Illyasviel felt lightheaded as she stared at the Einzbern Castle, its shadow a carpet over the land that was so deep in its darkness that one's mind could sink into it like an abyss. It wasn't the castle Illyasviel grew up in, but it was similar in aesthetic and that was enough to create a sickening nostalgia and sense of foreboding. Memories of that unforgiving cold that acted as an enclosure around the castle of Illyasviel's childhood still flickered in her mind on occasion and she hated it. The castle before Illyasviel in this moment was a place that daddy spent much of the Fourth Holy Grail War. There were so few objects or places where Kiritsugu Emiya left any kind of tangible trace and it was for that reason that this particular castle was hallowed ground for Illyasviel, but it was also the place where Illyasviel's 'twin' resided as she nursed a lifelong grudge that made the castle feel cursed. A swamp of different interpretations of this one castle mired Illyasviel's heart.
Mama was wobbling back and forth as her own nerves must have been several times worse than Illyasviel's. She actually had memories of that castle, memories of spending time with daddy in it. She was probably remembering the conversations she had with daddy, arguments maybe, the times they just enjoyed each other's presence. Mama didn't bring up daddy much, probably because she didn't want mom to feel jealous or like she's just a replacement. Mama once said that it was in the forest surrounding this castle that she was impaled by Kirei Kotomine. She knew what it was like to endure a lethal wound and lived to tell about it. It wasn't among the traumas mama usually brought up, but that didn't mean that she didn't still have the occasional nightmare about it which caused her to awaken in a cold sweat with a face full of tears. No wonder she didn't trust the overseer and didn't like to talk about the Holy Grail War.
Meanwhile, mom just looked somber. She didn't have the best relationship with daddy, but they respected each other and Illyasviel knew that mom regretted not being able to save him. She had gone over what she could have done differently millions of times, pointing out every mistake she made during the previous war and every time she had an opportunity to make a different choice that could have led to daddy's survival.
Even Gray felt the weight of this land. Her body quivered as it often did in stressful situations, but not as much as she usually did. Gray had been getting more and more confident as time had gone on. It was weirdly fast. That fight against Archer must have had a profound effect on Gray. Maybe it left her with feelings she was still working through. She kept oscillating between her usual timid self and this new stoic persona.
Add was in Gray's bag and would stay there in order to keep attention off of him. Chloe didn't need to have any reasons to investigate Gray's weapon and learn he's the container for Rhongomyniad and not just Mystic Code with multiple forms.
While most of the family was drinking in the moment and reminiscing about the past, Mordred just walked ahead towards the entrance of the castle. Mom sighed before following after her son, everyone else doing the same a half-second later.
No time was wasted as Mordred began banging on the large doors of the Einzbern Castle. The response was almost immediate as the doors slowly opened to unveil three Einzbern homunculi. One was Chloe and the sight of her made Illyasviel become stiff as a steel pole. Chloe did not look happy. In fact, she looked about as angry as someone who just saw their dog get thrown into a furnace.
One of the homunculi next to her was a woman with short wavy hair and a…let's say a casual outfit that did a very good job of showing off her nice figure. The other woman was dressed far more normally and had her hair in a ponytail that hung over her shoulder. Chloe had mentioned that there were two others in her group, but this was still a surprise. Why was Chloe staying with two Einzbern homunculi when she absolutely loathed the Einzberns more than Illyasviel and mama ever could?
"Welcome." Chloe sounded as hospitable as an active volcano. "Come in."
Mom took point in case this was a trap. Crossing the threshold, the grand entrance hall of the castle created an uneasy feeling in Illyasviel. It was so open, the furthest thing from cozy. The opulence of the decorations showed the arrogance and hypocrisy of the Einzberns who believed themselves to be beyond emotions and any desire beyond the Third Magic's reacquisition. It was weird how, despite how much free space and few visual obstructions there were in the hall, it still felt like there could be something or someone hiding somewhere despite all logic. An Assassin's Presence Concealment could achieve that, but Archer was the furthest thing from an Assassin. Illyasviel could feel Archer in the room despite him being in Spirit Form. He emitted so much raw magical energy that it was impossible for anyone with even the most paltry sensitivity to Mystics to ignore.
The doors closed and there was a moment where nobody really did anything. There was so much tension that nobody really wanted to take action for the risk of creating an awkward moment or offending somebody. It was for that reason that Illyasviel hadn't asked what the deal was with the two homunculi Chloe was staying with.
Once again taking initiative, mom slowly approached Chloe and extended a hand. "Thank you, Chloe. This alliance is a great boon for us and we deeply appreciate it. I hope this alliance bears fruit for all of us."
"Yeah." Chloe lifted her arm and hesitated a bit before letting her hand approach mom's to shake it, but then she stopped. Chloe's nostrils flared a few times as her chest heaved and her throat made weird motions. Was she going to throw up?
