CHAPTER 7:

MEDEA

On a notion, Harry had been checking some texts at Ryuudou Temple for anything that might be useful for dealing with Zouken. He had claimed to the monks that he was researching Buddhist rituals, particularly those relating to exorcism. Harry had good enough relations with Issei and Kuzuki to be given access (the former being there, but the latter still at the school), having taken the day off while repairs were made to the library. Unfortunately, none of the rituals seemed to be of any use.

Still, the Bounded Field around the temple seemed to be excellent against Heroic Spirits: they could only enter through the front gate. Maybe it was something he could study when he had more time. Harry decided to head down the mountain first before Apparating back to the Tohsaka Manor, disappointed by the lack of useful information. He had hoped he would find anything that could help him. Hell, he'd even accept the help of a Caster Servant, despite hearing about the depravities of the Caster Servant of the previous Grail War.

Well, some people may have cautioned him to be careful of what he wished for, lest he got it. Then again, to use another cliché, it was the beginning of a very beautiful friendship.

It had begun to rain, and Harry cursed the fact that he had forgotten to get an umbrella. He was just reaching the bottom of the stairs leading up to Ryuudou Temple when he heard a sound, of something pushing its way through the nearby undergrowth. He was instantly on edge. "Who's there?" he demanded.

From behind a nearby tree staggered an extraordinary figure. Dressed in dark robes, with a hood, the slender figure should have been sinister. But its posture was pathetic, weak. A throaty, weak chuckle emanated from the hood, and Harry realised, with a start, that the figure was a woman. "Just a ghost whose time is passed," she muttered.

A ghost? Sensing no immediate threat, Harry gingerly took a few steps forward. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?" the woman retorted, lavender hair spilling out from underneath her hood, blue lips pursed in annoyance, resignation…and sorrow. Tear tracks were just visible on her face. Then, after a moment, she said, "My apologies. I am just…I am dying."

"Can I do anything to help? I can bring you home, give you shelter," Harry said. "Medical treatment?"

The woman seemed about to retort, only to swoon. Harry dashed forward, catching her as she fell, and called out, "FAWKES!" In a burst of fire and song, the Phoenix appeared. Grabbing onto Harry, who held onto the woman, the three of them vanished.

A few minutes later, when Souichirou Kuzuki came across the scene, he saw nothing but footsteps. He had heard, distantly, the strange ethereal song, and found his hollow heart, for the first time, touched. No smile came to his lips, but the lifelong killer's steps up the stairs were considerably lighter than they had been. Even if this time around, he wouldn't know the love of a strange, sorrowful woman, there was a slight lifting of the burden he carried…

Rin wasn't home, having gone to Kirei to discuss matters about the upcoming Holy Grail War. Harry thought better her than him. Something about Kirei had him on edge. The fact that the man, in the admittedly few times he had met him, had some sort of vague attitude of schadenfreude.

Anyway, Fawkes brought them into the study, and Harry look at Fawkes. "Can your tears help?"

The bird nodded, and he wept tears into the woman's mouth. She coughed and spluttered, but was soon sitting up, her hood falling away. And Harry couldn't help but stare at the woman's features.

She looked like an elf from the pages of Tolkien, her lavender hair framing beautiful features that nonetheless held great sorrow in them, and not just from the tear streaks marring her cheeks. Her eyes were sky blue, and her ears were pointed. It was hard to tell what her age was: while inhumanly and agelessly beautiful, he got the sense that she was at least in her thirties if not older.

She licked her lips, frowning. "Phoenix Tears. A powerful antidote and restorative. And filled with enough mana to give me a boost. But I had thought Phoenixes had gone extinct by this time."

"It's a long story," Harry said, his suspicions about who, or rather, what this woman was beginning to grow. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Harry Tohsaka. Are you a Magus too?"

The woman chuckled, the sound being bitter. "In a manner. As you are a Magus, I can tell you what I am. You may call me Caster."

"A Servant…" Harry murmured in horrified realisation. He had just brought an enemy into his family home. But then, why had she been at death's door when he found her? "And your Master?"

"Dead," Caster said bluntly.

Harry looked at her. She seemed singularly lacking in any kind of sympathy for her Master, which didn't bode well. If she was willing to vanish from the world to be rid of a Master, then that meant bad things about her, or her former Master. "And your Master? His name?"

"Atrum Galliasta."

Harry frowned. He knew the name. An alchemy specialist of considerable note, Zelretch had dismissed him as a third-rate hack who was rumoured to kidnap people for use in his experiments, and who had bought his way into Clock Tower. A bit more amoral than the average Magus, then, if not immoral.

And then, he realised, this could very well be the golden opportunity he had been hoping for. He had wanted a Caster Servant, and one had fallen right into his lap. The question was, could he trust her?

After a moment's consideration, he went over to the Pensieve he had set up in the study. To visitors, the few that came, it was an ornamental fountain he had picked up in his travels. Not entirely incorrect: he had stolen it from Dumbledore's office after the dust had settled, though he had it redecorated. "Do you know what this is?"

Caster stood, and walked over. "I can guess. It seems like a certain type of scrying vessel used to house memories and view them."

