CHAPTER 6:

THE FALSE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

As predicted, Zouken would not dare refuse Zelretch offering Sakura an apprenticeship, though he was able to ensure Sakura would stay at Fuyuki for it, even if it weren't at the Matou Manor. The flimsy reason he gave was because he wanted Sakura to continue her schooling. All this meant was that Fuyuki would have to suffer Zelretch's presence for a while, as well as George Weasley.

However, in addition to offering Sakura an apprenticeship, Zelretch offered Rin one as well. All of which meant that the two sisters would be reunited under one roof. Harry and Shirou were being roped in as 'research assistants' (read: Zelretch's enablers, like George). But that also meant that Harry and Shirou would be learning under the tutelage of one of the oldest surviving Magi to ever live.

And the first proper reunion between sisters was a sight to behold. Zelretch had commandeered a building near the Fuyuki Park, where the fire marking the end of the previous Grail War scoured the city. So when Harry and Rin finally entered…

She was waiting for them there in a conference room, along with Zelretch and Shirou, the ancient vampire putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. Her expression on her face was mixed. Shame, resentment, anger, hatred…all only subtle, but there. But there were also embers of hope.

And those embers were set alight when Rin lost her own composure, and rushed forward, throwing her arms around Sakura. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I…I just…if I had known…if Father knew about those damned things, I…"

"He didn't, grandfather said," Sakura said quietly, pushing Rin away, and looking her in the eyes. "But he still gave me away. And this is…what happened. I'm tainted, Rin, filthy, because of those things, of what they did to me, and…"

"Sakura," Rin said. "They did that to you. You did not do it to yourself. You are my sister. I may have to pretend otherwise in public, but you are still my sister, no matter what Zouken bloody Matou claims. If I had known about this sooner, I would have done something sooner. Magi or not, there are lines we shouldn't cross in our pursuit of Akasha."

"Well spoken," Zelretch said. "Magi hold themselves apart from humanity, but that does not necessarily mean they should discard it. It is a lesson that should be taught alongside the fact that Magi walk hand in hand with Death."

"This coming from the vampire?" Harry asked wryly.

Zelretch merely chuckled. "I had my condition thrust upon me by Crimson Moon Brunestud. I like people."

"Usually hearing them scream in frustration, anyway," Harry snarked. "So, can you get those things out of her?"

"Unfortunately, no. I have lived for centuries, Harry, but I believe that any ritual that could remove them safely belongs to the Age of the Gods. But there are means and methods of quelling the Crest Worms without going into the obvious methods. Not unless Mr Emiya would like to oblige?"

Shirou blushed furiously, as did Sakura, and Rin scowled. Harry said, "I think we should wait until their relationship is better. They're a bit young anyway. What methods are they? Potions or something?"

"Indeed, along with mana-expending exercises. Nothing even a Magus with qualms would object to. The potions will also make her body hostile to any attempts at further implantation of Crest Worms for some time afterwards," Zelretch said. "There are some rituals I have found that can make the Crest Worms permanently quiescent, but the problem is, Zouken could just force Sakura to be infested by more. And there are many Crest Worms in vital areas, making any removal rituals tricky. Still, we may have bought some time. Now, Sakura, did you ever learn what your Element was?"

Sakura shook her head. "I have the Matou Element of Water now."

"Well, I have been examining you since you arrived with Shirou. It seems that Zouken's vile methods obscured your true element: Imaginary Numbers, or Hollow. It's an unusual one, though not as unusual as Shirou here: he is an Incarnation."

"That means his Origin and Element are the same, right?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, and it's unusual: Sword. It's no wonder he has difficulties with magecraft beyond Structural Analysis, Reinforcement, and Projection. It means he is highly specialised. Indeed, those abilities work best with weapons like swords or blades. I dare say he could even Project a Noble Phantasm, given time and training."

"You're kidding me," Rin said flatly. "This has to be one of your jokes, Zelretch. Shirou cannot be capable of recreating a Root-damned Noble Phantasm via Projection!"

"Oh, really?" Zelretch asked. "I beg to differ."

