FateBleached Apocrypha part 1 Factions

by TransG1fan

The Holy Grail & Hogyoku: both of these devices created for the purpose of granting wishes. So what happens when the worlds that created them collide? Aizen decides to watch as the Grail war in Trifas unfolds except he's decided to make some modifications: instead of 2 factions how about 6? And Ruler gets help from a certain substitute soul reaper and midget soul reaper.

2. Chapter 2 Encounters and Introductions

Fate/Bleached Apocrypha

Part 1 Factions

I didn't figure out how to get the underline function to show in the published work last chapter. Hopefully, I got it to work properly this time.

Another thing to note is I shifted the timeline of both series. Bleach officially takes place between 2002-2003 for most of the cannon story while Fate, that is the Stay night and Apocrypha timelines, usually take place around 2004 or 2005. Considering the iPhone hit the real-world markets in 2007 and I wanted Ichigo to have an iPhone for this story, I decided to shift the timeline to have it be 2010. So, while everyone is the ages they are in the cannon of their respective series, save for the Soul Reaper characters, just think of their birthdays being a little later if you are familiar with the cannon timelines of either of these series but otherwise the events of either are the same.

To those who said the chapter was too long, I did dial it back to about 53K this time, not counting the intro here or the Author notes at the end. Hopefully that will help. The reason why the last chapter was so long was I was following the tradition of Fate in that the first episode of nearly every series ends with the summoning of the, usually the main, Servants. So, I was just sticking to that tradition.

I need also to say this here that due to the fact that I chose a large character cast this means that most of the chapters are going to be long as there are a lot of things that have to get covered. This chapter for example is very dialogue heavy, but it is to help set up most of the rest of the character cast as well as establish some personal head cannons of mine within the story as again this is an AU. So, while there will be a lot of talking in this chapter, there is a method to the madness.

My goal will be to shoot for 100 pages per chapter or at least close to that while finding a nice place to finish off the chapters. Otherwise, the story would be well over 100 chapters and I'm someone who likes fewer chapters that are long rather than a lot of chapters that are very short. If you don't like it, then don't read.

Same as before I don't own any of the characters of this story. Please support the official release of both the Bleach and Fate series.

Now onto the next chapter.

Personal thoughts, Servant/Master (also Jeanne and Laeticia internal) communication, Zanpakuto speaking, Inner Hollow/regular Hollow speaking

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Chapter 2: Encounters and Introductions

===France – girls dorm room – evening

A full moon shone clear and bright into the room giving off a gentle light which illuminated the room enough for one to walk around and not worry about running into anything but low enough to not disturb anyone who was asleep. It also bathed the young girl who was praying at the window in the same light. She was about 19 and was quite beautiful as she had a very mature body that could've easily gotten her a job as a model. She also possessed lavender colored eyes and long loose knee-length golden hair and bangs that framed the soft features of her face. In her white floor length nightgown, she looked almost ethereal in the moonlight. She was barefoot. With her hands clasped together, she murmured her evening prayers so as to not wake up the other girl who was already asleep and turned away from the window.

===Not too far away – same time – outside

He was a short male with blue eyes and chin-length black hair, with bangs framing the side of his face. His attire composed of a white shitagi or under clothing, a black kosode, black hakama pants, white hakama-himo, white tabi, and waraji. All this combined to create an attire called a shihakushō. This was the standard attire worn by Soul Reapers. A militarized group of dead human souls who received training to help the souls of the departed pass onto the next life and cleanse the corrupted souls of Hollows. At his side, secured by his obi belt was a Katana with a blue handle and a circular guard and on his back was a cinch bag that had the kanji for the number four emblazoned across it. He stood on the roof of what were dorm buildings as he scanned the area for threats or souls that required assistance. Suddenly his head snapped to the side as something caught his attention.

"Huh!? What's this? I can sense a spirit nearby, but it feels different than an ordinary soul. But it seems far purer but it's not another Soul Reaper as I'm in charge of this area and already saw the one I was relieving off to the Soul Society. So, what am I sensing?" he thought to himself aloud. Then he heard a hollow howling nearby. He quickly zeroed in on its location. "Oh no! That hollow is heading right where I sense that odd soul. I got to get there and get rid of the hollow before something bad happens." He said his face hardening with determination. He started running on reishi platforms in the air as he ran as fast as he could to get to where the hollow was.

===Back with girl praying

The girl praying was nearly finished. When she heard a voice. "Huh? Whose there?" she asked, her soft voice sounding like a bell as she looked up at the moon.

"Please don't be frightened. I mean you no harm." said the voice that was also female. This one sounded very similar to hers but there was a hint of steel to it. Like a woman who had been on a battlefield. "I apologize as this is most unexpected, but I am in need of help and right now you're the only one who can help me." she said calmly.

"Who are you?" asked the present girl.

"Before I introduce myself, I need to explain why I've contacted you. You see I'm a spirit with no body and require one to carry out the task that I've been given. Normally I would manifest a physical body out of magical energy, but something is blocking my ability to do so. So, to fulfill my task I need to take up residence within someone currently alive as a host in order to temporarily exist." said the voice seriously.

"What is this task that you have to fulfill?" asked the girl.

"I am to be an overseer over a war between heroes and legends that have been temporarily brought back to life in the present through a magic ritual and they are to fight each other until there is only one left. Normally there is meant to be only 7 of these combatants along with the people who summoned them, but I already know that there are far more than that number, but I won't know how many for sure until I can manifest and assess the situation. Along with this I must ensure that no innocents are harmed during this war." she said calmly. After a pause the voice spoke again. "If you were to accept me as your host for your body temporarily, I promise that even if I get hurt, you and your body will survive the upcoming conflict intact though I will be honest I'm not sure if you'll remember any of this when the time comes for me to depart once my task is finished." said the voice with her tone invoking a bit of sadness towards the end. The present girl grew thoughtful before she stared up at the moon again.

"Why me?" asked the girl.

"Because you have near perfect compatibility with me in terms of your physical build, your piety, your personality, and even your magical energy despite not having magic circuits." explained the voice. The girl had a pensive look on her face. There are still so many questions I want answered but if this spirit really wanted to hurt me it would've done so by now. Still, I need to know who I'm allowing to play host to my body first before I accept. thought the girl as she stared up at the moon once more.

"May I know your name first before I answer?" asked the girl.

"My name is Jeanne D'arc and I am the Ruler Class Servant summoned by the Holy Grail to be the overseer for this Great Holy Grail War." announced the now named Jeanne. The girl's eyes widened in shock, but she smiled in joy.

"Really?!" she said in a loud surprised voice she then immediately put her hands to her mouth to silence herself. She turned around and looked to see her roomate was still fast asleep though she had shifted a little at the noise. She turned to the moon once again. "You really are the Saint of Orleans?!" she said in a quieter voice though she was still excited.

"I never considered myself a saint." Jeanne said in an embarrassed tone. "But I did liberate Orleans during the 100 yrs. War." She added far more firmly.

"I see. It's an honor to meet you, Jeanne. My name is Laeticia Domrémy. I am a descendant of your sister Catherine D'arc. So, I guess that makes you my many generations great aunt." said the now named Laeticia. There was a pause before Jeanne spoke and when she did it was a bit emotional.

"You're my niece?!" she asked in awe. Laeticia smiled.

"Yes. Though many generations down the line. That might explain why we have near perfect compatibility. We're essentially family. On that note I guess I can only agree to your request. I agree to be your vessel and help you in any way that I can. Afterall we're family and family should always be ready to help each other, right?" she asked with a smile.

