A repugnant odor of unpleasant origin wafted through the spacious sewers to churn the stomachs of any so unfortunate as to be traveling the man made maze. In a room full of pillars and not much else, Artoria and her family were recuperating after having run around the sewage system of Fuyuki for hours.
It hadn't taken long for Artoria and Gray to rendezvous with Iri, Illya, and Mordred. They've been staying on the move since then to make sure Lancer couldn't catch up with them. They hadn't taken the time to talk about the many revelations of last night other than giving each other brief summaries so everyone was in the loop. Upon finally ending their constant running to rest, it was early morning on the second day of the Holy Grail War.
Artoria's wounds had been bandaged up with her clothes hiding anything was amiss, but the damage wouldn't completely heal no matter how much magical energy the king used. Every time she moved, her whole body burned and stung like she was being swarmed by venomous insects. There was no way for Artoria to release Excalibur's True Name while in this condition.
The King of Knights refrained from complaining as she looked to her son who was in even worse condition. He grimaced and uttered words of dissatisfaction rather frequently, but Artoria knew he was actually holding back considering how marred his body was. Lancer truly was a formidable foe, especially with those spears. Artoria had to destroy them if they were going to recover, assuming they worked like the cursed spear Diarmuid wielded in the Fourth War. The fact that the spears shared such a resemblance could have meant that they were related to each other, or at least used similar abilities. If that was the case, then the Lancer of this war may have been Irish like Diarmuid.
Both Lancer and Archer were warriors of the highest caliber that had earned Artoria's respect. If this wasn't a situation with such dire stakes, Artoria would have wanted to face them again, but now she wanted to do everything she could to avoid facing them because of the danger they posed to her family. Artoria had changed now that she had a family of her own to take care of. Well, a family that was like a real family. The point was that trying to face either Lancer or Archer in a straightforward duel was unwise and had to be circumvented.
Artoria finished the meager rations that counted as her morning meal and stood up from the ground where she had been resting. Iri had been meditating, but she immediately sprung to a stand too out of concern when Artoria did. Considering the condition the king was in, it was reasonable to be wary of her standing and walking around. Illya continued to stay on the ground while clutching her legs and Morded, Gray, and Add continued to banter about what animal was the cutest. Mordred argued it was cats, Gray believed it was lions(which was odd considering her answer would normally be dogs), and Add said it was humans because the fact they did stupid stuff all the time while thinking they were smart was adorable, at least according to him.
"Everyone," Artoria immediately grabbed everyone's attention. "I feel we need to have a deeper discussion about the events of last night and what we shall do moving forward."
"One thing we gotta discuss is our plan to kill the shit out of that Lancer bitch so we aren't stuck with these wounds forever, not to mention that we gotta stay on the run because of her, too. God, I hate that bitch and her dumb spears." Mordred was lying down on her back as she brought up the first topic of conversation.
"I don't think it would be wise to try and face Lancer again in our condition."
"And we'll be stuck all screwed up like this until Lancer's dead!" Mordred sat up. "We gotta fight her! Or what? You wanna try and blow up the Grail without Excalibur?"
"I…" Artoria sighed. "You're right, but we'll need a plan that has as few potential points of error as possible. A single wrong move and Lancer will kill us all with disquieting efficiency."
"Geez, mom. Take Lancer to dinner before you start sucking her dick."
"Mordred, don't talk like that." Iri said which brought out a scoff from the blonde boy.
"I, uh, I guess I should mention something important that I noticed." Illya's words snatched everyone's attention. "I can't feel that connection to Lancer through my familiar anymore, like at all. I haven't for a while now."
"Wait, is Lancer dead? Does that mean that we're stuck with these wounds even though she's dead? Fuck!" Mordred flailed in a manner not dissimilar to an apoplectic infant.
"I dunno if Lancer's dead or if she left Fuyuki or what. All I know is she isn't watching us, for now at least."
"That is good news. Mordred's concern is reasonable, however. If we really must live with these wounds forever…" Artoria was about to think of all the difficulties her and Mordred's wounds would cause, but stopped herself as it wasn't the time to think so far ahead. She couldn't let herself be swamped by anxiety while she still had more immediate concerns to think about. "We should still conceive of a plan that could defeat Lancer just in case, as well as one for Archer in case he still lives and we encounter him. He is similarly dangerous to Lancer if not more so."
"And there's his Master." The mood couldn't have gotten more dour and yet it still managed to do so despite all logic. Illya was gnawing on the inside of her cheek as she spoke. "Chloe, my clone, sister, whatever. She's strong and she hates us." Illya had shared earlier about Chloe and her regrettable past that gave birth to a harrowing grudge. "I almost killed her."
"She isn't that tough if you nearly took her out." Mordred rolled onto his side. "You'll get her next time."
"That doesn't make me feel better." Illya was quivering which caused Iri to pace over and hug her biological daughter.
"What's wrong? Something's eating at you."
"Chloe is basically me." Illya's voice wavered in a way that it hadn't since she was just a child and her near inexorable confidence hadn't had the chance to grow in. "I would have been like her if I had gone through what she did. I almost went through so many horrible things. If it weren't for you and mom, I'd be Chloe."