Chloe covered her mouth and nose before backing away from mom like she was a monster.
"Chloe, what's wrong?" The ponytailed homunculi ran over and took hold of Chloe while the other homunculi stepped in front of them and kept her eyes on mom, likely assuming the Servant did something nefarious.
The tension became so thick that a plasma cutter couldn't sever it. This was really bad. What was wrong with Chloe? Was she just sick? If they suspect Illyasviel and her family of having done something, then the alliance was off and this was going to turn into a brawl.
"They smell like fucking shit!"
Chloe's statement melted the tension away as it was revealed that her revulsion was merely caused by the disgusting stink that Illyasviel and her family had been radiating. They had just spent several hours in a sewer full of shit and piss so they not only stank, they didn't even notice how much they stank. The car they used to get here probably smelled like sewage too now. That was going to be a pain in the ass to clean.
"Holy crap." Chloe's repeated gags echoed throughout the room. "Okay, all of you need to take fucking baths. Long ones. We'll exchange info and shit later. Liz, Sella, take them to the bathrooms." Chloe stumbled away while mumbling, "I need to take a shower too now."
"I'm sorry." mom said softly.
"It's, uh, not your fault." The ponytail homunculus was as surprised as Illyasviel and her family. Chloe's extreme reaction had simultaneously increased and decreased the tension. Awkwardness from past aggression was replaced with awkwardness over the castle's guests all having their malodor pointed out. "You can just follow me. I'll…I'll show you to some of the bathrooms. We have enough baths that you don't have to take turns…so you don't have to worry about taking turns or anything, so…follow me."
Everyone did as they were told and were guided through the castle's corridors which shared the grandiosity of the entrance hall. Normally a tour of such a building would focus on the fine dining rooms and the fancy furniture, but instead the destinations were the bizarrely abundant bathrooms the building possessed. Illyasviel's family broke off and went into different baths to clean off while the homunculi went to procure clean clothes that would fit their guests. All the luggage and clothes that Illyasviel's family brought with them also reeked of the sewers so they needed to be cleaned at some point. Thankfully, the castle housed a bunch of fancy clothes that the Einzberns prepared just in case.
Mom asked mama if she wanted to bathe with her, but surprisingly, she said she wanted to wash up by herself. Normally, mama would take any excuse to have an intimate moment with mama, but she seemed like she didn't want to be near mom if she didn't have to. Was she having dark thoughts? Either way, mom and mama each ended up in their own bathrooms to clean up. It could be that she was thinking about Kiritsugu and was feeling conflicted about her relationship with mom because of it. But, that didn't explain her curtness.
Mordred and Gray also both wanted to be alone, though Gray had Add with her so she wouldn't really be by herself. Thus, every member of the family went into their own bathroom. It wasn't as if the family was known for bathing together for the sake of bonding or anything, but it still felt unusual for Illyasviel's family to be so blatantly distant with each other. The fact that they had just spent so long together in the sewer right after fighting for their lives probably meant they all just wanted some alone time.
When Illyasviel closed the door to the bathroom and was all alone, she just sat on the ground, though it was closer to dropping onto it. The fact that she was actually alone and in as mundane a scenario as needing to take a bath made the exhaustion she was suppressing smack into her. She could have just flopped onto the floor and fell asleep right there. She hadn't slept at all because the night before consisted of a big fight followed by almost non-stop running. She took a nap in the car on the way to the castle, but that hadn't lasted nearly long enough to count as legitimate rest.
Crawling around the room as she made her bath, Illyasviel took the liberty of making it a bubble bath since the area around the tub was stocked with every soap and bath bomb you could ever want and Illyasviel was too tired to bother asking permission. A strawberry scent wafted through the air and fought away the nauseating odor of the sewers. The Master immersed herself in the hot and foamy water that massaged her taut muscles and made her aches dissolve away. It was like a warm blanket had swaddled the young woman. She could fall asleep right then and there, it was hard not to.
She had to stay awake. She had to keep her mind moving. She had to think about something. But not anything stressful, she was trying to destress. The problem was that no matter what Illyasviel tried to think of, it was always something related to the war, or the weird stuff going on with her family, or about Chloe.
If she couldn't just relax, then she should at least try to think about something productive. In that case, she would think about how she'd try to make amends with Chloe. It'd be difficult since Chloe wanted Illyasviel to stay away from her which made sense; Illyasviel nearly murdered her.
Illyasviel had to find some point where she could speak privately to Chloe and apologize. How though? Chloe was probably going to actively keep away from Illyasviel. If Illyasviel was too pushy, Chloe might even break off this whole truce due to not upholding their agreement.
It would be better in that case for Illyasviel to just apologize to Chloe when the rest of her family was with her. It would make things awkward for the rest of the Pendragon family, but it was better than Illyasviel getting Chloe alone and making her freak out. The important thing was just making it clear that she was sorry.
