Welcome back readers! I, Neolyph, come bearing another chapter of A Broken Wizard and a Broken Magus! I hope all of you enjoyed your holidays and New Years. I would like to apologize for the wait on this chapter as several things slowed me down. The first was spending Christmas with my family, second was that I had to work out exactly how I was going to have this Grail War go down, and third I had this chapter written out a couple days ago, but the site bugged out and I lost all my progress. Due to the wait I have neglected to beta this chapter so I could put it out faster. I'll have Arawn proof-read it after putting it out, so expect edits after the fact. On the upside, as an apology for the longer than expected wait, I made this chapter longer than they usually are. Moving on, Jesus Christ this story has gotten some traction. At time of writing, this story has gotten 52 reviews, 192 favorites, and 242 follows. I was 95% certain that this story was going to completely bomb due to my incompetence. Thank all of you who read, favorite, follow, and review for proving me wrong. Now, to answer reviews!
Gawain-Knight of the Sun: The harem will never be sated. If I go the route I'm thinking of with this story, it might reach Emiya Clan or Fate's Gamble levels of harem. Once this story gets out of the grail war and into Hogwarts, you'll be seeing some multiverse harem shenanigans a la Fate's Gamble. Don't worry though, it'll be different enough from FG. I can't hold a candle to Lupine Horror so I'm not even going to try.
EllieGmanlovesHalo: Still haven't made up my mind about whether to add Saber to the harem or what. Will probably be decided relatively soon.
Bunny153539: Assassin isn't an OC. If you look up "No Name Assassin" on the Nasuverse wiki, she has a page. All I was saying in the AN was that I tweaked her appearance based on an OC my friend was making. If it helps give you an appearance, think Akitsu from Sekirei with long black hair, minus the crest. It's rather fitting, since their personalities are going to end up somewhat similar. Harry did basically save her from her own personal hell after all, what with learning that Allah didn't exist, similar to how Mikogami saved Akitsu from hers after she learns that she can't get winged. Blame The Bloody Ashikabi and In Flight for that one, as thanks to them, I goddamn love Akitsu. The potential for giggles and harem shenanigans is endless. Coincidentally, the three triplet homunculi are based off Lust from FMA. I thought it was appropriate.
Dutoc: Good to know you're enjoying the story, and no, Harry wouldn't help Gilgamesh out because Gilgamesh could potentially threaten Sakura. Harry is a very cold individual, so he wouldn't really have any qualms about brutally murdering anyone standing in his way or helping a monster like Gilgamesh out for the right incentive, but he puts his 'family', which consists of pretty much of just Sakura at the moment, above everything else. He wouldn't do anything that has even the slightest chance of bringing harm to her.
Chapter 4: Opening Moves
Rin Tohsaka was in serious trouble.
She had been at Fuyuki Middle School late due to feeling, strangely enough, another magus there. After searching the school for hours, she couldn't find anything. The prana she detected was too faint to truly track. All she had was a vague sensation that another magus was in or near the school, circuits active. The active circuits were a problem, as only two things required circuits to be actively channeling prana like she detected. Either someone was enacting a very long ritual or someone with very high amounts of prana was keeping a servant active.
She had originally suspected Sakura, but she had gone back to the Matou manor with Harry, the boy that was always hanging around and protecting Sakura. She honestly didn't know what their relationship was, but she kind of hoped it wasn't anything... significant. She'd had her eye on Harry for quite a while. While her school idol persona kept her at a distance, she had a small crush on Harry. He was the strong, ambitious, cunning type. He would've made a perfect magus. Such a shame she couldn't detect a whiff of prana on him. In an adult that wouldn't have confirmed anything, but no child had enough mastery over their circuits to completely suppress all prana leakage. Anyway, this search led to her being outside the school long past dark, a very bad thing to do during the Grail War.
She thought she had gotten off clean when she suddenly felt a massive prana spike in the air around her. She looked up to see a goddamn servant in front of her. Normally she wouldn't swear, even mentally, but she wasn't in her idol persona right now, and this definitely warranted swearing. She heard Archer shift behind her in preparation for battle. She took a moment to examine this servant before her in search of some weakness.