"Thank you so much for this Laeticia." said Jeanne, truly grateful for her cooperation. Then Laeticia's body glowed in a golden light temporarily lighting up the room itself but other than creating a slight breeze no other sound is made so no other sign of disturbance was seen. Laeticia got to her feet and turned away from the window. Her soft facial features now looked slightly hardened and her gentle lavender eyes now blazed with an inner fire. All this indicated one thing. The body of Laeticia Domrémy was now housing the spirit of Jeanne D'arc and she was the one who was present rather than Laeticia. She walked away from the window but got no more than 10 ft when a large hand came crashing though said window creating a ruckus. This woke up the sleeping roommate. The force of the crash sent Jeanne flying forward, landing on her stomach. She barely had time to comprehend what had just happened when she suddenly heard frantic screaming. Jeanne turned around on the floor and looked to see Laeticia's roommate desperately holding onto the bed frame while a big black hand had gripped her around the waist and was trying to pull her out the now destroyed window and wall.

"Laeticia! Help Me!" the girl roommate screamed. Jeanne immediately went to the girl's side and tried to pull her out of the grip of the giant hand, but it wouldn't budge.

She looked to see what this hand was attached to but all she could see was a white bone mask though she couldn't see what shape it was in. But she did see one yellow glowing eye and it was locked onto her. Suddenly the hand let go of the roommate and grasped Jeanne. She tried to struggle but the grip was firm. She heard her roommate scream something but due to the mounting pressure on her ribs and lungs she couldn't hear anything. She realized the creature was attempting to crush her and she panicked. If she couldn't get out of this Laeticia would die and Jeanne would have the death of her newly found niece on her hands. Then the grip slackened, and the hand fell limply to the ground and Jeanne could breathe again. She then heard an unearthly howl. She looked around blearily and saw that the hand had been cut off and was oozing black blood. What's more the entire appendage was disappearing. Before she could even think her roommate grabbed her by the arms and had Jeanne face her.

"Laeticia! Are you alright? What happened? Why were you levitating in the air like that?" the girl asked several questions at once. However, before Jeanne could even begin to answer her questions, she saw a few drops of green liquid hit the roommate's hand. Said roommate pulled her hand away and looked at it. "Did water drip onto me?" she asked. Suddenly another human hand holding a lighter of some kind appeared in front of the roommate's face. The thumb pressed something and there was a flash and a bird's head popped up from the top of the device and produced a puff of smoke. The roommate fell unconscious to the floor much to Jeanne's shock. She looked to see a black robed male putting the lighter away somewhere in said robes and then proceeded to pick up the roommate and carry her bridal style.

"Wait! Stop! Don't hurt her!" said Jeanne loudly. She tried to get up but winced in pain as her lungs and ribs ached from being squeezed. The male turned to her, still holding the roommate.

"It's alright. I'm just going to put her on the bed and heal her wounds. If you'll be patient with me, I'll take a look at yours too." he said in a calming tone.

"Who are you and where's that monster that attacked us earlier?" asked Jeanne glancing out the window and seeing nothing but the clear moonlit night through her now broken wall and window.

"Oh, you mean the Hollow? Don't worry. I was able to get to you in time and thankfully it was a very weak one, so I was able exorcise it without any trouble." he said. Jeanne looked at him confused.

"Hollow?" she asked. The man by now had placed the roommate on the bed before turning to face Jeanne.

"Since you could see it and me, I think it's only fair to tell you and formally introduce myself. I am Hanatarō Yamada. The co-3rd Seat of Squad 4 of the 13 Court Guard Squads. And I'm known as a Soul Reaper." he said with formality and politely bowed to her. Jeanne's eyes widen in surprise.

"You're a Reaper?!" she asked, shocked. The now named Hanataro looked at her and nodded.

"Technically speaking yes." he said then gave her a friendly smile. "You know you're Japanese is very good. I was worried that due to being in France that there would be a language barrier but I'm glad that's not the case." he said sheepishly. Jeanne's mind was reeling. He doesn't know about my being a Heroic Spirit and that thanks to our connection with the Grail and the Throne of Heroes we are multilingual. Better let him keep thinking that. She looked up to see Hanataro's hands glowing green as they hovered over the unconscious body of Laeticia's roommate. After a few minutes he turned and approached her, and Jeanne felt herself tense up. He seemed to have caught onto this and held his hands up in a non-threatening gesture. He then knelt down, and the green light returned, and Jeanne felt a soothing sensation. Like she'd been placed in a bath that was just the right temperature which caused her aches and pains to fade. She almost drifted off to sleep when she felt someone gently shake her awake. She saw that it was Hanataro shaking her awake as she had dosed off in the middle of him healing her. She made an embarrassed sound as she sat up straight though Hanataro gave her a bemused expression. This faded, however, as he looked at her. "Miss? Could you please explain to me why there are two souls inhabiting the same body?" he asked seriously. Jeanne's eyes widened in surprise at the question.

===Romania – Cave – unknown location – evening

Manaka looked at the Servants that she'd summoned as she led them into their base of operations. The Assassin Class Servant with the double summoned skill for Archer she knew was Robin Hood. He was a tall and lean young man with grey-green eyes and messy spiky orange hair that partially covers his right eye. His attire consisted of Lincoln green clothing and a dark green cloak, along with bandages on his left arm, and brown boots.

Then there was the Berserker Class Servant whom thanks to her corrupted Grail, her knowledge prior to summoning him and her connection to the Root allowed her to know that his True name was Lancelot. He was a robust man fully clad in pitch-black armor and a rustic helmet with a thinly carved slit displaying the ghastly glow of his eyes. To Manaka's eyes, the armor was the work of the delicate and nuanced workmanship of its utmost effort, succeeding in granting it an air of formidability and a fine construction. It was perfect armor that could be called neither exquisite nor crude, and it instead perfectly molded magnificence and functionality. It was carved with countless marks and scratches, the highlights of his various military exploits etched into it to add a touch of valor. It was an ideal battle outfit. But while she could see all this, she knew that to the other Servants, all identifying marks on his armor were hidden, only revealing the fact that he was fully clad in armor without any opening. It showed no ornaments or polished luster. Blurring the characteristic features and clues on the lineage of the maker, it made him look like a "shadow", a bottomless black darkness like Hell to them.

For the Caster Class Servant she knew his True Name to be Avicebron. He wore a featureless gold mask without openings for eyes or a mouth, a full-body suit, and a blue mantle. In fact, the only human characteristic that showed itself was his wild blonde hair. Not to mention that his feet consisted of two gold foot spikes making her question how he could move around at all, but she let it slide.

Then there was their Rider Class Servant whose True name she knew to be Perseus. He has short wavy dark red hair and wore a gray mask with black markings to conceal his face and his identity, along with a black cloak which covered him save for his silver greaves and sandals. She knew behind that mask was a youthful face with greenish-yellow eyes. Though she had to admit this made him suit the Assassin role quite well, so she didn't force him to take it off after all if it meant sowing confusion on who was who in the battles to come, all the more reason for him to keep the mask and cloak.

Next was the Archer Class Servant whom she knew was Atalanta. She was a huntress who wore beautiful green clothing, clad in verdant green with her cold, sharp eyes which seemed to contain a beastly glint. Her hair was stretched out long and unkempt, and it was completely lacking in silkiness. As one who could be called a beautiful beast in human form, it befitted her appearance. For Manaka, Atalanta's charm points consisted of the feline ears on her head and on her lower back what looked like a cat tail. Manaka wondered if her animal ears and tail were the symbols or after-effects of the curse told of in her legend.

The last Servant present was the Lancer Class who was the Strongest Servant she had for her faction. He was Karna, one of the heroes of the Mahabharata. He was a young man with long, white, unkempt hair that almost appeared transparent. His gaze from his blue eyes was sharp like a steel blade with the red stone buried in his chest similarly projecting an enthralling lustrousness. It is also what drew the eye to his set of golden armor that he had become fused with, giving off a divine radiance along with his golden wheel-like earrings. While every single part was beautiful in its own right, once combined with Lancer they exuded a far more ferocity than attractiveness.

As Manaka looked to see that she only had 6 Servants, she was extremely disappointed to find that the one absent Servant was the Saber Class one. Her Servants noticed this as well. "You seem disappointed, Master." The Caster of their group addressed her. This seemed to get Manaka out of her thoughts as she looked at her Servants who were all eyeing her though they were keeping their emotions hidden.