Alright, so what would happen after that? Best case scenario, Chloe actually accepts the apology and it serves as a bridge for Illyasviel and Chloe to get to know each other. From there, Chloe would see that Illyasviel and her mama were actually alright people. Worst case scenario was that Chloe wouldn't accept the apology and would construe things in a way that would make her even angrier.
If that were to happen, then what should Illyasviel do? Was there anything she could do? It might have been best to call it quits and accept that Chloe wasn't going to change if she was that volatile in her reaction. But that would leave Illyasviel unsatisfied. Was that what this was really all about? Did Illyasviel just feel guilty and that was her only true motivator? Did she just want a chance to wash the guilt away? Did Chloe's feelings on the matter even factor into Illyasviel's decision making? It was possible that Illyasviel was just selfishly trying to achieve some sort of validation to clear her own conscience, in which case, perhaps this whole endeavor to make peace with Chloe wasn't really worth it and would really do more harm to Chloe than if Illyasviel let things stay as they were. What really mattered was convincing Chloe that she and Illyasviel's family were on her side and that they should continue working together until the Grail was dismantled.
Illyasviel's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"New clothes are ready." The awkward diction came from an unfamiliar voice that Illyasviel could only assume was the homunculus with the short hair that didn't talk before.
"Thank you. I have the screen closed so you can just put the clothes by the sink."
Illyasviel could hear the door open as the woman did exactly as was suggested before leaving without a single word more. Deciding that she had relaxed enough, Illyasviel shifted from her bath to a shower as she properly washed herself from head to toe with the various body products available.
Back to her thoughts, Illyasviel considered how she and her family could convince Chloe that the Grail was definitely corrupted and they should continue working together. The problem was that there really wasn't any more evidence than they could provide. It wasn't like they actually knew the origin of the Grail's corruption. If they did, then they'd just have to find evidence of that origin.
Chloe was open to believing that the Grail was corrupted which was a start. At least their conversation in the sewers implied she was open to believing the Grail was corrupted, though she might not actually think teaming up with Illyasviel and her family would be necessary considering the confidence she has in Archer's strength being able to beat anyone when he's at full power.
The real thing that Chloe had to be convinced of was that destroying the Grail, whether it was corrupted or not, along with defeating anyone who would try to stop the Grail's dismantling would require assistance. In short, Chloe's confidence had to be broken. That sounded really messed up when it was put that way. It was better to think of it as increasing her caution regarding Archer's fallibility. Making Chloe doubt Archer's strength would be extremely challenging and would require finesse. Chloe would get offended and angry if anyone just outright stated that Archer could be defeated. Chloe had to be guided to that conclusion herself; she had to think it was her own idea. That was easier said than done, but it was still the best option available.
It wasn't too long until Illyasviel finished washing her body and turned off the shower. She started feeling a little self-conscious about how long she had spent in the bathroom so she dried off as fast as she could and began dressing. The outfit provided ended up being a purple blouse with a white skirt. There was also some kind of ascot or ruffle or whatever that sat at the front of her collar. It definitely wasn't her style, but she wasn't about to complain about being given clothes that smelled clean and felt velvety soft.
Upon exiting the bathroom, Illyasviel was met by the short haired homunculus who said, "Follow me" before immediately taking off down the corridor. Illyasviel tagged behind as she was led to a dining room that fit with the rest of the house's overly sumptuous style. There were place settings prepared for nine people at a long table and at two of those settings sat mom and Gray. Mom was in a fancy blue and black dress that was far more feminine than anything she normally wore. She looked a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't clear whether that was because she disliked feminine outfits or just because she was so used to wearing masculine clothes to suit mama's tastes. Gray was in an outfit that mimicked mama's except it was gold and white and seemed to be a little smaller considering how it hugged the young girl's form. Gray was a whole new level of uncomfortable in comparison to mom. Add was probably hidden somewhere on Gray's person, but Illyasviel didn't have the slightest inkling as to where.
"You two look like you're in your element." Illyasviel said.
"I don't think this attire fits a woman as unmaidenly as me." Mom pinched the hem of her dress with caution like it was some kind of hazardous substance she needed to dispose of.
"You're plenty maidenly." Illyasviel refuted as she went to take her own seat. Mom and Gray both sat on the same side of the table with one free space at the edge of the table next to mom, probably intended for mama, and Gray at mom's other side. Illyasviel smoothed out her skirt as she sat down next to Gray.
"I was raised to be a king. Any effeminate qualities I had were trained out of me long ago."
"This life is supposed to be your fresh start, though. Try new things. Wear dresses. Let someone hold a door open for you."
"Normally, I'm the one holding doors open for others."
"And that's why you gotta mix things up. You have to constantly be broadening your horizons."
"I suppose you're correct." Mom didn't want to concede to her daughter, but she did so anyway.
"Besides, mama might like it." That comment made mom perk up a bit. She'd do anything to please mama.