"Wait," Harry said, holding up a hand. "Are we talking Noble Phantasms, as in the weapons of ancient heroes?"

"Of course. Shirou cannot copy their abilities, but weapons are another matter entirely," the burly bearded vampire said. "Then again, certain Noble Phantasms may be beyond his reach forever, if only because the information processed in order to recreate it may overload his brain. Like Excalibur, which was forged by the Fae, or Ea, the Sword of Rupture wielded by Gilgamesh of Uruk." He walked over to the window, peering out across at the park. "A useful and dangerous ability to have. I won't speak of this to anyone we can't trust at Clock Tower. At most, it will go to young Waver, and your friends, Harry. Once they get back from their little sojourn, anyway."

Shirou looked out across at the park, the decrepit park filled with vaguely sinister trees and a sickly sense of wrongness about it. "I was born there," he said quietly. "After I died there."

"The Fuyuki Fire?" Rin asked softly.

"Yes. My father, Kiritsugu, he was the one who saved me. But the memories of my life beforehand…they were burnt away. Could the residue from the Grail do that?"

"It's possible. With that much mana flowing out of control, who knows what would happen? And even then, there may have been something more at work," Zelretch said, indicating the park. "Have you seen anywhere truly that dismal? I walked through that park earlier, and there was something strange about it. Like it is cursed. Maybe that is what made you a palimpsest Shirou."

"A what?" Shirou asked.

"A blank slate. Forgive an old man his colourful language," Zelretch said, putting his hands behind his back. "I have had a long life. I have fought against Crimson Moon Brunestud and won. I was there when Justeaze von Einzbern gave up her very existence to become the core to the Greater Grail. I have seen so many things both light and dark through Kaleidoscope. And yet…the atmosphere in that park disturbs me at a fundamental level."

"Must be bad, considering you're one of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors," Harry remarked. "The list of things that could be a threat to you is a pretty short one."

"Indeed. And yet…I find myself wondering. The Fuyuki Fire happened after Kiritsugu Emiya ordered his Saber Servant to attack the Grail. Given the effort he expended, why did he do so? He never sent any communiques to Clock Tower. Perhaps he feared not being believed. Then again, he was a maverick, working at the edges of Magus society. Or maybe something cursed him with the inability to speak of it. We can't ask him now."

Harry winced. He'd gotten rid of the Deathly Hallows, save for the Invisibility Cloak. The Elder Wand he'd given to Hermione. The Resurrection Stone, he had thrown deep into the Black Lake at Hogwarts in disgust when he learned about his true heritage, and had interrogated his parents' shades (at least his parents were ashamed at adopting a kidnapped child, though Dumbledore had claimed to them that he had found Harry in an orphanage: Dumbledore's portrait had been singularly unrepentant). The latter could have been useful here.

Still, what was done was done. And hopefully, the next Grail War would be the next generation's problem. Assuming there wasn't something deeply wrong with the Grail…

The next several months went fairly well, even if they were somewhat hectic, dividing time between school, and magecraft tuition under Zelretch. In the meantime, Hermione, Luna, and Arc came back, with Arc and Luna laughing as Hermione tried to throttle Zelretch. Apparently she wasn't fond of magical girl outfits. Or magical foci that talked back. And she had been plotting revenge against Zelretch. True, their expedition to other universes was a learning experience…but it could do without the lesson of 'Zelretch loves magical girl anime, and will inflict it on anyone he can find'.

Once Hermione had calmed down, she began joining Harry, Shirou and George in helping Zelretch plan various pranks. One of the funnier, yet understated ones was courtesy of Hermione: sending Taiga the text of The Tyger by William Blake and framing it as part of a love letter from an anonymous love letter…albeit with enough clues to make it seem like Shinji Matou sent it. It nearly ended with Taiga beating the crap out of Shinji (who had insulted her in his angered rush to deny his involvement) with a shinai, if it weren't for Kuzuki intercepting her.