"You are correct, Caster. I am disappointed. I'm disappointed that the Saber I selected didn't come in response to my summonings." she responded but took a deep breath and refocused her attention "Oh well. I will just have to press on. Now I'm sure that all of you are curious as to where the other Masters are. The answer is simple. I am the only Master of this faction as of right now." she said. The Servant's eyes, or those whose eyes were showing, widened in surprise.

"How is it that even possible?" asked Rider. Manaka looked confused for a moment before smiling.

"I summoned you through a temporary connection with my Grail and the Greater Grail of this world." she said offhandedly.

"This world?!" asked Assassin in surprise. Manaka giggled but did explain herself.

"Yes. I'll put this as concisely as I can. I'm from an Alternate Timeline where I won the Holy Grail War that took place in Tokyo. But that Grail became corrupted. My Prince was manipulated into killing me and he stabbed me through the chest and only by fusing with the Corrupted Grail of my world did I survive. I also always had a connection to the Root of Akasha which has granted me many abilities to do as I please though my own energy reserves are still finite so I can only do certain magecraft for so long before I tire out and need to rest. Thanks to both of these, I can summon and maintain an entire faction of Servants though it does limit my energy for magecraft to a degree. But as long as I don't venture out of this cavern often and stay under the defenses that I'll be setting up after this I should be fine. The only requirement that I still need to worry about is food. Which is already solved thanks to having two hunters in our faction." she said. The two hunters nodded.

"You keep calling us a Faction. If the information I'm receiving is correct, that means that the back-up system was triggered. But if the Grail you have is from a different world, why are we still receiving information on this world?" asked Atalanta. Manaka nodded.

"Right. Since the Grail I have is corrupted, if I had summoned you all with this you would've all been blackened or corrupted and that would've left you in states where you would've had your abilities enhanced but you all would've been far harder to control. On top of this it would've taxed my reserves to their limit to maintain all of you including the absent Saber leaving me vulnerable and around a bunch of aggressive Servants with questionable levels of obedience, that's not a situation I wanted to find myself in. So, I used my connection to the Root to reach out to the Greater Grail of this world and got it to grant me Command Seals for all of you. Surprisingly it didn't try to fight me, like it wanted to grant me the Seals. Anyway, it turns out that the Grail of this world is overflowing with so much power that it's allowed for well over 40 Servants to be summoned for what is being called the Great Holy Grail War. This means that as many as 6 factions are now competing with each other to win the War. Our Faction is now dubbed the White Faction. So, you're receiving information from this world's Grail because you were summoned by it. I put a barrier around my Grail so as to keep it from corrupting any of you or the Seals and thus the Grail of this world. So, I'm supplying you with my Grail's purified energy but the information of the modern era and connection you all have to me as a Master is from this world's Grail. One final thing before the barrier was put up, I was able to get info on the other Masters of the different factions but once the barrier was put up it deafened my Root connection to the point where I can use magecraft still, but I can no longer gleam information from that connection. So, if we want to find out the identities of the other factions of Servants, that's going to have to be done the old-fashioned way. Fighting and reconnaissance. Now are there any other questions?" Manaka asked opening the floor to the Servants.

"Can you prove anything you've said to be true?" asked the now named Caster of White. Archer of White growled at Caster once he had asked the question.

"Every word she has stated up to now has been the truth. If she had been lying to us, I would've known right away and known where and when she had begun to lie." said Lancer of White.

"So, you can tell when someone is lying, Lancer? That's quite a useful skill." commented Assassin of White.

"I have a question. Do you know our True Names thanks to that Root connection you mentioned earlier?" asked Rider of White.

"I sure do. I know each and every one of your True Names. I think that since we are a team it would be better for us to all know each other's True Names. We'll just have to remember to stick to Class and Faction names once we're out of the caves." said Manaka with a smile of a sweet little girl.

"If that is our Master's desire then I will not oppose it." said Lancer of White. With reluctance on several party's behalf's, all eventually agreed to exchange True Names as a sign of good faith for working together in the near future though Berserker of White just stayed silent the whole time.

"Very well. As the Master I shall reveal the True Names of the Servants for all to hear." she said. Once that was done the now named Atalanta spoke.

"Master, I am curious about the fact that we are lacking a Saber." she said. Manaka looked saddened but answered.

"My Prince. He was and will always be my only Saber. Unfortunately, the catalyst that I brought with me from my world that would've guaranteed his summoning to my side was taken while I was asleep and recovering from my injuries when I was brought over to this world 70 yrs. ago." She said only for Robin to interrupt her in surprise.

"Wait! You're over 70 yrs. Old?" he asked in shock. Manaka looked at him and nodded.

"When I was pulled to this world at the moment, I merged with the blackened Grail of my world that had been 70 yrs. ago. I was 14 yrs. old when I would've died. Once that happened the Grail went semi dormant but did its job of keeping me alive and in stasis while also healing my wounds. As a side effect I was asleep and hidden away from the world and my body stopped aging both due to the Grail's merging with me and because this isn't the world that I was born into. But during that same 70 yr. gap the catalyst that I had with me became separated shortly after my arrival and most likely was removed from the cave that I slept in at the time. Now my Prince is currently summoned as a Saber for another faction, though which one I don't know, as the catalyst is linked to him specifically and would've guaranteed him being summoned into the war despite being from the same timeline as me." explained Manaka.

"What was the catalyst and who was the Saber that you were planning on summoning?" asked Avicebron.

"They were the shards of Caliburn." Manaka answered which caused Lancelot to perk up. "And the Servant was none other than King Arthur." She finished but no sooner had the final syllable left her mouth did Lancelot go Berserk. It took Karna, Perseus, Robin Hood, Atalanta, and a Command Seal from Manaka to restrain him. Only after the Seal took effect did the other Servants move away, though they did keep a collective eye on him. Manaka restored the spent Command Seal using her Root connection. And showed this to her Servants. The message was clear: I can make you do whatever I want and not have to worry about being prudent with my Seals. I'm choosing to work with you, but you had better do as I say, or I will make you. Manaka looked at the once again still Lancelot. "I don't get it. You were 'his' most splendid knight and yet you act like you despise him. And thanks to your class I can't ask you what happened to cause this change. Oh Well. Perhaps it's a blessing that my prince wasn't summoned here. Otherwise, it would mean being down one Servant anyway and I'm not losing him a 2nd time." After a pause for thought Manaka turned back to her faction of Servants. "Alright here's what I'm asking from all of you as my Servants: Destroy all the other factions Servants save for my prince. Then if Lancelot is gone capture him and I will do my utmost to try and form a pact with him. And in exchange: For those left I will use my abilities to ensure that the Servants of this Faction get their wishes granted whatever they may be." she said solemnly. Then looked at her Servants except for Lancelot. "Will you help me achieve these goals for the War?" she asked. After a pause all but Avicebron and Lancelot kneeled and accepted her request though the former did bow and accept while the latter just stood there menacingly. With that Manaka smiled sweetly.

"Excellent!" she said happily.

===Romania – outside Trifas city limits near the Forests – Tohsaka base of operations – same time

Tokiomi looked around at the group of Servants with a look of confusion on his face as he took in all the Servants that had been summoned by his family. He first looked at his own Servant. The Servant possessed long grayish-blue hair that they let fall loosely over their right shoulder. The Servant he noted was incredibly beautiful. Their slender figure combined with their long, dark hair could easily mistake them for a woman. Their outfit resembled that of a traditional white tailed lab coat with unique modifications. The coat possessed a raised collar that descended down the coat as a large v-cut and black epaulets on its shoulders. Under the coat, Tokiomi saw the Servant wore what appeared to be a dark blue turtleneck sweater with a burgundy choker and harness. For shoes, The Servant wore knee high metal boots reminiscent of those found on the armor of knights. In their right hand was the same sword that Tokiomi used to summon this Servant.