Speaking of mama, she was the next to arrive. She was wearing a long pink gown that looked fit for a princess, but the gloomy atmosphere about her contrasted heavily with the outfit. She really wasn't doing well.
"You look beautiful." Mom said as she stood up with a smile.
"Thank you." There was a venomous quality to mama's words that really made it clear that something was seriously up, all the more so when she sat down next to Illyasviel and not mom who just looked confused before sitting back down. Normally, it would be safe to assume that mama just wanted to sit next to her daughter. That was definitely not the case with how she was clearly upset with mom for some reason. Did it have to do with the discussion in the sewers? Mom and mama did argue a bit, but it didn't seem like that bad of an argument, it wasn't like they were at each other's throats or anything.
It was more awkward than when the family first entered the castle. It wasn't helped that the one person who would have been willing to break the silence and change the mood was Mordred who was taking forever to arrive. He didn't come off as the type to take a long time in the bathroom so it was confusing and aggravating to wait for him.
Finally, Mordred arrived in a pinstripe three-piece suit, looking just as annoyed as Illyasviel was.
"What took you so long?"
"What took so long was that they originally left me a dress to put on and I'm not wearing a dress, so then I had to wait for one of the homunculi to come back so I could tell them to bring me some men's clothing since I couldn't leave the bathroom to look for them because I was naked and so it took forever for anyone to pass by and then it took them forever to get me a new outfit and the whole thing pissed me the fuck off." Mordred plopped into the free seat next to mom as he ranted.
The one who brought Mordred to the dining room, the pony tail homunculus, looked ready to punch a wall. Considering Mordred's attitude, Illyasviel could imagine that Mordred was acting like quite the pain in the ass himself throughout the little debacle that was just described.
"I thank you all for listening to Chloe's demand that you bathe. I apologize for her rudeness." The homunculus had composed herself quite quickly.
"Not to worry, it was no trouble at all." Mom said. "We were more than happy to have the opportunity to clean ourselves after the previous night."
"We thought it prudent that we have lunch together before we start exchanging information, is that okay?"
"That's more than fine."
"I'll be in the kitchen then. The food should be right out." The polite homunculus left.
"This better be damn good food." Mordred leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head.
"If this meal will match the decor, then it should be more than refined enough to suit our pallets." Mom had an undertone of eagerness to her words.
"It'd be funny though if they just dropped a bunch of McDonald's hamburgers in front of us or something." Illyasviel snickered a bit as she spoke. Mom's entire face drooped down at the thought as if it were melting. She hated any and all kinds of fast food. "I still don't get why you've got such picky taste buds, mom. You came from a time where most food consisted of taking some meat and boiling it to Hell and that's it. Any modern food should taste orgasmic in comparison."
"She's always had fancy-shmancy taste buds. She hated the food back in Camelot no matter what was made for her." Mordred said.
"You act like I was ungrateful for the food I was presented with." Mom was offended. "I acted politely and graciously accepted every dish made for me."
"You may have acted all appreciative and shit, but we knew you still thought the food tasted like horse piss."
"How could you have known that? I perfectly concealed my true feelings."
"No, you didn't. Your face was easier to read than a book meant for preschoolers."
Mom was both angry and embarrassed, but lacked any kind of comeback.
It turned out that the homunculus wasn't lying when they said the food would be right out. She returned with a trolley covered in dishes of rouladen, bratwurst, sauerkraut, potato salad, kartoffelknödel, reibekuchen, applesauce, and more. Any doubts about the refinement of this meal were forgotten after seeing the blatant precision that had gone into preparing each dish.
"This looks fantastic." Mom was trying not to drool.
"Thank you." the homunculus said as she began placing the smorgasbord of food on the table whilst Chloe and the other homunculus entered the dining room.
Chloe sat across from mom while the two homunculi sat at each of her sides, leaving only one place setting left across from mama. That place was soon filled by Archer who materialized and took a seat which looked very silly considering his giant size that made him look like an adult sitting at the kids table.
"Welp, we're all here." Chloe sounded like she had resigned herself to this situation rather than it being something she wanted to happen. "We should probably all introduce ourselves properly or whatevs before we eat, yeah?"
A dropped fork linked onto a plate as Mordred realized he wasn't supposed to have started eating yet. He currently had a mouth full of dumplings as everyone stared at him.
"Whatever." Chloe couldn't even bring herself to sigh. "I'm Chloe, the one with the short hair is Leysritt, the one with the ponytail is Sella, and Archer is Heracles. Just say what your names are and we'll eat." Mordred swallowed to try and say his name, but he started choking a bit and had to chug his glass of water. "Christ."
"I'm Mordred." The man coughed out.
"Good for you. We already know Illyasviel and Irisviel, so who are the other two? I mean, one of you is King Arthur, but I can't tell which?"
"I am Artoria Pendragon, more commonly known as King Arthur." mom declared with a kingly countenance.