"It's okay." Iri stroked Illya's side. "We saved you from that. You're okay."
"I know, but Chloe isn't. She went through so much horrible shit in my place. She suffered because of me." Survivor's guilt. Artoria knew it well. She met many a knight who was wracked by it during her time as king. The King of Knights herself was not completely free from such feelings when she thought about her kingdom and all who had died for her or because of her, all while she was afforded a second chance at life; a lovely second chance at that.
"Illya, you did nothing wrong." Artoria dropped to a knee before her shuddering daughter. "You did not choose to have Chloe undergo her traumas. You didn't know your freedom would result in her birth, let alone her pain. You didn't even choose to be taken from the Einzbern Castle. It was your mama and I who made that decision, so if there is any blame to be dispersed among us, it would be to her and I, not you. You did nothing that hurt Chloe."
"I was going to." Illya bowed her head to hide her face. "When I was fighting Chloe, I was all shaken up like I am now for most of it so I wasn't really fighting at my best. Then Chloe destroyed daddy's gun." The Thompson Contender, the favored firearm of Kiritsugu back when he still walked the Earth. It was a precious memento of a man who left few treasures. Every little remnant of his being was priceless beyond priceless. The gun was severed into fragments by Chloe's wires and those remains were dissolved by the mud Iri spewed out so that relic was gone forever. "When Chloe destroyed it, I got mad like I never had before. It was like I was possessed, but I was still me which doesn't make sense, I know, but that's the only way I can describe it. I wanted to kill Chloe, I nearly did. If I didn't pass out, I would have killed Chloe despite everything I knew about her and how much I empathize with her and wanted to help her."
"Help her?" Mordred said.
"Yeah. I wanted to help her get over her pain. We needed to defeat her first, but I wanted to try and get to know her and help her through her anger. I wanted to save her."
"Considering she wanted to murder you, I doubt she would have been willing to take your offer." Add said.
"I know, but I just empathize with her so much and feel so bad and now I want to help her even more after I nearly killed her. I need to make up for that."
"You were just defending yourself." Artoria said.
"I don't even know if I was at that point. When daddy's gun got destroyed, I wasn't thinking about saving mama and Mordred, or myself, I just wanted Chloe to die. I just felt so much anger. I don't know how I could feel that much of any emotion. I'm not an angry person, or a spiteful one. At least, I don't think I am."
"You lost something precious and it upset you. Everyone would get mad in that situation." Iri's words were full of maternal compassion.
"Mad enough to kill someone?"
"It was a life or death scenario and those situations make you stressed, everything you feel is heightened. Also, the thought that you must murder your opponent or escape them will always be on your mind with the slightest details tipping the scales back and forth on what option you should pick. When Kiritsugu's gun broke, you felt a spike of anger and the scales tipped towards the more violent option." Artoria put a hand on her daughter's head. "You're a good person, Illya. One of the best I have ever had the pleasure of knowing."
Illya's face stayed hidden and her own hand slowly rose to grasp the one that rested upon her head. The girl's hand was shaking even as she tried to grip Artoria's fingers tightly. There was such a deficit of strength within Illya that her grasp was light enough to be barely noticeable. Artoria hadn't seen this degree of disquiet from Illya since she found out about Kiritsugu's death and had to cope with it. Artoria tried to think of something she could do for Illya, but nothing came to mind that could deal with the girl's trauma due to its specificity and intensity.
Flailing steps against the concrete floor accompanied Gray as stumbled over to her sister and latched onto her from behind. "Illya, you're not a bad person for getting angry and the fact you want to help Chloe shows how nice and giving you are and how strong you are and stuff. Chloe wants to kill you and you still want to help her and that shows how tough and cool you are and how you're the nicest person ever." Illya's head lifted a bit, just enough that her lips were visible to the King of Knights. "When I was fighting, I was terrified at first, too. Then I realized I needed to protect mom so I fought and I was even willing to kill Archer or Lancer or anyone else I had to so mom would be safe. It's scary to think I was willing to kill someone, but that doesn't make me a bad person, at least I don't think so. So you're not a bad person either. Even if you killed Chloe out of anger, nobody would blame you after the stress and the danger and everything else you were dealing with. You're a good person and the best sister ever!"
Tears from both Illya's and Gray's eyes dripped onto the floor. Gray's outburst was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Perhaps she simply couldn't stand to see Illya disparage herself when she normally functioned as a rock for others to steady themselves upon. This time Gray was Illya's rock and she did a splendid job at being that rock.
"Thank you, Gray. That makes me feel better." Illya said. The bond the sisters shared was powerful enough to break through the wall that prevented more standard or circuitous methods of helping the girl from succeeding. Gray was a girl of reserve and passivity, so a vociferous declaration such as the one she just gave could not be taken lightly and was far more potent than if the same words were spoken by most any other.
Iri's arms wrapped around both her daughters to comfort them. A simple silence filled the sewers and the normally dank and wretched atmosphere was turned to one of tranquility for the moment. After the host of failures and losses up to that point in the Grail War, small victories, even ones that were purely emotional, had great meaning for Artoria and her family. Those kinds of successes were the fuel that kept their family going during the rough times in life and the Holy Grail War was no exception, even if it was on a larger scale than most tribulations.