Then there was Aoi's Servant. He was a young man about late teens or early 20's with short green hair and eyes. He wore what looked to be green, blue, and white fabrics in highly stylized shepherd's clothes. He wore black gloves on his hands and black sandals on his feet. He also had a gray pentagon on his back and carried a highly stylized shepherd's crook in one hand and in his other hand was a sling.

Then there was Kirei's Servant. An assassin who wore a skull mask and had violet-colored hair. Tokiomi was able to do research on the Hassans and so when he handed the poisoned dirk over to Kirei he knew who this was. So, he knew that underneath that mask was actually one of a beautiful girl that never actually carved out her face since it was one of her greatest tools. Due to the nature of her assassination methods, she needed a natural pretty face. Combining with this Assassin's ability to shapeshift would allow her to better refine her features to lure in her targets. Beyond the masked face though Assassin's appearance was typical of those in her Assassin Order. Like all the other Hassans, she wore a black, form-fitting outfit and the traditional Hassan's skull mask. She was also barefoot. She was carrying a dirk in each hand and had a belt around her waist where several more were kept.

Then there was Kariya's Servant. Despite being summoned as a Berserker, what had answered the summoning was strange to Tokiomi. Berserker was a young man who seemed to be in his mid to late 20s. He had blonde hair that was combed and neat and gentle green eyes. He was shown to be fancily dressed in a white dress shirt, an olive-green vest, and a black and grey jacket draped across his shoulders. He wore a black and white cravat with a red jewel around his neck, and leather gloves over his hands. On his feet, he wore heavy military boots. In his right hand he held a scalpel. But despite being a Berserker he seemed pretty calm and amicable. Tokiomi decided to look into it later and moved on.

Next was Sakura's Servant. Tokiomi wasn't sure what to make of her either. The tall Servant was very obviously a female with one of her notable features being her long purple hair that went down to the ground. How she didn't accidentally step on her own hair while moving around was completely beyond his understanding. Her other notable feature was that she wore an eye cover/blindfold that completely sealed her eyesight. This meant that in order to move about the Servant would have to perceive the world through senses such as hearing, touch, smell, and magic-detection. Though whether she was able to acquire more precise information than sight or not was beyond him. Despite her rather revealing outfit she actually seemed to be ladylike. Because of her outward appearance and primary weapon which was a pair of silver daggers with long chains attached to them, one would've thought she was an Assassin class Servant if it weren't for the dirk given to Kirei specifically for summoning an Assassin. Her actual outfit consisted of detached black sleeves and covers on the backs of her hands that were secured to her by purple rings, one on her wrists and several just below her shoulder joint. Then she had black boots that seemed both functional yet fashionable on her feet and over that were what he could only describe as thigh high covers with armor near her boots and secured on her upper thighs by purple rings on her legs. On her neck was a purple choker. Finally, her actual outfit was a short strapless black dress that left very little to the imagination. It hugged her body in all its contours like a second skin. It went down to just covering her buttocks leaving a gap between her thigh highs and the bottom of her dress. And it was given a sweetheart neckline that showed off her bountiful bosom's cleavage. Overall, her attire, her physical beauty, and long beautiful hair, made her a visage that most would make most people, namely men, worship her like their own personal goddess.

Then there was Ayaka's Servant. He was a rough-looking man around twenty years of age. He was a blue-haired, red-eyed man who wore heavy armor, covered in Runic protections but this didn't seem to hinder his movements at all. He wore a protective amulet around his neck, a wolf's head holding a crescent moon matching the catalyst that Ayaka used to summon him. He wore his hair in an untamed ponytail that reached his mid-back. Overall, he gave off the impression of a beast. In his right hand, he held a red spear though it was held a bit lazily.

Finally, there was Rin's Servant. She had the appearance of a young girl in her early-mid teens with a slender physique, soft skin, and green eyes. She had "finely textured" blonde hair that seemed "as if sprinkled with gold dust". Her face showed some signs of naivety and displayed elegance. She was more muscular most women. She wore shining armor with an old-style dress, made from old-fashioned blue cloth, underneath. She would be thought of as beautiful instantly upon seeing her. Despite her armor being unrefined and unaesthetic, Tokiomi thought of it as being beautiful enough to make the steel clanking of her armor seem like the chiming of a bell. Surprisingly, she had no weapon that was visible. Even more surprising was that the sword that had been used by Rin to summon this Servant had now been restored to its full glory. It now looked like a beautiful sword with various decorations of blue, gold, red and a silver blade.

To Tokiomi, going by looks alone, their faction overall seemed very unusual. Still, it was best to get everything squared away. He stepped forward and spoke with authority. "I'm sure that all of you are aware that this Holy Grail War that you've all been summoned to is a bit different as it will consist of factions of Servants. We are the Blue Faction. One of 3 factions that have formed for this war. I am the director of our faction, the Master of Caster of Blue." he said as he looked around the group. "Considering that we are all a team, I believe that it would be most prudent for all of you, Servants of Blue, to give your True Names so that way we can coordinate better knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each one of you. I shall start with mine." said Tokiomi as he looked at his Servant. After a pause, said Servant bowed and then faced the rest of the group.

"I am the Caster of Blue. My True Name is Paracelsus von Hohenheim, The Father of Alchemy." he said quietly. Then Tokiomi looked to Aoi who then looked to her Servant and the two exchanged a look before the Servant looked to the rest of the group.

"I am the Archer of Blue. My True Name is David, King of Israel." he said with a bit of suave. Both Kariya and Tokiomi eyed him with annoyed looks but kept quiet. Tokiomi's eyes then drifted over to Kirei and Assassin. The latter looked at the former, but they had no eye contact.

"Assassin if you'd please." said Kirei in a monotone voice.

"Very well. I am the Assassin of Blue. My True Name is Hassan-I-Sabbah." She said as she removed her mask showing that she had a very pretty face that seemed to be just a few yrs. older than Ayaka. "More specifically I am the Hassan of the Serenity." she said no more beyond that. Tokiomi nodded and then turned his attention to Kariya who exchanged a look with his Servant and then nodded in acceptance albeit reluctantly on Kariya's behalf.

"Officially, I am the Berserker of Blue though I can fulfill the role of an Assassin thanks to my double summon skill. My True Name is Henry Jekyll." He said politely. Tokiomi raised an eyebrow at that.

"Double summon skill?" he asked, a bit confused. Jekyll nodded.

"Yes. You see some Servants have enough innate skills that allow them to be summoned under multiple classes. Take myself for example. While in this form I technically could act as another Assassin for our faction." He said only for Kariya to jump in.

"While Edward Hyde fulfills the role of Berserker when you turn into him." he said as he was having an epiphany. Jekyll looked at him with a gentle smile.

"I take it you know of my legend?" he asked curiously.

"My teacher had me read it as part of my training, when I was still living with him." Kariya replied.

"I see. Thank you for answering my question, Berserker of Blue." said Tokiomi whose gaze shifted to his two daughters and niece and their Servants. First was Sakura's Servant. The two shared a look to which Sakura nodded.

"I am the Rider of Blue. My True Name is Medusa, The Gorgon." she said quietly. This got everyone's attention. The more heroic Servants tightened their grips on their weapons while the ones considered Anti-heroes quirked an eyebrow.

"Sakura you said that you used yourself as the Catalyst for the summoning, right?" asked Kariya. Sakura nodded fiercely. After a moment Kariya shrugged and nodded. "Well if the Grail itself felt that this was the best partner for you, then who are we to question it?" he asked rhetorically. This made everyone relax a bit. Though Aoi did approach Rider and stood before her.

"Since it was the Grail's choice for you to be my daughter's Servant, I will accept it and I expect you to do your utmost to protect her. However, should you turn against us or hurt Sakura, I will find a way to make you regret it." she said with determination. "Do I make myself clear?" she then asked.

"Crystal Clear." said Medusa quietly. This seemed to satisfy Aoi as she took a step back to stand beside her Servant. Tokiomi then looked to Ayaka and her Servant. The two shared a look before Ayaka nodded.