"Neat. And the other one."
"Gray."
"Aight, let's eat." That was all that needed to be said. Everyone began to dig in with differing levels of abandon.
Mordred went back to shoving as much food as he could into his mouth which made Illyasviel wonder if he was actually tasting anything with the way he inhaled his food. Illyasviel didn't have much room to talk since she was also scarfing down food to fill her empty belly. Mom and Gray were both eating up a storm, but with a refined air to them that persisted despite their gluttony. Mama was eating, but with nowhere near the passion as the rest of her family.
Chloe was eating with a very casual pace and a lack of elegance. She certainly wasn't eating in the stiff and controlled way Illyasviel remembered the Einzberns teaching her. It appeared that Chloe was actively trying to be unrefined and failing. She would shove food in her mouth, but it was so awkward looking that it could only have been performative. She was trying to not act the way the Einzberns taught her to, assumedly because of Chloe's hatred of them.
Sella was eating with the grace expected of a member of the Einzbern family while Leysritt was eating the fine cuisine like junk food as she casually tossed it off her utensils and past her lips. It was actually pretty impressive that she could do that without getting even a drop of anything on her face. Archer looked funny as he held the tiny silverware between his tremendous fingers. He still managed to cut up and consume his food with precision that only the likes of a Heroic Spirit could have. The giant was kinda cute the way he was eating so politely with a relatively tiny fork and knife.
The food itself was just fantastic, like, it was so fucking good. Everything was perfect and the different tastes all managed to enhance each other, leading to this sort of feedback loop of flavor that made each bite better than the last. Shit was straight up addictive.
"All this food is fantastic." Illyasviel said. "Can I ask who made all this?"
"It was me." Sella raised her hand.
"You made all of this by yourself?"
"That's correct."
"You're amazing. Everything's spot on and there's so much of it. You must have been cooking all day."
Sella's cheeks became flushed. "It didn't take that long. I'm glad you like it."
"This stuff's great." Mordred said despite his mouth being stuffed with food.
"Mordred, swallow before you talk, it's rude to speak with your mouth full." mom chided.
"I don't see what the problem is." Chloe also spoke with food in her mouth and purposely had some spittle out.
"Chloe, she's right." Sella chimed in. "It's unbecoming to talk while you're eating."
Both Mordred and Chloe swallowed and murmured something or other to each other. They were united in their dislike for being told what to do.
Illyasviel was looking at Chloe and, for a brief instant, the twins' eyes met. Chloe immediately looked away like a nervous child. She really did hate and fear Illyasviel. The memory of holding a gun to Chloe's head returned. Those feelings of wanting to just pull the trigger and watch her brain spread out across the pavement below darted about in Illyasviel's mind and made her fear nothing more than her own reflection for fear of seeing the monster she had become. Was that bloodlust still in her somewhere, ready to bubble up and scald those that got to close?
Such wrath had manifested inside Illyasviel and all over the loss of a single memento of her daddy, a man that became hazier in her mind every day. But that was no excuse. The man named Kiritsugu Emiya had left plenty of momentos, they were simply immaterial. The fact that Ilyasviel was born at all, the fact that mama had been saved from her apparent fate to become the Grail's vessel, the Magic Crest that has been etched into Illyasviel's back, they were the ripples in the water which proved that Kiritsugu had lived.
And so there was no excuse for Illyasviel's wrath in those dark moments during the previous night, especially when the target of that vitriol was Chloe, a girl who never had the chance to really live before and who was haunted by traumas beyond Illyasviel's comprehension. The hate in Chloe's heart was all too understandable and did not damn her. She needed help which Illyasviel was desperate to provide as penance, and if she didn't have the right to help Chloe that way, then she was at least obligated to apologize earnestly and directly.
"Chloe." The words crawled their way out of Illyasviel's throat so quietly that nobody but the Servants heard them. "Chloe." Illyasviel said again. Chloe looked over this time. "Chloe, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For what I did last night. For when I tried to kill you." All noise died as everyone halted in their consumption. Illyasviel feared that she would lose her nerve if she looked Chloe in the eye or could see everyone staring at her, so she kept her eyes on her plate of sausage. "I got angry and tried to kill you. I'm sorry."
Illyasviel wasn't sure if her blood was still flowing. Everything, even time itself regressed to a crawl as Illyasviel awaited a response, any kind of response so the tension in her muscles like that of a compressed spring could be released and she could make her next choice, her next action rather than continue to wait as all things stagnated. She started this and yet she wanted nothing more than for the moment to end already so she could hide herself away somewhere by herself. She didn't just want this moment to end, she wanted it to fucking die and stay dead. Why didn't she just let sleeping dogs lie? Chloe didn't want anything to do with her, couldn't she just leave things at that rather than make things uncomfortable like this? Chloe was just going to get mad and she had every right to. After what Illyasviel did, how dare she think that just saying she was sorry was going to mean anything. It was insulting.