Artoria smiled and simply enjoyed watching the love of her family endure the odds. Her smile faded when her eyes wandered to Mordred who was watching with a displeased expression. It wasn't clear if it was the moment currently occurring that was disagreeable to him, or if it was something else that had yet to be addressed.
"Mordred, is there something bothering you?"
"Yeah, a lot. The thing that really annoys me though is that we're avoiding the elephant in the room like it's the fucking plague right now." Everyone knew what he was referring to and the dark atmosphere returned with greater intensity than ever. "Irisviel got possessed by the Greater Grail and it could happen again at any time."
The heart inside Artoria's chest skipped a few beats as she thought about the horrifying event that had been described to her earlier. The image of Iri regurgitating accursed mud from the Grail and nearly losing herself and all while Artoria was gone; unable to help, it made the King sick to her deepest depths of her essence. She felt useless as she wasn't even successful in the battle that had been preoccupying her at the time. Artoria was supposed to be the defender of her family and yet she had been absent when needed while being a helpless damsel that Gray had to rescue. Now the so-called knight was weaker than ever. How could she possibly help her beloved if the Grail took hold of her being again?
"I think Iri needs to leave Fuyuki so the connection she has with the Greater Grail will break. If she stays here, she will be a threat to herself and others."
"That's for the best." Mordred sat up.
Gray crawled over to where she was before and grabbed Add. She was anxious, squirming as she fiddled about with the sapient Mystic Code in her hands. She probably felt conflicted about this whole situation, because she wanted Iri to stay, but also wanted her to stay safe and knew it was best if she left the city.
As for Add, Artoria had no idea what he was thinking, just like Kay.
Iri hunched forward, her body as tense as a marble statue. She wanted to stay and help, but she was also smart enough to know that she was a tactical liability so she kept quiet.
"What if we used Avalon?" Illya's query made everyone perk up for a moment. "It worked ten years ago, it should work again."
"But, we'd have to take it out of you." Iri said.
"I'm fine with that."
"But, it's been fighting back against the side effects of the Einzberns' experiments for so long. We don't know what it would do to you if we removed the sheath."
"It's worth a try at least." Illya became determined. "It's to protect you and everyone else so it's worth the risk. Besides, it'll probably just make me look like a little girl again at worst." Illya smirked. "I can get cheaper meals at restaurants that way. After the war's done we'll put Avalon back in me and, bim-bam-boom, I'm all grown up again."
Iri's mouth wobbled as she yanked her daughter into another hug. "You're such a good girl. Don't ever think you're a bad person ever again, understand?"
"Yes, mama." Illya reciprocated the hug and once again a warmth came over Artoria at the unyielding love her family was capable of.
"You're a genius, Illya." Artoria meant every word as she got close to her daughter while Iri scooted back a few inches to allow them some room. "This might end up hurting so tell me when you're ready before we begin."
"If it's gonna hurt, just do it. Go. Get it over with, I'm ready."
A small nod of understanding and Artoria put her hand to Illya's chest. The King of Knights reached for her sheath, the concept of Avalon that had been implanted inside the Einzbern homunculus ten years ago. The Divine Construct, the sheath that eclipsed even Excalibur in its radiance and ability, was as easy to find as the air in your own lungs or the thoughts in your own head. The conceptualized hand of the knight firmly gripped Avalon and tugged.
A bead of sweat trailed down Artoria's forehead. The sheath wouldn't move, sitting immutable within Illya, no, as a part of Illya. Avalon was Illya, it had integrated into her so deeply for so long that it was like trying to remove her Origin. In fact, it had bonded to Illya's Origin and transformed it so she now had the 'Sword' Origin. Her Attribute still remained the same from what Artoria could tell, but she wasn't an expert and could only understand as much as she did thanks to her connection to Avalon inside Illya. Either way, the sheath wouldn't leave Illya's body any easier than her soul would. Perhaps if they had some way of projecting the sheath out of Illya, but none of them had expertise with the kinds of magecraft necessary for such a procedure. They could contact a specialist, but that would take too long.
I can't remove Avalon." Artoria sounded defeated.
"What, why?" Illya said.
"Avalon has sat inside you so long that it's conceptually fused to you. Removing Avalon would require magecraft we don't have access to.
"Fuck!" Mordred slammed her heel into the ground and shook the room. "Can nothing go fucking right?"
Iri looked resigned as she deflated. "I'll just have to leave Fuyuki. It's not a big deal, there's not much I could do to help anyway."
"I'm sorry, mom." Illya looked at the floor with furrowed brows.
"This isn't your fault."
But, if I didn't have Av-"
"If you didn't have Avalon within you, you'd be looking like a little girl and you'd be doomed to die in a year or two." Iri was almost angry at Illya's self-loathing. "Don't you dare regret the measures we've taken to keep you alive and happy."
"Okay." Illya obviously still felt self-contempt at the perceived burden she served for her family.
"Hey, I have something to say that…" Gray trailed off as she shrunk back.
"What is it, Gray?"
"I-I don't know if I wanna say this, because it's probably gonna make everyone mad."
"We won't get mad, Gray." Artoria didn't know what Gray wanted to say, but she was curious and she wanted all her children to express themselves freely. "Please, tell us what you want to say."