"Alright then, I guess it's my turn. I'm Lancer of Blue. My True Name is Cú Chulainn. Otherwise known as the Hound of Ulster or if you really want to get pretentious, I'm also known as Ireland's Child of Light." he said in a cocky manner. Ayaka gasped.

"So that means that the spear you have is Gáe Bolg, right?" she asked in an excited tone. That caught the now named Cú Chulainn's attention who gave her a cocky grin.

"That's right, little lady. Carved from the remains of Curruid's skull." He said with confidence.

"Curruid? That's supposed to have been a sea monster that inhabited the Red Sea during the Age of Gods. I read somewhere that it possessed a roar that could summon tornadoes." Ayaka said excitedly. Her eyes lit up with wonder.

"Oh yeah. Even from a distance those things were huge." he said with a smile.

"You mean that you actually saw one?" Ayaka asked in excitement. Tokiomi cleared his throat getting the pair's attention.

"There will be time to talk and familiarize with each other later. Right now, we have one final introduction to get through." he said sternly. Ayaka seemed to shrink back into herself, getting all shy again. Her Servant looked annoyed at Tokiomi but said nothing. Tokiomi took that as a sign of compliance and turned his attention to Rin and the final Servant which was by default Saber of Blue. Just like all the others the pair exchanged a look with Rin giving her Servant a nod of approval.

"Very Well. As you all have figured out, I am the Saber of Blue. My True Name is Artoria Pendragon. You may recognize the name as King Arthur. King of Knights." she said with authority. This made all of the Masters gasp in surprise.

"Wait! So King Arthur was a woman!?" asked Rin voicing the question that was on everyone's mind. However, her face grew into an excited smile. "Alright! That's amazing!" she said happily. Artoria looked at her master in surprise but then smiled gently at Rin. She then reached down and picked up the fully repaired sword and inspected it. A look of nostalgia came over her features.

"This was the catalyst used to summon you. Though admittedly it was shards just before, it seems your summoning returned it to its original state. I will admit that while I had my suspicions that the sword belonged to a European hero, I had no idea that it had anything to do with King Arthur. So is this in fact the-" Tokiomi began to ask only for Artoria to cut him off.

"It isn't Excalibur as that was returned to the Lady of the Lake after the Battle of Camlann. However, this does look very close to the sword in the stone that I pulled out to show that I was to be king of Britain. Caliburn." she said with nostalgia.

"So, it's the sword in the Stone, Caliburn?" asked Tokiomi getting excited. Artoria looked at him before answering,

"It's a Caliburn, but not my Caliburn." she said. Tokiomi looked confused.

"Perhaps I can explain, Master. Think of the universe as a tree and all its branches are different timelines that deviate from the primary one. The main branch is the timeline where King Arthur exists as you know him to be but there might be a timeline where King Arthur became a tyrant, or was really a woman disguised as a man, or perhaps became part of the fae as those creatures are associated with Arthurian legend. Honestly the possibilities are endless. But in regard to our Saber, it's most likely that either the catalyst used to summon her came from a different timeline or she herself did." explained Paracelsus.

"But how can a version of King Arthur from a different timeline be summoned here?" asked Tokiomi in surprise.

"It could be a case that Rin wasn't the only one to possess a relic related to King Arthur and so the Grail intervened and so sent the version of King Arthur that was the most compatible to your daughter while the other version went to the other Master that was also attempting to summon King Arthur at the same time." suggested Paracelsus.

"And for the record Master of Caster, I am the correct version of King Arthur for this timeline. It's the catalyst that you used to summon me that is from an alternate timeline." said Artoria as she cont. to hold the sword Caliburn in her left hand. All the Masters looked at her in surprise as what she stated caused many to ask a lot of questions if only privately. Rin, however, did ask one that had been bugging her since the catalyst she used had been restored.

"Since it's now a proper sword again, do you plan on using it?" she asked her Servant. After a moment of inspection, Artoria nodded.

"Yes. I believe that using Caliburn as my primary weapon would be the most prudent action. My other and True Noble Phantasm, Excalibur, is far too flashy and while it's under the cloak of Invisible Air to hide it, and thus hide my True Name, with more than 7 Servants being summoned all at once, there's a chance that another Servant might have a way to counter the Invisible Air. By contrast Caliburn isn't as well-known as many actually thought it was Excalibur that I pulled out of the stone. So, we can use that lack of knowledge to confuse opponents and enemy Masters along with the fact that most don't actually know what Caliburn looks like. At least for the opening stages when my Noble phantasm won't be needed." Artoria answered while putting together a strategy to use against their soon-to-be enemies. Tokiomi's mind was racing with all this new information. While I would've preferred that this be discussed with myself and Kirei in private, it's a sound strategy. Still the overall quality of the Servants is better than I expected. Our Caster and Assassin were the only ones that I did any research on prior to the summoning and with her poisoned touch and his alchemy we can strike against enemy masters and Caster can help us with keeping our jewel supply for our magecraft be unending for this war. Then to have Saber and Lancer be who they are, they can easily act as frontline assaulters as Lancer is a literal one-man army and Saber is the most outstanding class and with who she is, she's unlikely to lose. Rider is also good due to what her noble phantasm is and can easily deal with anyone who stands in front of her. Even Berserker is valuable due to being able to act as a 2nd Assassin and sow confusion among the enemies and do sneak attacks for when he goes to his Berserker state. In fact, the only one I have to say is a bit underwhelming is Archer but not by much. Best not to get too cocky though as we still must find out the names of the other factions Servants and then counter them. Still with our group as is the odds of achieving my dream of Reaching the Root and obtaining the True Magic and knowledge from it have gone up for our faction significantly. There's just one thing that bothers me: If the catalyst we used to summon King Arthur, is from an alternate timeline yet the one summoned for our faction was from this timeline then who else tried to summon King Arthur and what version did they get?

===Romania – outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – guest house – same time

Kiritsugu looked at all the Servants that had been summoned this night by his family. He had to admit that he really hadn't known what to expect when he'd nicked those catalysts 10 yrs. ago but aside from Saber who was almost certain was King Arthur considering Avalon, the others were a near complete mystery. Not because of lack of research but because the potential identities were too many to narrow down confidently, or he was at a complete loss on. Lancer, Archer, Berserker, and Rider there were too many candidates to pick from. Caster, he had no clue on, but Assassin given that the catalyst was a bunch of bloodied knives, that was next to impossible to narrow down. Even more so given the appearance of said Assassin.

For Shirou's Servants it was pretty obvious which one was which Servant. Assassin had the appearance of a lavender-haired girl who looked to be younger than Shirou who, himself was about 10 yrs. old, with green-yellow eyes, and stitched-up scars on her face. Both her arms were bandaged but only her left hand wore a glove. The only other part of her outfit that was visible was a pair of black thigh high boots with pink lining. Over the rest of her outfit, she wore what looked to be a tattered coat as a cloak. She had no weapons visible on her.

As for Shirou's other Servant, Lancer was a remarkably handsome young man with quirky long black hair combed backward in a rough fashion that has a strand hanging down his face. He looked to be just slightly younger than Kiritsugu himself putting him in his mid to late 20s at most. He had golden eyes. He wore a dark teal body suit with patches of armor mixed into said outfit. The bold features of his face were the high bridge of his nose and his valiant eyebrow. His hard cut mouth marked him with a stoic air, but his eyes seemed to make his gaze even more brilliant. It was then Kiritsugu saw a mole under his right eye which he realized had some kind of supernatural quality to it. Kiritsugu's eyes wandered over to the other girls in their group and saw all but Assassin have a look of mild discomfort before they seemed to get back to normal. This combined with the two spears finally helped Kiritsugu narrow it down as to who this Servant could possibly be. He carried two spears, one red and one yellow.