Illyasviel was going to throw up. She had been thinking that a lot lately, but this time she was serious. She was going to throw up and right when everyone's eating and everyone's going to be disgusted and upset. Illyasviel's family was going to try and console her afterward and that would just make her feel even worse and it was going to be an unmitigated nightmare. The food in front of Illyasviel became blurry and multiplied. Everything began tilting back and forth like a boat on rough seas and the nausea Illyasviel felt intensified. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't stop them so she had to hide them under the table. The vertigo was so intense that Illyasviel would hit the floor if she tried to get out of her chair. Her heart punched her ribs as it expanded so rapidly and with such power that it was bound to burst at any moment. If something didn't happen soon, then Illyasviel was going to scream.
"Fine, I forgive you or whatever."
"Wh-" Illyasviel's breathing hitched, yet her muscles softened and her body regained some sense of a healthy equilibrium. Were her ears working?
"I mean, I tried to kill you, too. So sorry for that, but it was war and stuff so I was just trying to win. We were both just fighting like we were supposed to, so it's whatever." Chloe looked at the wall as she spoke dismissively, but with just enough of a tinge of genuine emotion as to imply sincerity.
"So you aren't mad anymore?"
"I just don't wanna think about last night anymore so let's just pretend it didn't happen. A fresh start or some shit like that."
"Okay." Illyasviel felt like she was going to turn to liquid. She was so at ease. Her eyes moistened, but she managed to stop herself from outright crying. Fresh start. They'd have a fresh start. That sounded really nice.
"We appreciate your forgiveness." Mom was smiling.
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Chloe shoveled food into her mouth. Illyasviel wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Archer smile for a moment.
The dinner continued on with more awkwardness and small talk. Never did the two families really click, but the hostility faded and by the time the last morsel was ingested, everyone was able to sit together relatively comfortably with the thought of betrayal safely buried.
"Would anyone like coffee? Tea?" Sella was cleaning up the plates with mama, Gray, and Illyasviel's help.
"Coffee." Chloe raised a finger, as did Leysritt.
"Same here." Illyasviel followed.
"I'd like black tea if you have it." Mama spoke up for the first time in a while.
"I'd like green tea." Mom looked at Mordred. "Do you want anything?"
"Coffee. Make sure it's got lots of milk and sugar."
"What are you, a little kid?" Chloe spoke with the cadence of a high school bully.
"Shut it."
"I'll just have water." Gray said.
"As will I." Archer seconded.
"All right, I'll be back in a bit." Sella went to get everyone's after meal beverages.
"Okay, now that we're done eating, how about we get down to business." Chloe was stretching as she spoke.
"You mean exchanging information?"
"Exactamundo." Chloe did double finger guns towards mom. "Everything about ourselves, our pasts, abilities, all that crap, and also all the info we've got on the Grail, the other Masters and Servants, the overseer. All the shit."
Mom's body straightened. It was time to be honest, though they'd still have to be careful about oversharing. They didn't want to give away everything about them in case this alliance went poorly.
"As you wish. Where shall we start?"
And thus everyone's drinks arrived and the awaited moment of information exchange began, going on for many hours due to there being so much to be said by pretty much everyone.
Illyasviel's family revealed most of their secrets, their abilities, and their history. Chloe's facade of disinterest and selfishness was chipped away as the trials of the Pendragon family clearly captivated her. When she heard of the agony of Kiritsugu's death and the aftermath, of Gray's early childhood and struggle with self-actualization, of mama's mental corruption and lashing out, of mom's tragic life as King Arthur, of Mordred's abandonment and rebellion, Chloe could only listen attentively with empathy abounding as she too knew what it was like to live through great pain.
When Chloe started to tell her own story and share the information she had to provide, Illyasviel couldn't help but silently cry. The horrors she faced in that frigid castle at the unfeeling hands of the Einzberns were beyond belief. Even mama was shocked at the disturbing depths that the Einzberns went to prepare Chloe to be the ultimate Master. Survivor's guilt plagued Illyasviel's heart as she thought of how that suffering should have been hers, even as she understood that Chloe also wouldn't have been born in that case.
At least Sella and Leysritt were there to help Chloe through that wretched life. They were like her guardian angels, the scaffolding that propped her up and kept her from collapsing from the weight of the Einzberns' expectations. It was no wonder why Chloe considered Sella and Leysritt exceptions to her belief that all Einzberns were pure scum. It went to show how there would always be good people, even in lands and households that had gone mad.
And then there was Archer, the mighty Heracles. He was Chloe's savior. His strength which was nigh-absolute was able to break the fetters on Chloe's being with a casual ease that made it obvious as to why so much faith was put in him. There was no way that Chloe would ever doubt his ability, Illyasviel's plan to plant the seeds of such doubt being abandoned on the spot upon learning the special place the hero had in Chloe's heart.