"I was just wondering if maybe it would be best if all of us left Fuyuki and gave up on the Grail War."
"What?" Mordred shot up to a stand. "You were the one that was all jazzed up about getting here and now you're pussying out? The shit!"
"Mordred!" Artoria shouted. "Gray, what do you mean?"
"Mom, you and Mordred are nearly dead, mama could get possessed at any moment, Illya isn't in the best place right now, and I'm not as obsessed with figuring myself out anymore. I know we're trying to save the World, but I don't know if we can. I feel like staying in this war will only cause us all to get killed."
"What did you say? You think we're gonna lose?" Mordred snarled.
"You lost last night against Lancer and you were in top shape and even had the class advantage. Now you're literally full of holes." Gray was a lot more frank all of a sudden. It wasn't like her.
Mordred looked like a cat about to attack another of its kind, but she didn't spew her usual cantankerous blithering. She couldn't actually argue that Gray was wrong and she lacked the energy to make something up just to be spiteful.
Nothing Gray said was wrong in any way. The family had been avoiding the big picture and clinging to any interstices of positivity, but they really had no chance of winning the Holy Grail War and destroying the Greater Grail. The family had made themselves the number one enemies of all the other teams by claiming they wanted the Grail destroyed and having their abilities revealed for all to see in last night's battle. Artoria couldn't even use Excalibur in her current condition so there was no guarantee they could destroy the Grail if they found it.
They couldn't choose to do nothing, however. The lives of everyone on Earth were at stake and there was no guarantee that the other factions would dismantle the Greater Grail.
Well, there was Archer's Master, Chloe. She stated she wanted to destroy it and Archer was absolutely up to the task. It was doubtful that there were any other Servants capable of defeating him except maybe Lancer if they were on a good day and weren't gamboling about enjoying the fight like last night. Archer was the strongest Servant Artoria had ever encountered excluding the Archer of the last war. He also had a heroic disposition that inclined him towards enacting justice. If he was still around, and he likely was, then Fuyuki was in the safest hands they could possibly be in.
Meanwhile, Artoria had failed to protect her family, failed to claim victory, and had failed to do anything of meaningful effect other than cause trouble for Gray. The mighty King Arthur had fallen low, or perhaps she just realized how lowly she had always truly been. She couldn't save Camelot, she couldn't save her family, she couldn't even save herself. The only thing she could do was take her family and leave Fuyuki to let a real hero save the day instead of the little girl who never should have pulled the sword from the stone.
"Gray's right. We need to leave. Archer and Chloe can handle eradicating the Greater Grail."
"Are you for real?" Mordred was genuinely baffled at his mother.
"We'd be lucky to beat a weak Servant in our condition. We aren't going to win this war."
"So we're going to run like cowards? I'm not gonna give up until I've given my best shot!"
"You did give your best shot and you lost."
"Lancer surprised me! I underestimated her, but she won't surprise me again!"
"And you really think you could beat her as you are now, or Archer for that matter?"
"If we fight smart, then sure! You're the one always telling me how I need to use my head, well I'm using it!"
"So what's your plan?"
"I'll come up with something!"
"So you don't have a plan."
"I'll come up with one! Give me some fucking time!"
"We don't have time."
"We're literally sitting in the sewers doing shit for dicks! We've got time!"
"I agree with Mordred." Illya said. "Not about the thing with…shit dicks, but that we should stay. I need to help Chloe, and we have to destroy the Grail, no matter what."
"Finally, someone talking sense!" Mordred's arms whipped through the air. "Me and Illya are voting stay, mom and Gray are voting leave. Irisviel, Add, what about you two? We'll do this democratically."
"I don't care what you vote for." Artoria's voice became authoritative. "It's my job to protect you all and that means leaving, so we're going home even if I have to drag you all there."
"You aren't a king anymore, mom." Mordred got right in Artoria's face. "And you're gonna have to kick my ass if you wanna make me leave. Do you think you can?"
"Stop fighting!" Iri got up and stood between mother and son. "We'll do like Mordred said and vote and if anyone's unhappy with the result, then they'll have to just deal with it."
"Iri, I'm not going to let you all die because you refuse to listen to me."
"Mordred has a point, Artoria. You aren't a king anymore and our opinions are just as valid as yours." There was a bite to Iri's words. "We aren't helpless idiots without your guidance." A sting shot through Artoria's heart as she could only cravenly accept her beloved's words. She wasn't a king anymore, she had no special authority, she didn't always know best. The former knight wanted to protect her family, but why did she think she was capable of that when she couldn't even get them to cooperate with her? After her numerous bouts of incompetence that caused Camelot to fall, there was every reason to distrust Artoria's judgement. Yet, Artoria still tried to order around her family like a king, or rather a tyrant. How pathetic.
"You're right, Iri. I'm sorry. What's your vote?"
"To be honest, I'm really conflicted. My presence here is a genuine threat to everyone. With your and Mordred's injuries, you'd probably only be able to defeat an Assassin or Caster class Servant in a direct fight, and that's assuming that the Caster and Assassin of this war aren't unusually dangerous like the ones from ten years ago. All that said, the Greater Grail is an eldritch evil that has to be eradicated no matter the cost. I know that better than anyone since I actually made contact with the Grail, and even then it was still beyond my ken. It was like I was a single bubble in the sea, it was just too vast to understand the complete scope of. It needs to die, but I don't know if we're capable of killing it. I guess I'll abstain from voting for now."