The man was tall, about the same height as Archer. He was wearing a skin-tight blue body suit, with silver metal highlighting certain parts of it. On his shoulders rested pads of the same material. His hair was a slightly darker blue than his suit, spiked up with a couple bangs drifting down in front of his face. She also noticed his red eyes, staring at her with something between bored resignation and bloodlust. She jumped as he spoke, a slight Irish accent tinting his voice.
"Well, what have we here? This is the enemy master I'm supposed to take out? A nine year old girl?"
"TEN!" she yelled at him, against her better judgement.
He chuckled, "Well I stand corrected, my lady. I do hope your servant is a good fighter. If he's good enough, I can just settle on killing him. If not... well I think you can imagine what comes next."
Archer stepped in front of Rin and drew out two swords of all things. Wasn't he supposed to use a bow?
"I'm afraid, Lancer, that I've made a deal with this young girl here. If I'm to hold up my end of the bargain, she can't be harmed. Are you sure you can't simply leave?"
"Ahh, you figured out my class did you? I'll have to figure out how you did that. And I'm afraid I'm a creature of battle. I can't be sated without combat. It's what I agreed to be summoned for after all."
With that, Lancer materialized his spear and assumed a ready position. Archer took a few steps forward and reciprocated. The two masters of combat stood across the courtyard, and at some signal known only to the two of them, charged.
Rin had to take a step back as the shockwave from the two Servants colliding hit her. Logically, she knew that Servants were the absolute peak of humanity, that the weakest servant could probably take out every magus in the association combined without much effort, but it was another thing to actually see it. Archer and Lancers were indistinguishable blurs of red and blue as they clashed against each other. Every blow that clashed shook the very air, jarring her teeth. Even despite all this confusion, she realized that her servant was losing. Whenever the Servants disengaged momentarily, she saw that her servant was all slashed up while Lancer only had a small cut on his cheek. She blamed it on the low stats her Servant had due to her lackluster summoning.
As such, Rin was in trouble, especially when she heard the red-eyed Servant's next words.
"Well, Archer, color me impressed. As much as I'm enjoying this, my Master grows impatient. He's giving me prana to use my noble phantasm. As such, our duel has come to an end. You have been an honorable foe."
As he said this, his spear began glowing an unholy red as he took it up in both hands, point facing the ground. After a second, he seemed satisfied with the amount of prana in the spear. He took a step forward, posed to throw the spear.
"Sorry about this, Archer boy. But it's time to die. GAE B-"
His attack was cut off as both him and Archer simultaneously turned toward some disturbance known only to them. Lancer stood, spear still poised to strike Archer but now gazing into the darkness.
"Who's there? Come on out!"
Rin looked in the direction the Servants were staring and saw to her horror, Harry Potter, with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face. She once again cursed to herself. If a mundane learned of magic, they either had to be hypnotized or killed, and from the way Lancer was eyeing up Harry, he wouldn't be too amendable to the first option. Just as she was about to ask Archer to intervene, Harry turned and bolted. Lancer grinned to himself and gave chase.
Harry was patrolling with his three Servants, the Homunculi, and Sakura when his reinforced hearing picked up the unmistakable sound of metal on metal. Knowing that he had found what he was looking for, he told the Homunculi to stay back and guard Sakura while he started issuing orders to his Servants. Rider and Caster reluctantly parted with him to fulfill his orders while Assassin assumed her customary position a step behind him and to the left, staying astralized. He was confidant that with Assassin behind him an entire army could come at him and Assassin would decimate them simply for the audacity of their action. His plan in mind he gave the order for her to follow him and jogged in the direction of the clashing.
When Harry arrived at the scene, he used what magecraft he knew to essentially simulate an Assassin's presence concealment. It wasn't as effective as the genuine article, but against two knight class Servants engaged in battle, it would do. He watched as Rin Tohsaka of all people had her Archer Servant fight a Lancer Servant. As he observed the battle unfold, he saw that Archer was decisively losing. Harry knew Rin as Sakura's sister, and while Sakura might not particularly like Rin due to a feeling of abandonment, he also knew that Sakura still cared something for her sister.