His eyes turned to his daughter, Illyasviel. Like Shirou, it was pretty obvious as to which Servant was which. Berserker was a colossal, 7 ft statue-like man who Kiritsugu would describe as a "black giant." He had projections on his arms, his muscles and face were hard enough to be mistaken for stone. He had wild black unkempt hair along with one red eye and one golden eye. He only wore an armored plated skirt. He gave off the impression of a monster in both appearance and presence. He also had no weapon visible.

Then there was Illyasviel's other Servant. Archer was a young man in his mid to late 20s of. He looked to be of Arabic descent. He had short black hair, and brown eyes which seemed to be full of life and an easy smile. His attire consisted of blue chest armor with a yellow hood, blue shoulder guards and red neck guard, red gauntlets and shin guards, black gloves and boots, white pants, black utility belt he wore around his waist which had several brown pouches attached to said belt. In his right hand he held a red bow.

Kiritsugu then turned his attention to his wife. Unlike his children's Servants, his wife's Servants were actually harder to distinguish their classes from at least at first glance. In fact, they almost would be mistaken for a married couple at first glance. He looked to Irisviel's female Servant. The very first thing he noticed was the woman's animal features. Both her ears and tail looked to be that of a jackal though he couldn't be sure. Her skin tone was the darkest between herself, Iri's male Servant, and Archer, making Kiritsugu wonder if she was from one of the African nations or a darker skin tone of someone of Arabic descent. Her eyes were blue, and her long dark hair had a purple tint to it. The next thing he noticed though he quickly averted his eyes once he saw was her attire or rather lack of it. To put it bluntly she was dressed in an ornate red, black and gold bikini, with black thigh high boots and a red fur lined robe and hood with gold embroidery though said hood did little to hide her ears. She also had blue silk sleeves that were detached along with black skintight arm covers underneath those that were worn on her middle fingers and went to just below her shoulder joint with gold and red bangles and bracelets on her wrists. She also was adorned with gold ornaments on her neck, hair, and head. Then he saw an ornate gold lamp attached to her on a chain similar to the one used to summon her. This meant that this was the Caster class Servant. This made Kiritsugu wonder if she was Scheherazade due to the lamp catalyst and the one attached to her and one of her stories being about a magic lamp.

His eyes drifted quickly over to Irisviel's male Servant which, by process of elimination, was Rider. He was a young man in his mid to late 20s who had eyes like the sun which were golden. He had short black hair and was solidly built. He wore a skintight black sleeveless shirt. Over this he wore a white cloak which at the lower back broke up into several tassels with gold ropes at each end of said tassels. His said cloak was fastened onto him with a golden sash and an ankh as said fastener. He also wore a pair of golden earrings. The back of his hands and lower arms up to his elbow were covered in gold vambraces with blue decorations on them. His waist was protected by a gold lame that encircled his hips along with a pair of gold tassets that were on his sides. The bottom part of his attire appeared to be black fabric that almost looked like baggy pants save that it allowed for his knees to poke out should he be sitting down. They attached to his feet covering his entire foot save for letting his heel and toes be exposed. He also had blue tassels hanging down from his waist that stopped just above feet to avoid him stepping on them along with a white and gold embroidered loincloth cover in the front though given that he was fully covered it seemed more decorative than functional. He wore golden greaves to protect his calves but, on his feet, he wore simple gold sandals with a blue jewel on each one. Adorning himself in so much gold made his dark skin have a golden radiance to it. It was like the man was the sun wrapped in the presence of a king. In his right hand he held a blue and gold striped staff with the top piece shaped like a crook.

Finally, Kiritsugu turned his gaze to his own Servant, Saber. Saber had short blond hair and green eyes. He had the height and weight of a standard man in his 20s. He appeared composed. His attire was the standard armor of a knight. The armor parts were silver in color. While the tunic parts were blue. He also had a black and white hood attached to the back of the armor part of his neck. He also had no weapon visible which Kiritsugu found a bit strange.

However, before he could even open his mouth to say anything, the Servant he identified as Rider proclaimed loudly spreading his arms wide, "My name is Ozymandias. King of Kings. Look ye on my mighty works and despair." Before the family could even fully react, their Archer spoke up.

"Well, I never thought that we would meet again, Great Pharoah. But I'm glad we're on the same side rather than against each other." Archer said with an easy smile. The now named Ozymandias looked to their Archer in surprise. Then he saw their Saber who looked, warily, back at him.

"These presences. . . Could you both be those men of valor?" he asked cautiously. Saber gave a small bow.

"Pharoah, Ozymandias. It is a great surprise to see you and as an ally. At least that is my sincere hope." said Saber respectfully. Suddenly Ozymandias began to laugh quite boisterously.

"An ally you say. Wrong. You are vassals to me, the Pharoah. As the pharaoh is above even kings, I therefore am the rightful ruler of this faction that we find ourselves in." he stated firmly.

"You three know each other?" asked Shirou thinking aloud. This caught the Pharoh's attention as his golden eyes shifted to focus on Shirou who in turn flinched under those golden eyes.

"You are one of the mages that summoned us here for this faction, correct boy?" he asked his face once again serious. Shirou nodded quickly. The Pharoah then gave a warm smile. "Most excellent. You've not only performed the amazing feat of summoning myself, but you've also summoned two valiant warriors whom I hold in high regard to fight alongside with. For, this the Pharoah gives this faction his blessings. Cherish it for this not something to be taken lightly." he said. Shirou breathed a sigh of relief realizing that he hadn't said anything that pissed off the Servant. Lancer put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave an encouraging smile which Shirou returned but his attention shifted back to the Pharoah when he spoke again. "I shall now enlighten you for your query. The Truth is that the three of us were in fact summoned in a previous war together though as enemies rather than as allies. I will say that the both of you certainly gave me a fight that was worth remembering before I left that world." said Ozymandias as he looked at the two Servants he once fought against with a challenging smile. Iri then spoke up.

"Forgive me, uh Pharoah but I was under the impression that Servants don't remember anything from previous summonings. Is that incorrect?" asked Iri. The Pharoah's smile became gentler as he looked to her.

"You are partly correct, lady mage. In most circumstances, Servants do not remember or rather choose not to remember previous summons for their own reasons. But sometimes some of them, like myself, choose to remember previous summons though the reasons vary depending on the Servant. For myself, I remember these two as they gave me a most wonderful fight that I only remember having when I fought against the Hitties when I was alive, but I don't remember any other summons beyond that one as I felt that they weren't worth remembering. Now I will ask you mages, what did you use to summon me? A piece of my war chariot? My war bow? The tablet that formed the peace treaty between myself and the Hitties? Or perhaps you used something that was plundered from my own mummy?" Ozymandias asked seemingly curious. Then his eyes looked to the circles and saw the catalysts on the summoning circles. His eyes widened as he saw the Egyptian necklace. He approached it and picked it up like it was a delicate flower. Then cradled it in his hands like it was a living thing. "Tell me, mages, it this the catalyst you used?" he asked calmly.

The room suddenly became filled with tension and the Servants gathered around their Masters as a precaution. Kiritsugu, suddenly having his survival instincts kick in, still answered him. "It is." he said truthfully. Ozymandias turned and faced him, his face stoic.

"And did you know who this belonged to?" Ozymandias asked still calm. Kiritsugu looked at him dead in the eye and answered.

"I did not. None of us did. All I knew about that necklace was that years ago it had been plundered from a tomb, though which one I don't know. It was sold on the black market and then purchased by the Einzberns to add to their vast collection of relics to summon strong Servants. Then 10 yrs. ago I stole it from the Einzberns as I was fleeing into the night with my wife and daughter at the time and had been told that we would get dragged into a Holy Grail War. As for why I chose that relic, I couldn't tell you. Call it a gut feeling, but I knew that it was important enough to take. And I've always trusted my instincts." said Kiritsugu honestly. For a solid minute Kiritsugu and Ozymandias kept eye contact until finally the latter closed his eyes and the tension drained out of the room. Ozymandias smiled a proud smile then.