"Then we've still got a tie." Mordred looked at Add. "It's all you, box." The sentient Mystic Code was silent. "Box!"
"Gimme a minute! I'm thinking!"
"Well, think faster!"
"I will if you shut up!"
Everyone waited as Add contemplated his choice. He would be the deciding vote that would determine whether the family stayed or left Fuyuki. The heart in Artoria's chest banged against her ribs as she begged to God above that Add would side with her and they could all leave for the safety of Denmark.
"I vote we stay." Mordred pumped his fist, but everyone else was full of worry for what the future would now hold, even Illya despite also voting to continue to fight for the Grail's elimination. Artoria's heart went from pulsing wildly to stopping dead in its tracks. "The only chance of the Grail getting destroyed at this rate is if Archer does it and he could be dead for all we know, or at least weakened from getting a bunch of non-healing wounds from Lancer. We can't bank on anybody other than us getting the job done, so let's get it done."
"Hell, yeah!" Mordred scooped Add into her hands. "Y'know, I always liked you box!"
"That is definitely untrue."
"Shut up, box!"
"I guess we're staying." Artoria's face rested in her hand as she tried to accept her family's situation. "I suppose we should determine our new plan of action in that case."
"I mean, what can we do besides sending out familiars to look for enemy Servants and Masters? Do we actually have any options besides that?" Mordred had a point.
"Maybe we should focus on resting a bit more for now." Gray said.
"Why? It's not like my or mom's wounds are gonna heal."
"Yeah, but we need to mentally destress. Plus, we can spend this time focusing on powering you and mom up as much as we can."
"How?"
"We can…" Gray blushed. "There's always the Mana Transfer ritual."
Everyone matched Gray's awkwardness upon hearing her suggestion. Mana Transferring was a way to give an individual a boost in their mana reserves and thus their overall abilities. If a Master did a Mana Transfer with their Servant, it would lead to an especially large increase in the Servant's capabilities.
But, the actually act of performing a Mana Transfer was to have sex.
"Um, your mom and I already performed a Mana Transfer before we even came to Fuyuki in order to prepare." Iri's explanation made Artoria turn her face away to hide her blushing. "But, if both you and Illya did a Mana Transfer with Mordred, he'd get an even bigger increase in power than he had already received."
"T-That's kinda weird, though." Mordred was perhaps the reddest of all despite his usual crassness. Perhaps he was more talk than action when it came to his vulgarity. "I mean, Gray and Illya are basically my sisters now, so wouldn't it be incest if we did anything like that."
Everyone got even more uncomfortable at that realization, especially considering the nature of Mordred's birth. The idea of anything incestuous happening would be especially traumatic for him because of how Morgan created him and his conflicted feelings about that.
"You're right, we can't do a Mana Transfer." Gray backpedaled. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Mordred said. "You were just trying to be helpful. Nothing wrong with that." Artoria appreciated Mordred's kindness towards Gray. He always displayed a soft spot for her that made him less willing to lash out at her as he was when it came to basically everyone else.
"You're a bunch of perverts, huh?"
A magical energy signal came from Illya, as did a voice that sounded like hers, yet the girl was the most surprised of all. Her eyes were wide and her breathing hitched which told Artoria all she needed to know about who just spoke.
A thread, or rather a hair, jostled out of Illya's shoe and fluttered through the air before shaping into a wireframe bird that flapped its wings just like the real thing. A homunculus just like the ones Iri and Illya could create, but they weren't the owners of this familiar.
"It's me, Chloe." The voice that perfectly mimicked Illya's came from the avian construct. This was the work of the clone of Illya that was wracking the original with grief due to her existence and her hatred. The King of Knights' maternal instincts made her immediately dislike Chloe for the way she made her daughter feel, but she also knew that she had ostensibly good reasons for her detestation. This misguided girl needed to learn how to better direct her feelings rather than assail them upon whatever individual was barely related enough that she could assign them fault. The problem was that they might have been incorrigible thanks to the walls of discontent she fabricated around herself. "I can't believe you never noticed I left a hair on you. Like, you guys are really out of it."
Mordred summoned Clarent to his hand and ran at the familiar without any desire to know what Chloe was planning. Artoria grabbed her son's wrist and jerked him to a stop.
"The Hell?"
"If Chloe had malicious intent, she could have surprised us with her hidden homunculus to assassinate at least one of us. She blatantly revealed herself which means she has something more complicated as her goal, perhaps something beneficial to us."
"At least one of you has half a frontal lobe." Mordred growled at Chloe's remark. "Listen, you guys are all fucked up right now because of Lancer, right?"
"We're fine!" Mordred said.
"No you're not. Anyway, my Archer ain't at the top of his game either thanks to that purple bitch and her dumb spears. He's still fine because he's a badass and we could still easily win this whole Grail War, but it's better to be safe than sorry, right?"
"Your point?" Artoria asked.
"You know that Lancer seems to have disappeared?"
"We do."