With this in mind, Harry resolved to enact the plan he had set up. He stood up, canceled his presence concealment, and kicked a nearby rock. Immediately, both Servants stopped what they were doing and looked in his direction. Harry put on his best shocked face, stood for a moment, and then ran in the direction of the school building. He heard Lancer giving chase and had to suppress a small grin at his plan succeeding.
He ran into the school gymnasium, still acting like a terrified sixth-grader. Lancer was on his reinforced heels like a hound baying for blood. The second the Servant was across the threshold, Harry sent a mental signal to Rider and Caster, who were lying in wait as he had ordered. Rider shot out her chain, wrapping it around his legs and tripping him up. He fell forward onto a magic circle Caster had drawn in front of the entrance, which activated and restrained him. Assassin deastralized as she walked over to his prone form with a predatory grace, enraged at his attempt to kill her most beloved god and Master, and tapped him on the head. Lancer's eyes barely had time to widen as his brain was transformed to gunpowder and promptly detonated, showering the surrounding area in gore. Assassin casually resumed her position at Harry's shoulder as if she hadn't just turned a man's head into a bomb. Rider and Caster both ran up to Harry, concerned for his well-being, despite their Master Servant link informing them of such. Upon seeing the gore all over Harry, Caster quickly chanted her Divine Words and cleaned him off. Assassin had somehow come out of the ordeal without a single stain on the ridiculously revealing black dress she had been summoned in, despite the fact that she had been literally less than a foot from Lancer when he exploded. Perhaps she simply had practice with the technique.
With Lancer dead and already disappearing, Harry sat down on the bleachers to wait for Rin and what looked like either Saber or Archer to show up. While he was waiting, he ordered Rider and Caster to astralize and hide in the corners of the room and sent a mental message to the Homunculi that it was safe to bring Sakura, but to still be wary. Thanks to Caster, Harry was able to set up a mental communication system with the Homunculi that ran on similar principles to Master Servant telepathy. Apparently it only worked since like Servants, Harry's homunculi bore his prana signature due to having been created by him. He received an acknowledgement from the Homunculi and turned back to the door just in time to see Rin burst into the room with Archer at her back. The first thing she saw was the copious amount of blood around the entrance and Harry watched her eyes widen as she feared the worst. He then watched that fear turn into bewilderment as she looked up and saw him leaning back in the bleachers, untouched and unstained. She just stood there and stuttered incomprehensibly until he finally cut her off. At his mental cue, his three servants deastralized, cold eyes searching the girl and her Servant for threats to their Master and ready to annihilate them both if they were.
"So, Rin, we should probably talk."
"Well, that went significantly better than expected," Harry thought as he and his Servants left the school building. He idly wondered if he should have Assassin grab the security footage of that meeting as a birthday present for Sakura. Deciding it would be funny, he did so. As Harry sent Assassin off to get the recording, he thought back on the meeting with Rin and Archer. It had gone surprisingly well. He and Rin had worked out a deal where Harry didn't kill Rin or wish for anything destructive on the Grail in exchange for Rin granting him whatever assistance he demanded in the war. This negotiation did take slightly longer than expected due to Rin being absolutely terrified and Archer insulting her in one way or another every couple of words. After having Caster write up a geass scroll which they signed, the two parted ways. Fortunately, Caster left a loophole for Harry in the scroll in the form of the fact that the type of assistance Harry could request from Rin wasn't specified, so he could demand literally anything from her so long as it didn't kill her and she would be forced to comply. Harry didn't have any intentions of utilizing the loophole, but better to be safe than sorry. Once Assassin returned with the recording and his Servants took up positions around him, Harry mentally called the Homunculi with instruction on where to meet him. Harry met up with them and once they had finished their worrying over his risky meeting with another Master, Monica spoke up.
"Will we be returning to the Matou estate, Master?"
"You three will. Go back to the estate and get some rest. Sakura, the Servants, and I have another stop we need to make tonight."
