CHAPTER 16:

THE PLAYGROUND

Harry stayed at the Emiya household overnight, contacting Rin via phone and promising a full debriefing later, much to her annoyance. Medea and Arturia stood vigil over Shirou, until early the next morning (Harry not failing to notice the odd glances Medea shot Arturia, as if she had this odd desire to use the King of Knights as a dress-up doll). And when Shirou woke up, Harry chewed him out.

"Berserker is debatably the strongest class in terms of raw strength," Harry said coldly. "I am as good at getting out of shitty situations as I am getting into them. You already saw I could Apparate, and Caster could have teleported me out of there. I appreciate you trying to protect me, Shirou, but to a Berserker, you're a mere pebble on the road, and sacrificing your life to stop him was utterly pointless." As Shirou gained a look on his face that was partly stubborn, and partly contrite, Harry softened a little, before saying, "Still, taking out one of those damned familiars of hers with a Projected bow and arrow is still pretty damned good. At the very least, act as fire support, not as a human shield."

"You're wasting your time, I daresay," Medea remarked. "He's got an even worse martyrdom complex than you do. And given Arturia's Noble Phantasm within him…"

"Wait, what?!" Shirou yelped.

"You've got Avalon within you, the sheath of Excalibur. And it gives you a healing factor for virtually anything except, well, your head being destroyed," Harry said. "It must've acted as a catalyst for you to summon Arturia as Saber. But it would have limits. Anyway, we need to discuss a few things. Firstly, Caster, why didn't you use your magecraft as often last night?"

Medea wasn't offended by the question. "I could have hit Arturia, and while technically she is our opponent, it is bad form to get an ally caught up in an attack. However, the thought that the Illya girl has Command Seals throughout her body is troubling. We can't simply chop a limb off. How the von Einzberns got their hands on so many, I do not know. Maybe they shaped her magic circuits into them. It would explain how she is able to control him. She'd have to be one of the most powerful Magi alive to be able to fuel such a juggernaut." Then, she added, over their mental link, "Still, I feel confident enough, after seeing her own combat style, that I can use Rule Breaker on her. We then just need to wait out Berserker's mana reserves…or wear him down."

Harry nodded. "Okay. Still, I doubt that she'll make another move until tonight. I had Caster map out the surrounds of the von Einzbern castle on the outskirts of the city earlier, just in case. There's a lot of Bounded Fields, though. However, for the time being, our priority should be the sigils at the school. Given that the sigils regenerate, all we can do is flush out the enemy Master."

"Umm, question? How are we going to explain this to Big Sis Fuji and Sakura?" Shirou asked, putting up a hand.

"Sakura's already aware that Caster is a Servant, so that's not the problem," Harry said. "I'll explain the situation to her, once I confirm a couple of things. Taiga's another matter. We'll state a version of the truth. Arturia is an old associate of Kiritsugu's. She came here to act as your bodyguard as he made some enemies during his prior work, and they're gunning for you. We need a pseudonym, but I think that'll work." Then, an impish smile came across his features. Time for some classic misdirection…

Arturia found the first name of his suggested alias somewhat irritating, and had explained why: the Caster of the previous Grail War had mistaken her for the very person he was giving her the name of. Which made it all the more funnier for Harry, the previous Caster's tendency towards serial murder aside.

So Arturia Pendragon was introduced to Taiga as Joan Flamel. She had known Kiritsugu and his associates some years ago, and was actually a bodyguard, despite her young age. Harry asked Taiga to help with smoothing over any details for a transfer.

Now, Taiga's reaction was somewhat mixed. She wasn't sure she approved of having a girl of Shirou's age (at least in appearance) in the same house as him, and she was a bit clueless as to Kiritsugu's true profession, but even the oblivious English teacher did have an idea that Kiritsugu moved in some dark circles. She decided to test Arturia in the training dojo of the house after breakfast. Sakura looked a bit morose (hell, even before she saw Arturia, she seemed more morose than usual), though. While Taiga went off to duel Arturia, Shirou joining them, Medea and Harry spoke to Sakura.

Harry noted that she seemed somewhat skittish. "Sakura…can I see your hand?"

Sakura hesitated only a moment, before showing her hand, the one with the markings that, to the untrained eye, could have been bruises, but in truth, were faded Command Seals. "It seems that she is indeed the Master of Rider…except these Command Seals…they're not faded because Rider is dead or they have been used," Medea sent via their link.

Harry sighed. "Shinji has Rider, doesn't he?" he asked quietly. Sakura's silence was telling. "Sakura…why does he have Rider? And how, for that matter?"