"Exactly. I wish to see your memories. At the very least, those around your summoning and your Master," Harry said. "If I'm satisfied…"

"You wish for me to become your Servant?" Caster asked, raising a lavender eyebrow.

"I'd ask you, yes," Harry said.

"How polite," Caster said, with a sardonic edge to her tone. "And what if I refuse to let you see my memories?"

"Then you can go and find someone else. Or maybe I can tell my sister to make a contract with you, though she seems set on getting a Saber when the time comes."

Caster seemed to debate with herself, before she grimaced. "My time runs short. Very well."

Harry took out his wand. He rarely used it nowadays, but it still had its uses. "Please bring the memories you want me to see to the forefront of your…"

"Kindly do not lecture me, Tohsaka. I have used similar means before, though I had thought they had gone the way of the Olympians," Caster snapped, a little irritably.

"Okay," Harry said, before gently touching the wand to her temple, and drawing out the silvery threads, which he dropped into the Pensieve. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he put his head into it…

Caster watched as the young man shoved his head into the scrying bowl. She sighed quietly to herself as she sat back down. While she hadn't given him any highlights from her mortal life, she had given him the unedited time she had been summoned by that fool Atrum Galliasta. And while she wasn't averse to using amoral or even immoral methods, she had some standards, and in any case, Atrum's methods of harvesting mana from kidnapped people was ridiculously inefficient. The act of a third-rate Magus she had said, perhaps a little unwisely but certainly truthfully.

But that petty, petulant man, already incensed at Caster's inability to summon a Dragon (through the Golden Fleece), had promptly used a Command Seal to force her to not use Rule Breaker on him. While that was prudent, she had to admit, calling her a backstabbing witch, while not inaccurate, was just rude. Being hit by that hack was just adding insult to injury. She'd already suspected he had little respect for women, what with his harem of what appeared to be Homunculi. Probably turned them off with his attitude, so he had to make his own in a vat or something. And his intentions to wait out the Grail War until the fighting was almost over offended her. Being on the defensive was one thing, but there were times when she'd have to make a sortie, and she would love to vanquish her foes, albeit on her own terms.

In any case, she wondered whether this Harry Tohsaka was any better. In a way, this young man reminded her rather unpleasantly of Jason. Not with any unpleasant aspects to his nature, but anything that reminded her of her first husband was unpleasant just by association. Of the Argonauts, the only one she even maintained any kind of friendship with after her relationship with Jason turned sour was that oaf Heracles, and maybe that was due to their sharing the tendency of being shat upon by the Olympians.

In a way, that was one of the reasons why she was allowing this boy to see her memories, at least of those after she was summoned. There was a quality in his eyes that wasn't unlike Heracles', of a weariness, of having the weight of the world on one's shoulders as much as Atlas had the sky on his. Despite his apparently young age, there seemed to be something old to him, too experienced.

She could erase his memories of her identity before she left, perhaps even the memories of her meeting him. If…no, when he decided to reject her.

Still, the Phoenix had helped save her, even if temporarily. She reached out a hand to stroke its head on an idle whim, and to her astonishment, it allowed her to, trilling sadly. "You'd allow me to touch you?" she asked softly. "I don't need your pity, any more than I need his." A little less bitterly, but certainly sadly, she added, "You're still a magnificent bird. And thank you for your gift of tears. Even if I don't deserve them."

The Phoenix trilled again, as if to suggest that it gave the tears to her freely, of its own will. "Do you know him that well? Can I trust him?" The Phoenix nodded. "The question is, will he trust me?" she said to herself. Phoenixes, unless bound against their will, were reputed to be marvellous judges of character, though that this one assented to allow her to touch it, let alone heal her with its tears, seemed to put the lie to this. She wasn't worth helping.

Some minutes later, Tohsaka finished reviewing her memories, removing his head from the scrying bowl, and looking at her. She expected the wariness in his eyes, the lack of trust. She hadn't edited her name out of the memories. But there was something else in those emerald eyes. Pity? No, nothing as lacking as pity. No, there was something else. There was an empathy there…and perhaps even hope.

"I have a few questions before we go on," he said. "The first is, are you willing to avoid going after innocents for mana?"

"Yes, if you are my Master. I would prefer not to anyway."

"And if I spare the life of an enemy Master, you will be fine with that?"

"Why? Do you particularly feel inclined to be merciful?"

"I'm just worried that my family and friends may get caught up in this as Masters," Tohsaka said. "Even if it meant just putting them into a coma until the Grail War was over or something, though I don't think I'd have to go that far. And I'd prefer to only kill a Master if they're more like your former Master."

"I will consider it, but if that Master is an immediate threat to you, I will end that threat," Caster said. She didn't know whether having a Master with scruples was any better, but then again, he did seem to acknowledge that there were Masters he might have to kill, and was willing to.

"Right. And to make things clear…I won't use the Command Seals on you unless I find them necessary," Tohsaka said. "Anyway, my last question: do you know of any way to remove or transmute Crest Worms in someone into benign magic circuits without killing or crippling the host?"