When the doorbell roused Kiritsugu Emiya from his sleep, he wasn't sure what to think. He checked the clock in his bedroom and saw that it was one A.M. Normally, this would have made him very suspicious of whoever was at the door, especially during the middle of the Grail War, but the hostile-intent bounded fields weren't going off, which meant that whoever was at the door didn't mean him any harm. Still, it was better to err on the side of caution, so on his way to the door he stopped by Saber's room and woke her up. She dressed herself and took a seat in the sitting room. Kiritsugu continued to the door and opened it up to see two children, both of whom he recognized.
The first child was a boy, with jet black hair bearing a steak of purple, cold green eyes, circular glasses, a small but strong build, and a jagged scar stretching across his forehead. Kiritsugu felt a twinge of guilt as he recognized the boy as Harry Potter, the only survivor of the fire started by Kiritsugu's attempt to destroy the Grail. The second child was a girl, with long purple hair and purple eyes completely devoid of life or happiness. Kiritsugu felt pity well up inside him as he remembered the young girl the Tohsaka family had left in the clutches of the disgusting Zouken Matou. Kiritsugu was suspicious, but he wasn't about to leave two ten year old children out in the cold in the middle of the night during the Grail War. The boy opened his mouth to speak but Kiritsugu cut him off.
"Hello... um... it cold outside. Would you care to come in to discuss whatever you're here for?"
Kiritsugu watched the Matou girl, Sakura he believed her name was, turn to look at Harry in a shy, questioning sort of way. When her eyes landed on him, Kiritsugu saw an immediate shift from devoid of life to incomprehensible love and joy. Kiritsugu was stunned at the change in the girl simply from looking at Harry. When Harry looked back at her, he gave a slight nod before looking back at Kiritsugu.
"Thank you sir, that would be appreciated."
Kiritsugu stepped back from the doorway to allow the two to enter. They stepped in, removed their shoes, and gave traditional Japanese thanks for being invited into someone's home. Kiritsugu led them to the sitting room, where Saber had been listening in as a precaution. As Harry rounded the corner, Saber went from relaxed but cautious to full-blown battle mode. She leapt up from her sitting position, drawing Excalibur in the process and pointed it at Harry. His usually composed Servant's reaction immediately put Kiritsugu on edge.
"Saber, whats wrong?"
"Three Servants are standing behind the boy, very powerful ones at that," Saber replied, not taking her eyes off Harry or the Servants behind him.
Kiritsugu tensed as panic flooded his mind. Objectively, he knew that Saber was a very strong Servant, but Kiritsugu wasn't able to support her at full strength, and even if he could, he didn't think she could take on three enemy Servants in close quarters. Looking at Harry warily, Kiritsugu was surprised when Harry put his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"Relax please, Kiritsugu Emiya and Saber, I'm here under a white flag."
Kiritsugu was confused at that. The boy somehow got his hands on three Servants and brought them to his house simply to talk? Kiritsugu had quite a lot of experience with liars during his time as the Magus Killer, and he could not see any hint of deceit in the boy. Saber seemed to concur as she slowly lowered her weapon. Kiritsugu motioned toward the couch opposite Saber as he took a seat next to her. Harry and Sakura sat opposite to them and from the way Saber's eyes followed the air, the boy's three Servants stood behind their Master. Seeing that the owner of the house was waiting for him to start, Harry started the discussion.
"So, Mr. Emiya, before we begin discussing anything, I have a request. One of my Servants is Caster. Do I have your permission for her to set up a certain type of bounded field around the house? You may examine it, of course, to ensure it's nothing malevolent. Though I cannot explain what it is, the bounded field relates to the topic of our discussion."
The Magus Killer was opposed to the idea, but also knew that he wasn't really in a position to decline should the boy force the issue. He gave his hesitant consent and watched as the boy motioned toward a nearby wall and a woman in a hooded dress materialized out of thin air and began drawing a sigil on it. While Kiritsugu didn't know much about constructing bounded fields, more about breaking them, he knew enough to recognize that the bounded field the Caster was setting up was designed to block magical signals of some sort from entering the house, though what kind of magical signals he hadn't the foggiest. The Servant finished the field and powered it up. Harry breathed a visible sigh of relief and relaxed.