"Well, that means we have no way to hunt her down while she's still weak from fighting my Archer. He left her in pieces, but she got lucky so she survived and escaped, which means she's probably not gonna show up again until she's back to 100%."
"And you worry your Servant is too weakened to defeat her at her best."
"Of course he can still fucking win! He isn't some weak piss baby Servant like you! It's just that I wanna be careful in case Lancer pulls out some dirty tricks."
"And how does that relate to us?" Artoria already knew the answer, but decided to inquire anyway.
"You guys are in an even shittier situation than us since your Servants are so beat to shit they look like zombies."
"You just admitted your situation is shitty." Mordred said with a cat-like grin.
"Shut the fuck up you bitch!"
"Make me!"
"Can we get to the point please!" Artoria raised her voice.
"My point is that I'm offering to team up until Lancer's dead."
Artoria's gaze traced across her family, all of them looking uneasy, excluding Mordred who looked ready to rip the wireframe bird apart with his bare hands. Partnering with Chloe would be a great way to turn things around considering that Artoria's family was in a really tough situation at the moment. Having help from Archer until Lancer was dead and their wounds could heal sounded perfect. But, it was likely that Chloe would betray them as soon as their Lancer was dead and their pact was null. But, what other choices did they have?
"What are the conditions of this alliance?"
"We work together against the other Masters and Servants while sharing info and stuff. For example, I'll tell you Lancer's True Name and all the abilities we saw her use, and in return, you tell me why you've got two Sabers and whatever the Hell that girl in the hoodie is to be able to block Archer's arrows. Also, what in the flying shit is up with Irisviel spewing that weird slime last night."
Info on Lancer would be critical for defeating her, but the cost suddenly rose to the clouds. Revealing the truth about Gray and why both Artoria and Mordred are around at the same time isn't too bad, but it would be preferable to keep such information confidential. Revealing Irisviel's connection to the Grail would be a risk on multiple levels. Chloe didn't believe the Greater Grail really was polluted, so if they told her the truth, she might think they're lying still and that we refuse to honestly cooperate. At that point, she'd probably break off the deal right at the start. On the other end of worst case scenarios, she might believe them finally about the Grail's true nature, but she might also decide that Irisviel's special connection to the Grail makes her too great a threat to leave as is. She might refocus all her attention on making sure Irisviel was dead in order to protect the World. Even if they tell her they were planning to have Irisviel leave Fuyuki, she could still think she's too dangerous to leave her alive.
"In that case, we also have the right to know about you and your Servant's capabilities, yes?" Artoria hoped this would deter Chloe from inquiring further and make her back down on her demands.
"Like, that's fine. My Archer and I have nothing to hide. You're too weak to beat us no matter what you know or plan or whatever. That means I get to know everything about all of you if we're really sharing everything."
This was going poorly. Artoria didn't expect Chloe's confidence to be so difficult to handle. "That seems unbalanced. There's only two of you, but there's six of us."
"Six? There's five of you." Chloe didn't notice Add. Normally he'd speak up, but instead he was staying quiet. That was for the best. The less she knew about, the better. They could just claim Add was a transforming weapon and keep his true identity as Rhongomyniad secret.
"Right, five, my apologies. As you said before, we've been somewhat out of sorts. Anyway, it seems unfair that you get information on all of us when you only have information for two people."
"There's me and Archer, and we've got the dirt on Lancer, so three, plus I've got two others with me, so five. Five and five. Totally fair. Plus, your logic would have meant I was outnumbered which I could have argued gave me the right to extra info as a handicap." Chloe was sharp witted as well as strong. She was truly dangerous.
"Your logic is sound. Are there any other terms?"
"That you keep the Illya bitch as far away from me as possible." Illya winced and hid her face between her knees. "That's all."
"And where would our base of operations be?"
"The Einzbern Castle in the forest outside Fuyuki. You know where it is, right?"
"We do."
"Good. We'll exchange the info we're gonna share when you get here. So, deal or no deal?"
"We need time to deliberate in private."
A groan came from the familiar. "Fine, whatever. I'll make my homunculus fly around the sewers for a bit to survey things while you talk. You already put up a Bounded Field so I won't be able to eavesdrop from outside it. Fair?"
"That's fair."
"Aight, I'll be flying around. You better have an answer when I get back."
The bird fluttered away down a dark tunnel and the first thing Artoria did was make sure that they all checked themselves for anything else that could have been planted on them like the hair. They found nothing and so it was time to discuss.
"We're not really gonna work with that bitch, are we?" Mordred spoke with the volatility Artoria expected. "It's gotta be a trap and she's an asshole."
"Why wouldn't she have her hair try to kill one of us while we rested if it was a trap?" Gray said.
"Maybe she wants to get us in her castle to kill us all at once."
"Maybe, but then why did she put so much effort into the negotiations if they wouldn't actually matter to her?" Artoria felt like Chloe was being honest, though part of it was simply instinct.
"She might have been trying to throw us off by acting like she cared about the terms." Iri's point wasn't implausible.