Illyasviel wasn't sure what to think upon learning that Lancer was Scáthach, queen of the Land of Shadows. Scáthach had a relatively minor role in the Ulster Cycle. She was the mentor of Cú Chulainn and Ferdiad and the one who gave Cú Chulainn his spear, Gáe Bolg, but that was it really. It could be argued that Scáthach's twin sister Aífe had a more notable part to play in the tale of Cú Chulainn since she bore his son, Connla. There certainly weren't any famous weaknesses that Scáthach had, and from what Archer said, Scáthach had a near endless arsenal of abilities that made her capable of standing toe-to-toe with nearly anyone. Even Archer's Nine Lives couldn't kill Scáthach. Pair Lancer with her Master who was on the level of a Servant when boosted by Primordial Runes, and they were a team that could not be underestimated in the slightest.
"And you have no idea where Lancer and her Master went after they went through that gate?" Mom wanted to make sure if there were any leads to follow or not as to their location.
"I mean, the Noble Phantasm they used to escape was called Gate of Skye, and the Land of Shadows that Scáthach rules is on the Isle of Skye, so maybe it leads there, but I dunno." Chloe shrugged.
"When the gate opened, I sensed a great feeling of death on the other side." Heracles recalled. "It certainly did not lead to a realm in our World. If I was taken through it, I would have lost at least a life or two, and I would have been stranded on the other side, possibly dying over and over until I had no lives left. I suspect that the only reason they were able to survive using it as an escape route was thanks to Scáthach's own power over the land within."
"So it isn't somewhere we could just go to attack them." Mordred said.
"We would perish upon entering such a realm. They are outside our grasp as long as they stay there. The only chance we could best them while they recuperate in that other world is if we opened some kind of portal there, which is likely beyond what any of us are capable of, and proceeded to unleash all our offensive long-range Noble Phantasms at once and attack through the portal from the outside to try and completely destroy the entire alternate reality. I don't know how well that would work considering we don't know the dimensions of this realm and Artoria, Mordred, and I are stuck at less than full strength."
"So we'll just have to wait and be ready for when Lancer and her Master return." Illyasviel really didn't like that idea since that left complete control in Lancer's hands, but there was nothing that could be done. They couldn't even spy on Lancer and her Master using Transference of Consciousness due to not knowing where this alternate reality was. "Is there anything else left to cover at this point?"
"There's one last thing." Chloe adjusted in her seat and finished off her coffee. "It's about the corruption of the Grail. I think there might be some evidence to help prove you aren't lying, assuming you aren't lying."
The entire Pendragon family leaned forward. If there really was solid evidence of the Grail's corruption, then they could finally convince the overseer that the Greater Grail needed to be disposed of.
"What's the evidence?"
"It's not anything absolute, but I learned from the Einzberns when they were training me about how they fucked around with the Servant summoning ritual during the Third Holy Grail War to summon an extra class Servant."
"What's an extra class?" Gray didn't know what that was, but Illyasviel did.
"It's a Servant that isn't one of the knight classes, Saber, Lancer and Archer, or the cavalry classes, Caster, Rider, Berserker, and Assassin." Illyasviel explained to her sister. "There are actually many other classes called extra classes that aren't summoned in traditional Holy Grail Wars."
"The Einzberns figured out how to alter the ritual to summon two different extra classes that would take the place of one of the normal classes, which ended up being Berserker. They wanted to summon an overpowered Servant and get an easy win. They were sick and tired of getting their asses kicked."
"Which two extra classes were their options, and which did they go with?"
"Their first option, the one they didn't go with, was Ruler. The Ruler class is primarily made up of saints, though any Heroic Spirit capable of impartiality can be a Ruler, too. The Ruler class isn't meant to be summoned by a Master, but by the Grail itself to enforce the rules of the Holy Grail War when necessary, like when a war has an unusually large number of Servants that could lead to things getting too chaotic without some kind of judge present. Rulers get Command Spells that they can use on any of the other servants in a Grail War to force them to behave. The Einzberns considered summoning a Ruler so they could use their Command Spells to get all the other Servants to kill themselves and make the war a cakewalk."
"That seems like it would have been a perfect plan, so why didn't they do that?"
"Rulers don't always get Command Spells when summoned, only when they are acting as overseers over Grail Wars. They weren't sure if their cheaty method of summoning a Ruler would come with Command Spells or not, so they went with their other option."
"And that was?"
"Avenger, a class made up of vengeful Heroic Spirits that have immense raw power when summoned. They're kind of like Berserkers, but they're relatively easier to control, emphasis on relatively, and are generally much stronger. The Einzberns decided to just brute force their way through the war, but they ended up having the shittiest luck ever."
"What happened?"
"The Avenger they summoned was supremely weak, like so weak that they were borderline useless. The Einzberns got wrecked."
"And what does any of this shit got to do with the Grail's corruption?" Mordred's foot was tapping on the ground.