"Thanks you, Caster."
"Of course, Master."
With that, the woman astralized again. Harry leaned back on the sofa and put a comforting arm on Sakura, who was looking scared for him. At his touch, her eyes lit up, she blushed, and she shyly leaned into him. All in all, it was rather adorable, Kiritsugu thought. Harry looked up at Kiritsugu to continue the conversation.
"I thank you for your show of trust, Mr. Emiya. With that bounded field up, I can speak much more freely than I usually would. As you likely know, I am Harry Potter, and this is Sakura Matou," Harry said, motioning toward himself and Sakura respectively.
"What you likely don't know, Mr. Emiya, is that I have also been a ward of the Matou family since the Fuyuki fire and am their representative in this war. But, as you and I are both aware, with the Grail corrupted, there will be no winner to this war."
It was only Kiritsugu's ingrained composure from his years as an assassin and Saber's diplomatic training as a king that kept them from gaping at that statement. A ten year old boy had figured out that the Grail was corrupted?
"While I agree with you, what does this have to do with us?" Kiritsugu asked.
"I can help you destroy the Grail, but I need your assistance with something first," Harry said bluntly.
"What would that be?" Kiritsugu inquired, a tad apprehensively.
"What exactly do you know of the Matou brand of magecraft, Zouken's specifically?"
"Very little, I'm afraid. They've always been rather tight-lipped about it."
"Well, you see, Mr. Emiya, Zouken Matou specializes in a very twisted form of magecraft. His greatest weapons are his familiars. What he does is turn specially bred magical worms into his familiars. Once implanted into family members, they feed on their host and in exchange can operate as crude artificial magic circuits. In men, the worms feed on bone marrow and spinal fluid. In women, they incite and feed on lust. Fortunately, neither of us have to deal with these yet, as I produce enough magical energy to sate them and Sakura has not undergone puberty yet. Unfortunately, neither of these circumstances will last, as I can only keep them sated for so long before they become accustomed to my magic and start feeding on my body, and Sakura will hit puberty in roughly three years. The worms also bear another problem. They are all Zouken Matou's familiars and he implants dozens of them into every magus in the family. What do you imagine he could do with them?"
Kiritsugu was already horrified from the boys explanation, but the horror grew even further as he realized the implications of the boy's question.
"He could monitor and take complete control of any magus the worms are implanted in," Kiritsugu said grimly.
Harry nodded his head as Sakura buried her head in his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her to comfort her.
"Do you understand why I ordered Caster to put up a bounded field that would cut Zouken's connection to his familiars?"
Kiritsugu nodded once again before a question dawned on him.
"So, why did you even agree to have the worms implanted in the first place?"
Kiritsugu knew that was the wrong question as Sakura further buried her head in Harry's shoulder and started crying. Harry gave him a positively murderous glare before spitting out his reply.
"Neither of us agreed to have the worms implanted. Zouken has a pit in the basement full of them. Sakura had been tossed in there a week before I was. The worms simply enter you any way they can. Sakura lost her virginity to a fucking worm and I have had dozens of the things eat me from the outside simply to get it. If I didn't know medical alchemy, I would be more scar tissue than human."
Kiritsugu really did gape this time as Saber tightened her grip on her sword to the point where the metal started creaking, looking about five seconds from jumping up, tracking down Zouken, and shoving Excalibur down his throat. A familiar feeling welled up inside her as she gazed at the boy sitting across from her, protectiveness. She looked into the boy's eyes and saw courage, determination, and a desire to protect, which as a knight, she could get behind, it was what a knight was for after all. Harry finally calmed Sakura down and spoke up again.
"With this explained, I have my request. I understand that the catalyst you used to summon your servant is Avalon. Under normal circumstances, surgically removing the crest worms would cause them to attempt to do as much damage as they could on the way out by releasing poisons and doing as much damage to the nervous system as they could, but if we flood Avalon with prana, we can use it to purge the worms as they are unhealthy to the body, along with any nasty surprises they might leave. So, Mr. Emiya, I request of you, will you permit me to make use of Avalon in exchange for my assistance in destroying the Grail?"