"I feel like if she wanted to ambush us, she would have just kept tracking us using the hair she hid on Illya while we had no reason to suspect she knew our location." Gray spoke with an unusual taciturnity. "Since she realized Lancer was no longer tracking any of us, she had reason to assume we knew that, too. In that case, she would likely extrapolate that we would take a break from staying on the move since we didn't know she was following us as well, which would have been a perfect time for her to attack us. Unless she's just foolish, she's probably not planning anything."
"I think we should work with her." Illya mumbled as she raised her head. "This is the perfect chance for me to try and help her."
"Is your brain still working? That bitch said she wants you as far away from her as possible." Mordred said.
"I know, but this is still my best chance. Chloe isn't a bad person, I know it. I just need time to figure out a way to connect to her." Artoria wasn't as optimistic as her daughter was on this plan, but she also had to admire the purity and optimism she radiated.
"Iri, Add, what are your thoughts?"
"I think it'll be fine." Add said. "Chloe's taking a big risk letting us into her base, so she's probably sincere."
Iri bit her lip.
"Iri?"
"I'm just worried about telling Chloe so much about us. What if she doesn't believe us about my connection to the Grail and calls off the alliance or attacks us, or what if she does believe us and tries to kill me because she thinks I'm dangerous?" Her concerns were the exact same as Artoria's own and that only exacerbated them.
"The most important thing we need to account for is whether we'd be able to escape if things devolved into a fight."
"If we need to get out of the Einzbern Forest, then it's unlikely. The traps set up in it wouldn't kill us, but they'd delay us enough that Archer could easily snipe us one by one or even all at once." Iri continued to make sense.
"What if we told Chloe about mama's condition now and see how she reacts. At least if we do it from here, she can't just sick Archer on us." Gray continued to be a beacon of out-of-character pragmatism. Did last night's events change her that much?
"What if she responds amicably when she actually wants to kill your mama when she gets to the castle?" Artoria asked. "Telling her now would turn our alliance into a trap."
"It's either that or we turn Chloe down and we're back to square one in this war." It was unsettling how cold Gray was acting considering that this treaty's failure could lead to all of their deaths. Even Artoria at her most cool headed during her time as a king wouldn't face such a situation so calmly.
"Let's just vote again." Add's cube like body hopped despite lacking any way to propel himself. "I'm voting to work with Chloe."
"That's a fair plan." Artoria ran a hand through her hair as she felt her mental exhaustion. "Everyone who's also in favor of working with Chloe, raise your hand." Illya and Gray's hands raised. "Including Add, that's three. All opposed." Iri and Mordred raised their hands. "That's two. I abstain, so the plan to work with Chloe wins."
As soon as the results were in, Iri's face moved in minute ways that displayed anxiety, rumination, and…something hard to pin down. Anger? She was probably having her dark thoughts again. Considering they were caused by the Grail's pollution in the first place, she was probably having even more volatile musings than normal after getting possessed. This could lead to a permanent increase in the frequency and potency of her dark thoughts, but Artoria would stand with Iri and help her; she would never abandon her beloved.
Meanwhile, Illya was awash with relief that her chance at helping Chloe and redeeming herself, a redemption that was unnecessary but was nonetheless important to her, was still alive. She needed to reach some kind of reconciliation with Chloe or her self-loathing would haunt her for the rest of her days.
Gray cradled Add as she accepted her situation with more uncharacteristic phlegmatism. She was usually the anxious one, but instead she was a bastion of serenity, no, not serenity. That word implied a sort of elegance like that of a fair maiden enduring the ravages of life. Not that Gray wasn't elegant, in fact, she was a beacon of elegance but of a sort more akin to a king. Was Gray becoming more like Artoria? Was Gray actively imitating her, or was it coincidence? Perhaps she was merely maturing thanks to the Holy Grail War's intensity. Life and death battles often either broke or built up those that survived them. Well, even those that were built up by them were also broken by them, just in subtler ways rarely shared with others for one reason or another.
Mordred simply sulked in his usual sordid manner, namely stomping around swearing and rolling on the dirty floor. Ostentatious displays of dissatisfaction are inextricable with who Mordred was, not that it made said displays any less vexing to sit through. The immature tantrum continued as everyone else stayed quiet while waiting for Chloe to return.
Thankfully, Chloe was an impatient sort.
"You guys better have decided or we're gonna have some problems." Chloe's voice said as her homunculus flew back into the room.
"We have." Artoria straightened her posture. "We're willing to work with you."
"Good. Get moving to the castle-"
"Hold on a moment. We wish to tell you something first about one of the pieces of information you wish to know. We feel it is best to tell you now, because it is something that could cause you to change your mind about working with us. We want you to have all vital knowledge necessary for making an informed decision about whether to partner with us. It is the respectful way to handle things."
"Is that your spirit of chivalry or some bullshit like that? I know the real reason you'd prefer to tell me something now rather than in person is because whatever info this is might make me attack you. Whatevs. Spill."
Artoria swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth as discreetly as possible to mask how concerned she was about how Chloe would react. "It's concerning your question about Irisviel's condition." The king could sense all her family's tenseness as she faced the familiar. "As we have said before, the Greater Grail is corrupted by some sort of dark presence that makes it a threat to the World. Our evidence is that Irisviel connected to the Grail last war and saw its true nature."
"Thanks for the recap." Chloe sounded bored.