"Your honesty and courage are splendid. Know that the Pharoah is as generous as his is merciful. I shall pardon your ignorance and move forward as a Servant of this Faction." said Ozymandias. Iri then stepped forward.

"Would it be alright then if we returned this necklace to you, since it obviously means so much to you." she asked innocently. Ozymandias looked amused at her.

"So, you wish to have this be your first offering to me? Very well. I shall permit it and accept it." he said confidently.

"As a matter of curiosity, who did that necklace belonged to?" asked Illya. Ozymandias' smile became nostalgic.

"This was a wedding gift that I gave to my beloved wife, Nefertari. The one for whom the sun shown." he said as he gazed at the necklace and became lost in thought for a few moments. But he quickly refocused his gaze back to Kiritsugu. "Tell me, mage why do you fight in this Holy Grail War? You said earlier that you were dragged into it, yet you must have a reason to fight. So, what is it?" he asked with a small smile and his golden eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"I'm afraid you'll find our goals very lackluster, Pharoah. But our goal is to eliminate the Einzbern family so that our family can live peacefully." answered Kiritsugu. Ozymandias cocked his head to the side.

"And why does your goal require you to eliminate this Einzbern Family?" he asked in curiosity. From here The Emiyas explained how things came to this moment. Kiritsugu's original ideal of becoming a 'hero of justice', to his realization that his ideals were impossible and what he tried to do to cope with it, his family that sprang up unintentionally, small bit of happiness he experienced and how he wanted to hold onto it, Shirou's inclusion into it, and now their lives as fugitives thanks to the Einzberns desire to retrieve Iri and Illya. "So, while the Grail could potentially grant our desires, I feel that this is a wish that I can grant with my own two hands. It will mean that I will have to stain my hands with blood, but they were soaked in blood for yrs. before I met Iri so a little more won't matter to me. Especially since I must make sure every last member of the Einzberns is eliminated to avoid any survivors seeking vengeance." Kiritsugu stated plainly. Arthur turned his attention to the children.

"And what about you two? Do you feel alright with this knowing what will happen to the Einzberns?" he asked cautiously. After a moment both children nodded.

"Yes, I already lost my original family and have no memory of them. I don't want to lose my new one, especially when the people who might take them away just want to use them for their own gain." Shirou declared.

"And I refuse to go along with the Einzberns and their schemes. Not if it means sacrificing my family." Illya added. After a few moments Ozymandias turned to Kiritsugu once again.

"And what of the Servants of this faction? Should we have any wishes that we want granted would you deny them the chance to have such wishes granted." he asked.

"Of course not. We know that the Einzberns have a back-up Grail homunculus that would take Iri's place should they be unable to get her back. And with the sheer number of Servants summoned for this war, there will be more than enough energy collected for more than one Servant to cast their wishes on the Grail. So, we won't interfere with that." said Kiritsugu honestly. After a few moments Ozymandias laughed boisterously before he spoke.

"Very well. The Pharoah gives his blessing for this endeavor to you and your family, my vassals. As the Rider of Silver, I Ozymandias, Rameses II, King of Kings shall permit this to be our faction's goal to achieve for this war. And I shall allow you, Master of Saber, to act as my advisor. Know that this is not a position I give lightly so do not disappoint me." he said with a challenging grin. Kiritsugu gave a small smile before bowing.

"I'm honored, Pharoah. Though I must ask. Are you sure that it will be a good idea to reveal your True Name outside of our faction?" he asked in curiosity. The Pharoah smile continued to be challenging but not unpleasant.

"Why should I hide my name when the world should kneel for the return of my radiant presence?" he asked. Suddenly he felt something on his leg, and he glanced down only to see Assassin snuggling up to his leg.

"Hmm. Warm." she said contentedly. Ozymandias's face softened considerably. Shirou panicked.

"Assassin! I'm so sorry, Pharoah-" Shirou attempted to apologize and walk towards Assassin to get her away. But Ozymandias raised his hand to stop him.

"So, you're our Assassin. What is your name, child?" he asked

"Assassin of Silver. Our True Name is Jack the Ripper." Most of the Servants and Masters looked at the little girl in surprise. Ozymandias looked at her with pity.

"A Wraith made of children who always dwelled in darkness and cold and who only sought warmth. Is that right, Assassin?" he asked in a surprisingly gentle tone. Assassin nodded.

"We just don't want to be cold anymore." she said quietly. Ozymandias patted her head before scooping her up to hold her like a loving parent would a small child.

"Under the sun's radiance you will never know cold again." he declared.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"When a Pharoah gives a decree, their word is law. And this is my decree to you." he said confidently. Then he grew thoughtful. "Hhhm. The name Jack doesn't suit you. Considering your current appearance is female, why not call you Jackie? And in exchange you and the children may call me Pharoah Ozy, understood." he asked as Shirou approached him. After a moment of thought the newly named Jackie gave a beaming smile.

"Okay!" she said as Shirou took her from Ozy's arms and bowing to the Pharoah. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the Servants.

"Well now, since myself and Assassin have already introduced ourselves, I think it only fair that the rest of our Silver Faction Servants respond inf kind, don't you all agree?" he asked with a smug smirk. Caster was the first to step forward.

"Caster of Silver, My True Name is Queen of Sheba." she said quietly. Ozy chuckled at this as he spoke.

"The wise queen who tested the Mage King Solomon with three challenges and who settled down in Ethiopia after the visit. You and I come from nearby countries of the African continent. That might explain why I felt a kinship with you." he said. Kiritsugu approached her.

"Caster, while my wife summoned both you and Rider of Silver, can I trust you to be my wife's main protector for this war?" he asked. She nodded.

"Of course, Master of Saber. I will protect her with all my abilities." she answered with a bow. Then Kiritsugu looked to the two Servants that were his daughter's.

"Well, I guess it's my turn. I'm the Archer of Silver. My True Name is Arash Kamangir." he said cheerfully.

"A hero of great valor who with his one act was able to save countless lives. He's also one of two Servants who was able to defeat me during the Grail War we both participated in as I stated previously. Such a shame that your noble phantasm will kill you once you use it." This caused the rest of the Emiya family to gasp in shock upon hearing this. Arash looked at them sheepishly.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I can only use my noble phantasm once as it then kills me. But make no mistake even without using my noble phantasm I'm still one of the best archers you could summon for a war." he said with a cheerful smile. Still Illya gave a stern look.

"Still, you are not to use that noble phantasm unless I give you express permission, Understand? I forbid it's use otherwise." said Illya fiercely. This was undercut a bit when Arash then gave her a head pat causing Illya to squirm. "Hey!" she said.

"It's nice to see that I have a Master who's so concerned for me." he said with a chuckle. The rest of the group smiled before Kiritsugu spoke up.

"Alright Illya. Would you please tell us who Berserker is?" he asked. Illya successfully wriggled out from Arash's head pats and then straightened herself out.

"Berserker of Silver's True Name is Heracles." she said as a matter of factly. This caused the group to gasp in surprise. Ozy however laughed boisterously once again.

"The Greatest Hero of Greek Mythology. Between his abilities even in his Berserker state and my Radiance and blessings as the incarnation of the Sun god Ra, our faction has practically won the war." he declared.

"How is Berserker, Illya?" asked Iri concerned. Illya smiled confidently.

"It's fine mom. Berserker promised that he'll protect me." she said. Then Berserker slowly raised his left hand and then slowly lowered it until he had it land on Illya's head and gently rubbed her head causing Illya to squirm as the rest of the faction realized what Berserker was doing: head patting Illya. "Berserker quit it." This caused her family to chuckle or giggle at the sight. Kiritsugu looked at Archer.

"Can I trust that you will also do your utmost to keep Illya safe as well, Archer?" he asked.

"Of course, Master of Saber. I swear on my existence as a Heroic spirit that I will do everything in my power to protect Illya." Archer swore. Kiritsugu then turned to his son and his Servants.

"Well, we already know Assassin of Silver's True Name so that just leaves Lancer." said Kiritsugu. Lancer then bowed at the waist.