Saber gave Kiritsugu a look and said, "Kiritsugu, while I know you're probably going to agree, just so you know, if you don't, I will kill you and pull Avalon out of your corpse. These kids need this and it is my duty as a knight to protect them."
Kiritsugu glared back at her. "Saber, do you truly think so little of me? These kids need help and by God I'm going to help them. Here, kid," Kiritsugu said before grimacing and pulling Avalon in all its glory out of his chest and setting it on the table. Harry picked the sheath up with a look of gratitude in his eyes.
"Do you mind if I make use of you room over there?" he asked, indicating toward the guest room.
"Be my guest," Kiritsugu replied.
Harry took Sakura by the hand and led her into the guest room. Saber watched the boy's three Servants follow him in.
Once the door was shut, Kiritsugu and Saber both let out the emotions they had been holding in during the conversation. Kiritsugu wept for the first time in years at the knowledge that he was somewhat responsible as the fire he started led to Harry being taken in by that slimy worm Zouken Matou. Saber looked after the boy, silently vowing to protect one so like her. While the boy had not said so, she could clearly see that he operated as a shield against Zouken for that Sakura girl. Seeing the similarities between herself and the boy and thinking about the consequences that road had led her down, she knew that she couldn't let any misfortune befall the boy, whatever the cost.
In the guest room of the Emiya estate, Harry laid Sakura down on the bed. Pulling out Avalon and resting it beside her, he gently removed her shirt. Normally this would be a very intimate thing, but Harry and Sakura had slept together in the worm pit naked for three straight months before. Sakura still blushed as Harry folded the shirt and set it to the side. He picked up the sheath, rested the point above her heard, took her hand in his, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You ready?"
Sakura nodded, keeping his hand in a death grip like she usually did as Harry powered up the sheath and it slowly lowered itself into her. Instantly, her body was wracked with pain as the worms desperately tried to fight the presence that was killing and dissolving them, but to no avail. Any normal person would have already passed out from the pain but with her beloved Harry there, she barely felt a thing. It took another hour before Harry declared the process complete, having checked her over four times, then called Caster over to do her own examination and her concurring. Satisfied, Harry carefully removed Avalon from her. While she had been somewhat numb to the changes while it was in her, once it was gone, she felt things she hadn't felt in five years. The two major things she noticed were that her hymen had returned and her body didn't feel as dirty and disgusting as it once did. She knew she was getting her hopes up, but maybe Harry would accept her like this. She looked up at the man who had done so much for her, tears welling in her eyes. She did the only thing she could think to do. She lunged up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him into a kiss. It wasn't a kiss born out of lust or desire, but one of pure love and devotion. She looked into his beautiful green eyes and knew that she would belong to them forever for this. Gazing into his eyes, she smiled for the first time since her parents had abandoned her.
"Harry, I love you.
It was another hour before Sakura finally stopped crying into his shirt and fell asleep next to him on the bed. Even asleep, she maintained the death grip she had held him in since the operation was complete. She hadn't held onto him like this since their first night in the pit. Fortunately for Harry, he had the foresight to go ahead and implant Avalon in himself while she did this, so the process was almost complete in him as well. Once it was, he would have to wake Sakura up and take care of some business, but for now, he could let her sleep for another hour. Harry took the moment to send a quick message to the Homunculi in the manor over his mental link with some instructions.
Inside Harry's soul, an ancient being was in great distress. Angra Mainyu had been quite happy with its host, implanted in the worms that were stuck in the boy's body. It was able to slowly build power by leeching it from the worms it was implanted in. Pretty soon, it would be powerful enough to start influencing the boy's thoughts and desires to make him a more suitable host. That all changed though when a sudden holy presence flooded the boy. The holy light started killing the worms, leaving Mainyu without a container. It was too weak to penetrate the boy's soul, especially now with holy light weakening it. Desperate, it started searching around for some escape when it felt it. Somehow, this boy had a second, weaker soul inside him. Not one to pass up an opportunity, Angra Mainyu dove headfirst into this new soul. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly careful in its haste to escape Avalon, and as a result essentially lobotomized the soul fragment, removing the personality and only leaving memories and abilities. This little hidey-hole permitted Angra Mainyu to safely hide from the light. It would be unable to gain any power in here, but if the boy got close enough to the Grail, it should be able to take over the body.