"…Zouken threatened your lives," Sakura whimpered quietly. "I resisted the pain he put me through…but he threatened Shirou, and you. I did tell Rider to keep you safe. I…I…"

Harry gently drew his sister into a hug. He'd be more upset, but Zouken still had a hold over the girl, and he couldn't blame her. Zouken may not be out to conquer the world like Voldemort, but he was more insidious, especially towards this girl he adopted. At the very least, Harry could blame part of it on Sakura's broken psyche. Though Zouken not attacking the Tohsakas or Shirou was sure to be a lie. "Sakura…did you know that your Rider has probably placed sigils around the school? Ones that will convert those present into mana?"

Sakura shook her head vehemently. "Shinji must've ordered her to do that himself. Caster, how much longer will that ritual be?"

"A couple of days at the soonest," Medea said. "I can't prepare it any faster. But soon, Zouken will be a moot point. We'll free you, and the world, from him forever…"

After some discussion, Medea, albeit Astralized, decided to accompany Shirou, Arturia, Rin and Archer to school to remove the sigils. Harry would be left by himself, but if need be, he could Apparate to get out of danger, or use a Portkey, or Fawkes. Besides, fighting during the daytime was tricky for Servants, if only because of the possibility of exposure.

He was going out shopping to get groceries for Rin when he saw her, sitting on a swing in a playground morosely. The glee and joy from last night was gone. It was a look of pensive sorrow that had no right being on the face of a child, though Harry knew Illya was much older.

After a moment's hesitation, he set up a Notice Me Not and a Muggle Repelling charm, and approached her. It'd look strange for a young man to approach a girl not even in her teens (in appearance, anyway), unless a familial relation was clear. She didn't look up as he approached, and while he wasn't making an especial effort to be noticed, he wasn't exactly being stealthy. She didn't seem to react until he sat down on the swing next to her. Softly, he said, "Hey."

She didn't bother looking at him. She just sat there looking miserable. After a moment's uncomfortable silence, he said, "I'm not here to fight at the moment, if that's what you're worried about. The magecraft I used will stop people from seeing it if we do come to blows. I'm guessing you left Heracles behind, right?"

Eventually, Illya nodded. She began kicking her legs to and fro, swinging rather pathetically. "I can call him to my side at a moment's notice, so don't get any funny ideas."

"I wouldn't dare. But you shouldn't either. I'm full of tricks." Harry looked up and the sky. "I know how you feel, more than you'd know," he said quietly. "Long story short, I was adopted by a family from another world. They were murdered by a Magus terrorist when I was only one. My so-called family treated me like a servant, and I never knew that I was famous for surviving this terrorist's attack. Then, suddenly, I found out I had magic, that I was famous…and yet, I still had few friends. I know what it's like to feel lonely. To feel abandoned. To feel betrayed."

Once more, silence fell between them, though it was Illya, this time, who eventually broke it. "Tohsaka…what's my brother like?"

"An idiot. Oh, he's a good guy, but…he can't think of putting himself before others to any degree. He didn't even know about your father's true profession until I told him. Kiritsugu saved his life from the Fuyuki Fire. I actually spoke to him this morning, asking him whether your father went on any trips overseas, and apparently Kiritsugu would leave Fuyuki for months at a time. He even found out that he went to Germany on one of those occasions. Maybe he did want to come back for you…and your family wouldn't let him."

Illya didn't dignify that with a response. Harry guessed she was busy digesting the information. Then, after a moment, he got off the swing, and went behind her own, before he began pushing her. "H-Hey! What are you doing?!" she demanded.

"Pushing you. That's what you do on a swing. The adult pushes the kid so that they can go higher." And Harry continued to push the albino girl on the swing.

After the initial shock, she seemed to enjoy it. She squealed in childish delight, yelping, "Higher! Higher!" And he obliged.

Eventually, though, she tired of it, and after he stopped pushing her, she allowed the swing to come to a halt, and then hopped off it, giggling a little. There was such a smile of sheer, genuine happiness that Harry found himself touched. It was yet another reminder that, for all her earlier bloodthirstiness, Illya was still very human, a young woman trapped within the body of a little girl.

Then, as she peered at him, her face fell a little. "You look a little like Daddy did," she said quietly. "You have the same tired, sad eyes he'd sometimes get. And yet, you have the same eyes as Saber."

