met her yet and Luvia's never mentioned her."
"Really? I didn't realize. I met her when she was a little girl." Rin leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "She was very sick, so I cured her with my magecraft which she was really grateful for. I inspired her to want to help others the same way I helped her so she begged me to take her on as an apprentice. I didn't want to at first, but she looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I relented."
"You're so soft." Luvia crooned.
"I'm sorry I'm nice." Rin blushed.
"What's your apprentice's name?"
Rin opened her eyes.
"Kiara Sessyoin."