At the Matou manor, Zouken was shaking with anger. That boy had gone and defied him! He had pulled that boy out of the rubble and turned him into a magnificent magus and this was how he repaid that generosity? The boy had somehow gone and killed the worms inside himself and Sakura. Zouken would not let this stand. He would go out there and show that impudent boy what happens to people who defy the head of the Matou family! He mentally called every worm he had spread throughout the city as scouts back to the pit. Let's see that boy defy him again after a night completely buried in worms! Zouken would even take manual control to make them violate his lovely granddaughter right in front of the boy, over and over again and then burrow into his eyes, take control of his brain, and make him rewatch the scene for a week. Zouken stormed out the door of the office so enraged that he forgot one important detail. He was reminded of that detail as a baton weighing several hundred pounds hit him in the back of the head like a speeding truck, knocking him unconscious.
With that worm who had harmed their Master unconscious, Leanna, Monica, and Joy followed the orders their Master had telepathically relayed to them and dragged him down into the basement. There, they kicked him into the worm pit, though not without taking the time to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. With him in the pit and still unconscious, Monica activated the bounded field she had been instructed to set up over the pit. The field would keep Zouken completely contained along with all of the worms he had summoned from all over the city. With Zouken trapped, the Homunculi set themselves up to await their Master.
After letting her rest an hour, Harry roused Sakura. Feeling the worms inside him gone, he pulled Avalon out of him. Looking up from the chair he had fallen asleep in, he saw his three Servants standing around the room, standing at silent attention. Harry tilted his head as the Homunculi confirmed that their mission was complete, before giving a grin that would have sent sharks running. He looked at his Servants and Sakura, who was now awake and looking at him with a bright smile and love in her eyes.
"Well, it appears that my plan has come to fruition. Sakura, I have a surprise for you."
Sakura looked at him, still smiling. "What is it Harry?"
Harry just kept up his own, bloodthirstier grin. "That's a surprise. We'll have to go to the estate to see it though."
Sakura walked over to him, and as usual latched onto his hand, but took it a step further by completely pressing herself against his side. He imagined that if she could walk while hugging him tightly, she would be doing so right now. Harry ordered his Servants to follow him and they took up their own usual defensive formation around him. He walked out of the room back into the sitting room where Kiritsugu and Saber were still sitting, drinking tea. Saber and Kiritsugu both looked at him, visible concern on their faces.
"How are you two feeling? I tried to check on you two earlier, but your Servants wouldn't let me in. They said you were resting."
Harry mentally sent his thanks to his Servants for letting them rest after that ordeal. His Servants simply reaffirmed that they would protect him in every way necessary, and that it was their duty as part of that. Harry thanked them nonetheless.
"We're feeling much better. The operation was a complete success. We were just heading back to the estate now to well..." Harry looked at Sakura before leaning over and whispering into Kiritsugu's ear before leaning back and Sakura latching onto him again.
"Would you care to join us?" Harry asked.
Kiritsugu got a grin on his face and Harry could tell that he mentally communicated it to Saber because she suddenly sported the same grin. Both of them nodded in agreement. Harry handed Avalon back over to Kiritsugu before heading toward the door. Harry idly noted that his Servants still stayed between him and their new allies. Apparently they didn't entirely trust the two, even after all this. That, or they were just being over-protective again. Harry figured it was likely the second. The group of seven made their way into the Matou estate, though the doors, and down into the basement. Kiritsugu and Saber nearly vomited when the stench of the worms hit them, but they pressed on down to the pit room. There, they met up with Harry's three Homunculi. Once introduction were done, they all looked down into the pit. There, Zouken was raging, desperately trying to find a way out of the pit, but the bounded field Monica had set up was designed by Caster, and as such was damn near invincible. Harry looked over at Assassin, who was still in her usual position a step behind him and two the left, watching him impassively, awaiting orders.