"The Avenger summoned was filled with a Hell of a lot of hate, like, even for an Avenger. They were like manifested rage and darkness. They didn't even have a proper physical form, they just looked like a black silhouette."
"Are you implying that this Avenger was what corrupted the Grail?" Mama was really in the conversation for the first time.
"Possibly. The Avenger's identity was Angra Mainyu, not the Zoroastrian god, but related. They were a normal person who became a scapegoat for all their community's sins, everything bad that ever happened being blamed on them and they were punished accordingly. This Angra Mainyu came to be a living bundle of hate and curses that just wanted revenge on all mankind for their unfair persecution."
What came next felt like it was from out of nowhere. Mama's teeth chattered and the weight of all mankind sat upon her chest. "That hate. That unyielding hate at the World. That sounds just like what I felt from the Greater Grail, what went inside me!" Mamas' breathing became completely irregular and her eyes glazed over as she was having a panic attack.
Mom was out of her seat and at mama's side in a flash, whispering serene words of concern and encouragement. Everyone froze in place to not increase mama's stimulation and agitate her any further. In hindsight, it was surprising that mama didn't have an attack sooner after all she had recently been through. She must have been holding her feelings back so as to not worry anyone. Mama may have disparaged herself more than once over her belief that she was a tainted person due to the Grail's pollution, but her overly self-sacrificing nature proved that she was pure where it truly mattered.
"I'm sorry, but can Irisviel and I excuse ourselves for a moment?" Mom asked a slack jawed Chloe.
"S-Sure, it's cool."
Mom nodded. "Come on, Iri. Let's go for a walk." With help from mom, mama got out of her seat and the couple slowly left the room.
"Does that happen often?" Chloe spoke with concern in her voice.
"Not too often, but maybe that's just from our perspective because we're used to it." Illyasviel had long since lost count of how many times such incidents had occured since the Fourth Holy Grail War. They had become mundane, near unnoteworthy if it weren't for the turmoil the attacks caused mama.
Chloe looked to the door that mom and mama had just exited through and her face wrinkled as it shifted several times. A million different emotions danced across her lips, cheeks, and eyes as she processed things whilst everyone uttered not a word as to not do anything to offend or make things even more uncomfortable. The tongue in Chloe's mouth was gnawed on by her teeth as if to stop her from speaking, as if she wasn't sure whether she wanted to say what she was about to say, because she wasn't sure yet if it was what she truly felt, what she truly wanted. Chloe's head turned until Archer's tremendous figure was in her periphery. The tongue was freed from the shackles of Chloe's teeth and the young woman spoke.
"I believe you about the Grail's corruption." Chloe rushed the words out and it was perhaps for that reason that there wasn't as big of a reaction as one might expect. Everyone just looked at Chloe with barely more than neutral expressions.
"Really?" Illyasviel asked with surprise that was so great that it couldn't be properly expressed.
"After seeing Irisviel react like that from hearing about Angra Mainyu and the Grail's corruption, I doubt she wants the Grail for any selfish reasons, and you all care about each other from what I can tell, so you probably don't want the Grail for anything, either. I'll trust you guys that the Grail is corrupted."
"Does that mean our alliance won't just be temporary?"
"It won't be temporary, I suppose." Chloe was blushing through her tan.
The sides of Illyasviel's mouth rose up as she became absolutely elated at this fantabulous turn of events. Chloe was going to keep working with Illyasviel and her family to destroy the Grail, which nearly guaranteed their success and meant that Illyasviel would have plenty of chances to get closer to Chloe so she could free her of her lingering fury. Illyasviel was so giddy that she was bouncing up and down in her seat like she would when she was little.
"Thank you for trusting us, Chloe. This means the world to us."
"Yeah, yeah." Chloe got out of her chair. "Since we're all still pretty tired from yesterday, it would probably be best to relax tonight and just observe the city with our familiars. Anyone got a problem with that?" A series of nos and shaking heads. "Then let's all relax. I'm gonna be in my room for a bit. The rest of you can do whatever you want."
As Chloe left, Illyasviel wanted to follow her and ask if they could hang out or something, but a wave of exhaustion hit Illyasviel again, this one making it clear that the young woman needed to sleep or she was just going to pass out. She'd have to save spending quality time with Chloe for another day.
"Hey, I'm going to turn in early. I really need to sleep." Illyasviel said to her siblings. "Can one of you tell mom and mama what they missed?"
"I will, don't worry." Gray didn't look tired in the slightest.
"Thanks."
"I'll show you to your room." Sella said and Illyasviel didn't spare an extra word as she followed the homunculus to her room. She entered, thanked Sella, and fell into the bed so poofy it was like a cloud without giving a second thought to the luxuriousness of the bedroom. The sandman blessed Illyasviel with sleep before she could even get under the covers and she dreamt of living a peaceful life back home in Denmark with her family and Chloe's family.