Caster couldn't help her eyes widening in shock. Those vile things were still being used as familiars in this day and age?! That was appalling, to say the least. She looked Tohsaka in the eyes once her shock and disgust had died down, and nodded. "It is possible," she admitted truthfully. "But devising the proper ritual will take a considerable amount of time, and we will have little to spare if we are going to fight in this."

So, he wanted to use her skills and abilities for something other than the Grail War? Well, at least he was being upfront about it. Judging by the emotion in his face, it was a friend or a relative.

"Oh thank Merlin," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. "I'm sorry to ask you, but I was told that only a Magus from the Age of the Gods would be able to do this. My youngest sister, you see. Since she was six. Since she was six," he repeated in disgust, a disgust Caster shared. Crest Worms were bad enough in adults, but in a child? She found her maternal instincts, long since buried, rising to the fore once more. And he was doing this for his family.

Well, there were worst motives, she supposed. She was surprised, though, when he walked over to her, and then went to one knee in front of her, gently taking his hands in her own. The contact allowed her to feel his magic, his mana. It awakened her avarice, and she wanted that, she wanted that now. His emerald eyes met her own.

And then, he asked, quietly, "Princess Medea of Colchis, will you stand by my side to save my sister, and to win the Grail War?"

Not Caster. Not the Witch of Betrayal. He had addressed her by her name and title, not with respect meant for her station, but respect for a fellow human, not a ghost whose time had passed. She realised that, despite his wariness, he was reaching a hand out in trust. He wanted to trust her, despite knowing who she was.

The choice was a surprisingly easy one. In any case, she could always sever their contract. So Medea said, "Yes. I will."

He nodded, before he closed his eyes, and began reciting. "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning! I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world!"

In response, she declared, knowing this was a step into the unknown, "Servant Caster accepts your contract!"

And that's when she felt it. The surge of mana. This was much more than she could have expected from a Magus of this time. It was different too, but not in a bad way. If anything, she felt a flush come to her cheeks. She felt herself become more solid, less tenuous. She saw the Command Seals appear on his hand. It seemed that the Grail had granted him the Command Seals. She noticed, oddly, that they seemed to be rather simpler than she thought they'd be, especially in comparison to Atrum's. They consisted of a triangle with a bisected circle within it.

He looked at his hand, and the way his eyes widened suggested he recognised the symbol. "Figures," he muttered, as he stood. And then, he offered her his hand, to help her up.

The gesture touched her. He had to have known that she was far from weak. And yet, he offered it out of politeness. So she took his hand, and got to her feet. "Okay, now that that's out of the way, I think you and I have to find a way to explain this to my other sister, the one I live with. She's a Magus, and may yet become a Master, so…" He flinched, and Medea heard a door slam downstairs. "Okay, Plan A's gone tits-up. So, Medea…you might want to brace yourself. Rin's got a bit of a temper…"

CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Harry's met Medea, and has become her Master. Unfortunately, Typhoon Rin might have some trouble with that…

Review-answering time! YDdraigGoch94: I was unaware that the concept of an Incarnation it was fanon, but hey.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-n-Kishin: Eventually, Shirou will access his Reality Marble.

KyonSmith13: I've no idea whether Zelretch can do that.

206er: It was actually a reference to the spinoff series Fate/Kaleid Prisma Illya, where they gain Kaleidosticks, sentient foci that talk…and at least one of them is perverted.

Vangran: I'm portraying, as noted above, her Master as being somewhat like canon. Not a rapist, but not a nice person at all. I mean, in the Unlimited Blade Works anime, Atrum seems to have a harem, probably of Homunculi.

cameronsweet5: One of the things that annoys me about fanfics is an utterly omniscient Zelretch, so while I did portray him as being completely aware of the contamination of the Grail in Perils of Magical Investigative Journalism, in other works, I have him as being aware that something might be wrong with the Grail, but unable to tell for sure, otherwise, having him turn up and say what's wrong may make the plot boring, robbing it of conflict. I fear for the universe, though, if the Doctor and Zelretch ever met. Speaking of which, I have posted a challenge (NOT a story) in the forums of DZ2 and whitetigerwolf called Battlefield: Brave Shine. For anyone interested, it's an AU of the classic series Doctor Who story Battlefield…with the Nasuverse versions of Mordred and Arturia. Seriously, can you imagine the reactions of Ace and Lethbridge-Stewart to finding out that King Arthur was a woman? Or that Excalibur can unleash a massive blast of energy?

jgkitarel: Yes. She won't be as dangerous as canon, partly due to not draining energy from all and sundry, as well as avoiding collateral damage, but she is still dangerous because she's cunning and ruthless.

Reishin Amara: So why isn't there a crossover along those lines? I mean, apart from, I think, one or two brief moments in sakurademonalchemist's stories.

Thunder Dragon: I'm going to use 'cougar' more than 'MILF' to describe Medea. And you're right about Shirou, though he's still an endearing character. I'm sorry to hear that you have PTSD, too, and I didn't know you had those conditions. That being said, how I develop Harry and the other characters is my business, and my business alone.

No numbered annotations this time.