"Due to that experience, Irisviel still has a connection to the Greater Grail, one more unique than that of a traditional Lesser Grail. Last night, the Greater Grail attempted to use this special link to possess Irisviel. That substance that was ejected from Irisviel's body was the mud of the Grail, the toxin that turned the wish granter into a weapon of mass destruction." Silence. Chloe wasn't responding in her usual snippy way. "Last night was the first time Irisviel's ever been taken over by the Grail, so we plan to have her leave Fuyuki. The Grail shouldn't have the reach to take her over from outside the bounds of Fuyuki's leyline."
"But, you've got no guarantee, so what happens if the Grail hijacks her body again while none of you are around to knock some sense into her or to off her if it gets too bad?"
Chloe's question made Artoria's body go so cold she swore her breath became visible. The King of Knights didn't dare turn around for she feared what the expressions of her wife and children were like upon hearing such horrifying prospects. It wasn't just the risk of Iri running wild, but the fact that, if things got too bad and Iri ended up too far gone, someone would have to be the one to end her.
To be the one who has to take Iri's life, it was a task that couldn't be left to the children, that would be beyond traumatizing.
"I'll be leaving with Iri to watch over her. If we can do some research and guarantee she won't be possessed again, I'll return to Fuyuki."
Artoria felt Iri latch onto her arm. "What are you talking about? If you come with me, then the kids will be all on their own!"
"Iri, I have to go with you, because if things go badly, then-"
"I know! But, if we leave the kids here, if you aren't here, then what'll happen? They might not be enough to handle things! Don't you care?"
"Of course I do, but what other choice do we have?" Artoria went up to Iri's ear and whispered, "Do you truly think any of them would recover if they had to have your blood on their hands."
"And you would?" Iri was a step away from slapping Artoria.
"You know that's not what I meant."
"I can go with her." Mordred said with nonchalance.
"What?"
"I can go with her. The whole issue here is that if shit hits the fan and somebody's gotta kill Iri, that person's gotta live with the guilt, right? Well, I'm the least attached to Iri so I should do it. I'm not saying I'm happy to do it, it still sucks, but out of everyone here, I just met her so I'll be hit the softest. You can keep babysitting Gray and Illya and I'll go with Irisviel. It just makes sense for me to do this."
Artoria looked to Iri and found in her eyes the same kind of uncertainty that the knight herself felt. Mordred's proposal was logically sound and was most certainly motivated by clemency. The boy wanted to spare his mother the pain of having to take the life of another loved one. It is a horror that Artoria was too familiar with. Memories of holding Rhongomyniad and plunging it into Mordred's stomach filled Artoria's vision. She remembered as she impaled her son before watching as the boy's face showed a lifetime of sorrow in that briefest of moments when their gazes locked and they truly faced each other for the first time.
That was when Artoria finally understood her son's pain, and that may have given Mordred the understanding necessary to never want his father to kill another family member.
"Iri, would you be okay with Mordred being your escort?" This was Iri's decision to make in the end and nobody else's.
Alabaster eyelids covered Iri's beautiful ruby eyes as she thought for a moment. That beautiful visage alone stole Artoria's heart all over again every time she saw it. Artoria loved Iri so much. That's why this whole conversation was agonizing.
"Okay, Mordred can come with me just in case while you stay here and watch Gray, Illya, and Add."
"As long as you're comfortable with that." At this point, Artoria just wanted Iri to be happy.
"Hey, so I'm still here!" Chloe wasn't even trying to hide her aggravation.
"Our apologies." Artoria cleared her throat. "So, do you still wish to work with us despite Iri-er-Irisviel's condition? Do you even believe us?"
"I mean, some wacky shit was happening last night and that has to have an explanation. That slime was definitely some kind of coagulation of curses which is something I'd certainly call 'corruption' or some kind. The amount of it was also something Irisviel could never spawn on her own, but she could if she had magical energy from the Grail. I don't know if I buy your story 100%, but it's at least close enough to reality that I'll accept it for now, I guess." She actually believed them. Artoria could hardly believe it.
"So, will you still work with us?"
"Deal's still on, but make sure that Irisviel gets out of this city, ASAP."
"We will. Thank you for being so amicable."
"Whatever. Get off your asses and head to the castle. I'm out."
The correspondence ended and the homunculus flew over to Iri and perched atop her head.
"I guess we can use this to contact Chloe if we need to." Iri pet the bird nestled atop her cranium.
"Let's get moving." Artoria picked up a backpack. "We can't dawdle and risk angering Chloe. She might recant her offer if that happens."
Everyone picked up their things as they prepared to leave for the Einzbern Castle. Artoria hoped this alliance would be the turning point her family needed after the unfortunate events of the previous night. Despite her trying to be optimistic, Artoria couldn't help but imagine the worst. The morose atmosphere that permeated the group told the king that she wasn't the only one demoralized. There was tension, especially between Artoria and Iri. For some reason, something wasn't feeling right. Iri wasn't okay. She was upset, and not just about her surprise connection with the Grail. Did Artoria have the strength necessary to help Iri through this? In the past, Artoria would have said yes, that she would find the reserves of strength necessary and if there was no strength within herself, she'd simply create more. But, now she lacked that confidence and she prayed her family wouldn't suffer for it.