Actually, the rather grim and stoic teacher was surprisingly adept at fighting, Harry and the others learned when they witnessed that episode. Then again, there was something strange about him anyway. Harry had already marked him as one to watch. He had intercepted Taiga's shinai with ridiculous ease. Some small part of Harry wished that Shinji had had the shit beaten out of him, though.

Shirou and Rin actually worked together on the Jewel Sword that Zelretch had commissioned the Tohsakas to create years ago, and to the vampire's delight, they were making progress. True, it wouldn't be finished anytime soon, but Rin and Shirou, between them, were doing more progress than the Tohsakas managed to do before them. Shirou worked with Rin on it because, well, it was a Sword, and given that he was an Incarnation, it seemed appropriate. Not only that, but Harry's supply of gems and jewels had helped, with some rare magical gems from the world he had grown up in helping.

The relationship between Rin and Sakura had grown, and Sakura's resentment and bitterness was beginning to lessen, as was Rin's distant attitude towards her sister. Even if Sakura wasn't quite rescued from the Matous yet, she was beginning to heal. It also helped that Sakura and Shirou's relationship began to grow too.

Zelretch, however, had noted that Zouken had set a deadline for Sakura to return to him. Zelretch had discussed possible reasons why: he was almost certain Zouken used Crest Worms as an equivalent of Horcruxes, keeping his soul alive, and allowing him to transfer between bodies. Indeed, his body was partially comprised of Crest Worms. Shades of Voldemort, though Zouken's goal did not seem to be conquering the world. Unfortunately, in the amoral Magus community, that would be viewed with contempt rather than anything immoral, and even if a Sealing Designation was slapped on Zouken, one would be put on Sakura as well at the very least.

In truth, the only way to try and get those things out of Sakura permanently was to find the right sort of ritual. But they also had to find a way to ensure that Zouken could not retaliate. Preferably by wiping him out, along with his Crest Worms. Already by letting slip their existence, Sakura was in danger: Zouken would not kill her if she was valuable to him, but he had already proved himself to be a vicious sadist by having those Crest Worms violate her.

Then, the time they had been worried about came: Zouken had ordered her return. But Sakura, after talking to her grandfather, had found out some things. Zouken had learned of her relationship with Shirou, and had ordered her to cultivate a more physical relationship with him. Why he was being so generous, Harry and Rin didn't know, but the old worm was up to something. And as Zelretch headed back to London, Hermione and the others in tow, they learned why: Zouken had somehow learned that the von Einzberns had summoned a Servant.

The months of happier times had proven to be fragile, a false calm before a storm. Sakura relayed information from Zouken suggesting that the Grail War was going to start in a couple of months' time. Why Zouken would do this, they didn't know, but Harry personally thought it was a challenge, an assessment Rin herself considered. As if to say the Magus equivalent of 'come at me, bro'. After all, while it would be frowned upon, killing off Magi who were related to Masters wasn't quite against the rules, especially as Noble Phantasms had the potential to cause massive amounts of collateral damage. Zouken knew this, and was daring them to try to come and get him. Or maybe he hoped that they would get killed in the process: as Zelretch said, it was a dead certainty that a Tohsaka would be chosen, meaning either Harry or Rin.

Still, Harry and Rin made a vow: to use the Holy Grail War as a means of getting Sakura back. For good. Even if she turned out to be the Master for the Matous, they were going to fight to keep her alive, sane, and happy.

The first true step to this came about by chance. A fateful night when Harry met a witch…or rather, a Witch…

CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry, Rin and Sakura have been strengthening their relationship…but do they have a chance to stop Zouken? Well, next chapter will be Medea's debut! Yes, the debut you've all been waiting for.

Zouken, of course, is planning on Harry trying to do something stupid during the Grail War. He's pushing Shirou and Sakura together so that, when something happens to Harry and/or Shirou, she breaks in the way he wants her to. While this story will be based more on the Unlimited Blade Works route, there will be strong flavours of Heaven's Feel.

Incidentally, this would've been posted sooner, but uploading the documents to Document Manager has been troublesome lately, so while I have a whole bunch of chapters to post, it may take some time, depending.

No numbered annotations this time.