"You're the second person to note that," Harry said. "Illya…you don't have to try to kill Shirou. He'd be more than willing to share stories about your father. Hell, he's too nice to hold much of a grudge, even after last night. Your father was ill. He died five years ago, maybe from a curse he got during the Grail War. Just keep in mind, Illya…if you try to kill my family and friends again…I'll stop you, even kill you if I have to. I really don't want to, you're more filled with hurt and pain than I thought before…but I value my family and friends, what there is left of them."

Illya smiled at him. It was a somewhat sad smile, as if she acknowledged that it would probably come to such a brutal, bloody ending. "…I don't have anything left," she said quietly. "Only the task my family has given me." The resignation and sorrow in her voice was palpable. In a way, Harry realised a mask had slipped, showing a girl who knew she was going to die, though he didn't know why.

"They sent you here to die, didn't they? Like a lamb to the slaughter," Harry asked quietly. And judging by the shock on her face, he had hit pretty close to the mark. A sudden feeling of rage welled up inside him, and he Reinforced his own fist in time to slam it into the frame of the swing, denting it badly as he screamed in fury.

"Another one!" he screamed at the sky. "Another child robbed of a fucking childhood because of a magical war! Another child shaped into a fucking weapon! I'll bet it's another bearded old goat obsessed with his goals, and damn the people who get hurt in the process!"

In the von Einzbern Castle in Germany, the golem known as Jubstacheit von Einzbern sneezed suddenly, and blinked. Given that he was an ancient golem made for administering the von Einzbern family, he shouldn't be capable of sneezing or catching a cold. Still, he felt a shiver run down his spine. He had this unusual feeling that he had incurred the wrath of someone who made the Magus Killer's wrath pale by comparison. And why did he feel like his beard was insulted?

After enough venting to test the capabilities of the charms he had set up, and using a Reparo on the swing set, he sighed. "Sorry about that. I just get pissed when I hear things that remind me of my old home."

Illya, surprisingly, wasn't intimidated. In fact, she was giving him a sympathetic, albeit sad smile. "That's fine. Sometimes I want to smash things too." She looked down at her hands ruefully. "You know something of the truth about me, how I'm half-Homunculus…and I was altered to win this war. But…I can't grow up. I never will. This is the first time I've ever been outside our family's castle in Germany. The most I had was my father's souvenirs and photos…and most of those were taken from me when he betrayed us." Suddenly, she looked away, as if she could hear something, and then said, "Berserker's awake now. And I'm sure my guardians will be looking for me. I'm sorry, Harry Tohsaka…it was nice to talk to you." As she walked away, she flashed him that sad smile. "And tell Shirou…I would like to talk about my father some time…"

Unbeknownst to them both, eyes were watching them. Eyes glinting from behind a skull mask, even if it wasn't visible. The wearer of the mask gritted his teeth in a hateful snarl as his eyes watched Harry Potter leave. That face, those eyes…they were a reminder of what he could never have. Save, perhaps, through the power of the Grail.

Still, even if he didn't have the Grail yet, the Grail had granted him one thing first: an opportunity to kill the boy who was a bane on his existence. A perpetual reminder of his failings.

But he couldn't go after him yet. His Master wanted him kept alive first, to witness the end of his friends and family, to have him suffer. And he could get behind that. The only enemy Masters left at the end of the Grail War would be Potter and the Sakura girl…and that the girl would be alive was only because that worm of a Master of his had plans for the latter.

His Master had been watching the battle between the three Servants in the park last night, through those damned insects of his. And knowing the identities of at least one Servant was handy: Heracles. The stupid albino brat had shouted it loudly enough, confident that her Servant was invulnerable.

Nothing was invulnerable. Nothing was forever. Save for the life Assassin intended to live with the one he loved. The whole world could be destroyed, as long as the one he loved would be his for eternity. Nothing else mattered. Nothing. And nobody…

CHAPTER 16 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. Harry and Illya may be getting along, but Assassin is plotting something. And how the fuck does he know Harry? I'm sure many of you will be guessing who he is. Yes, we have an Assassin from the Potterverse. Other than that…wait and see…

Incidentally, this may be the last chapter for a while. While I have the next chapter already written, it ends on a cliffhanger, and I want to get the chapter after that resolved before I post it.

Review-answering time! The Shadows Mistress: Yeah. I don't like bashing Arturia, so I generally have people leaping to her defence for her wish during the Grail Dialogue in my crossovers with Fate/Zero, by pointing out that she wants to correct her mistakes, and make sure her allies don't die in the first place. Arturia just needs a little modification in her attitude to being a king.

No numbered annotations this time.