"Assassin, you know what to do."
"Yes, Master," Assassin replied obediently as she stepped up to the edge of the pit. She stood there for a moment before a strange humming filled the air. The ten people at the top of the pit were unaffected, but inside the pit was a different story. Assassin was utilizing one of her noble phantasms, Ichor of Reverie. It worked by producing a targeted sound that permitted her to take control of or disrupt a foe's magical circuits. On a magus, she could use this to make them do anything from dance to self immolate. On the worms, which were basically living magical circuits, she had complete control to make them do whatever she wished, even ordering them to eat their Master alive. Zouken's screams echoed throughout the chamber as he was eaten alive by his own pets. He couldn't even die as each time he did, his consciousness was transferred to another worm, which the rest would immediately eat. Zouken had to suffer being eaten alive by his worms thousands of times before he was finally down to one.
It tried to flee into a crack in the wall but was stopped by Rider's knife impaling its tail. Harry walked down to it, followed by the entire group. He projected a can of gasoline and a lighter. After thoroughly submersing Zouken in gasoline, he flicked open the lighter, lit it, and tossed it on him. The blaze was absolutely glorious as for the first time since his arrival there, Harry felt at peace. Saber leaned over and whispered an offer in his ear. Looking around the place, Harry realized that the entire mansion held nothing but bad memories. He told Sakura and the Homunculi to grab what possessions they wanted before going and looting his workshop of the things he wanted to take, which wasn't a lot. Everything he took fit into the duffel bag he had projected.
Once everything was sorted, Harry alchemically turned all the air in the mansion into concentrated hydrogen gas, sealed the building, and rigged up a lighter inside to a detonator. He stepped outside with Sakura still clinging to his side. She had not let go for even a second since he had removed the worms. Everyone stood behind the two as he offered her the detonator. She contemplated it for a moment, before letting go of him with one hand, grabbing it, leaning up to kiss him once again, and pressing the trigger. The entire house exploded. Caster placed a bounded field around them to protect everyone from the shrapnel. Hearing sirens in the distance, Harry took Saber up on her whispered offer of asylum at the Emiya estate.
Back at the Emiya estate, Kiritsugu had offered Harry and Sakura separate rooms before Sakura glared at him murderously and he retracted the offer. He then offered the Homunculi separate rooms with similar results and set up futons next to Harry's bed. As Sakura climbed into bed next to him, naked as she usually slept in the worm pit, Harry realized that this was the first time in his life he had slept in a bed. He had been forced to sleep on the floor of the broom cupboard at the Dursley's and only slept with the worms at the Matou's. Even though Sakura fell asleep next to him, tightly clinging with a beautiful smile, Harry stared at the ceiling, unable to get used to the sensation of sleeping in a bed. Finally, Rider materialized next to him.
"What's wrong, Master? Don't you like the bed?"
"It's not that, it's just, I've never slept in one before." Harry admitted, still staring at the ceiling. He was startled as he felt something warm slide next to him. His eyes widened as he saw Rider in nothing but her blindfold next to him, hugging his arm like Sakura was. He was about to speak up when he felt something warm wrap around his leg. He looked down to see Assassin entirely naked hugging his leg between her breasts looking up at him with a content expression on her face. He was interrupted from his thoughts yet again when Caster deastralized naked next to his other leg and duplicated Assassin's position. Finally, Leanna, Monica, and Joy climbed in beside him and settled in, also all naked. Finally, Harry found his voice.
"What the hell are you all doing?"
Rider somehow conveyed a flat look from behind her blindfold.
"Master, if you can't sleep because you're uncomfortable, then we'll just have to make you comfortable. If climbing in to bed next to you is what it takes then it is our duty as your Servants to do so."
"Besides, I can't sleep without a teddy bear," Rider added teasingly.
"Why are you all naked?"
"Well, in the time Caster, Assassin, and I are from, women don't sleep with undergarments. I suppose with the other three it is just a personal preference." The homunculi nodded in confirmation.
Harry just sighed. He did have to admit, he was very comfortable. Before he even realized it, he'd drifted off to the most peaceful sleep he'd ever had in his life.