"Lancer of Silver. My True Name is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne." said Lancer.

"Ah Diarmuid of the Love Spot and First Spear of the Knights of Fianna." said Ozy confidently. "Be grateful masters of Silver, for you will not find a more loyal Servant than he."

"Your words are far too kind, Pharoah." said Diarmuid humbly. Kiritsugu then looked at Iri and Illya.

"Iri, Illya, are you both doing alright?" he asked gently.

"Yes, Kiritsugu. As long as Illya and I continue to circulate our magical energy within ourselves we should be alright against his enchanted mole. And Jackie is too young to be affected by it either." said Iri reassuringly.

"I'm doing alright as well daddy." said Illya. Kiritsugu nodded then turned back to Diarmuid who looked relieved upon hearing Iri and Illya's words. Then focused on Kiritsugu as he approached him.

"With the issue of your Love Spot now neutralized, the only thing that I want to know is can I count on you to protect my son, your Master?" he asked Lancer seriously. Lancer returned his gaze steadily.

"I swear as a Servant and as a Knight that I will safeguard my master even at the cost of my life, father of my master." Lancer stated with a bow. Kiritsugu nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then he turned his attention to his own Servant.

"Guess that just leaves you Saber. Though given what was used to summon you, I think it's safe to assume your identity." said Kiritsugu.

"I will spare the Pharoah the need to introduce me and confirm his statements and my identity. I am the Saber of Silver of our Silver Faction. My True Name is; indeed, King Arthur and I did participate in a Holy Grail War alongside both Arash and Pharoah Ozymandias. Though we were all enemies technically at the time." said Arthur.

"Ah but that didn't stop you all from ganging up on me in order to take me down. It took all 6 of you working together and killing off my Master and all of his clan before I was finally defeated." said Ozy with a smug smile. Arthur gave an exasperated sigh.

"I won't deny that and would even go so far as to say that you would be one of a small handful of Servants that could actually beat me." Arthur admitted with dignity. Kiritsugu then walked up to his Servant.

"Saber, I will ask you this, Can I trust you to safeguard my family? I already know the dangers that await me so I'm not worried about myself, but I want to make sure that the rest of my family will be safe with you as one of their guardians." he stated. Arthur looked at the rest of the family before facing his master once again.

"Rest assured, Master. As a former king and as a knight I will do my utmost to safeguard your family." said Arthur as he bowed like Diarmuid did. Kiritsugu nodded satisfied with this answer. "I did have one question, Master. I wanted to ask about the catalyst that you used to summon me." he stated further.

"You mean Avalon? Are you asking if you can use it?" asked Kiritsugu.

"Well yes, I do want to know that, but I'm noticing that there are some differences with Avalon than what I remember." Arthur stated.

"Are you saying that it's a fake?" asked Kiritsugu curiously. Arthur shook his head.

"No. This is in fact Avalon but it's not MY Avalon." Arthur clarified. At their confused looks Arthur sighed and explained the multiverse theory to them. "So, while this is in fact Avalon, it's for this world's timeline and version of King Arthur, it's not mine as I came from a different timeline, and I can only speculate that someone brought over a catalyst that was directly connected to me from my timeline to try and summon me specifically. However, since you and this other master were attempting to summon King Arthur at the same time the Grail most likely intervened and placed the version of King Arthur that was most compatible with the summoner resulting in you getting me rather than this world's version of King Arthur." he explained as plainly as he could.

"So, you have an identical twin existing alongside you and fighting for another faction?" asked Illya.

"No. Having two exact versions of King Arthur existing side by side in the same timeline could cause untold damages in the fabric of time and reality itself and would've resulted in King Arthur simply just not being summoned, so to avoid this, at least for this war, the two versions have to be just different enough so that at least their presences won't be registered as a threat that must be erased by the planet. These changes can be subtle such as being summoned under a different class like Lancer as I did have access to Rhongomyniad in life, or perhaps in this timeline I was a woman, or it could be as drastic as myself being a tyrant in this world, to name a few." he explained. The Emiyas nodded at this only for Iri to perk up.

"Wait a minute. I just realized something." she said pointing to Ozy. "You said that you remember fighting them in a previous Holy Grail War. But if Arthur was from a different timeline all together than how could you possibly remember fighting him and Arash too, for that matter?" she asked in surprise. Ozy gave a knowing smile.

"An astute observation, Lady Mage. Very well I shall enlighten you. You see the Throne of Heroes from which all Heroic Spirits reside on, exists outside of time altogether and because of the multiverse being real, it means that all variations of heroes get recorded into it. The only exceptions being those whose deeds weren't grand enough or who didn't leave an impact on the world. Using myself as example the hero known as Rameses the Great can exist in all timelines but if only minor differences exist between the variations than the souls and bodies of all those variations get merged into a single entity as they are essentially the same soul and body at their core and then that single entity can be summoned into any timeline that the hero existed in provided, they use the proper catalyst." he explained. Shirou then raised his hand like he was in school to ask a question, much to the amusement of the Servants and his parents.

"But how can merging bodies not have side effects for you guys?" asked Shirou.

"You must think of it as the Heroic Spirit like a file you are saving onto a drive on a laptop and when you want to save the same file you are asked if you want to replace the existing one and say yes, the file replaces the old one. That sounds like what happens to the bodies of the different variations of the heroic spirit. Every time a minor variation of a Heroic spirit is recorded on the Throne, the body gets replaced with another version but the souls merge adding to the Heroic Spirit overall. Is that about right, Pharoah?" asked Kiritsugu hoping to help answer his son's question. After a moment of consideration Ozy nodded.

"That's a very relevant analogy and thanks to the Grail I actually understood what you meant. I would like to add onto that. There is in fact a side effect that comes from our multiverse selves merging or replacing our other selves. It affects how much of a say we get when we are being summoned. Age and fame affect our power compared to other Heric Spirits. But the minor variations of ourselves affect our ability to decide how we want to be summoned. Normally we are summoned in our prime but that can be interpreted very differently depending on what is considered 'in our prime'. It could mean physically in our prime, it could be the height of our powers whatever those may be, and so forth. The more minor variants that exist of ourselves without major deviations, the more control we have on how we look when we are summoned into the world. To give you two examples, Arash can only be summoned in his current state as while his one deed did affect a real border between two countries, there isn't much room for variation so he can only be summoned as he is currently. For myself there are plenty of places for minor deviations that I can easily decide how I wish to be summoned including choosing to be summoned as a woman if I really wanted to get experimental with my own summoning. Most choose not to though as they like what form they get summoned as." Ozy explained patiently.

"So how were you summoned into the Grail War that this version of King Arthur participated in?" asked Illya.

When I was summoned into the same timeline as Arthur, another necklace belonging to my wife had been used but it was part of a goodwill gesture from a neighboring country to continue peaceful trading that my beloved Nefertari took a liking to. In that timeline I found that I had 100 sons whereas in this timeline I had 90. Do you see what I'm getting at? The great feats and deeds I performed in life I can recall with vivid clarity remained the same but the mundane works that I performed for most of my life I don't recall very much unless it was something I felt was worth remembering. If those mundane details are all that changes but the feats remain the same, then the variations of myself still are the same soul and body allowing me to be summoned into alternative timelines. Now as to the variations that are drastically different, than those become their own separate entities for themselves. These drastic differences can be something as earthshaking as say after Nefertari's death I became a tyrant that was assassinated by my own children and then brought an abrupt end to my dynasty, or it could be far more benign as that a version of me existed as a woman and Nefertari was a man. If these variations exist, then a catalyst specifically tied to that variation must be used in order to summon them otherwise the version you see before you is what will usually be summoned. As to the summonings themselves, it goes back to what I stated earlier, that Servants can choose to remember which summons they were apart of when they return to the Throne. Otherwise, those memories get erased so that when summoned again they won't be plagued by past experiences that might hinder their performance, but the drawback is that anything that they learned might be lost with those memories that they are choosing to forget. Forcing them to have to relearn or go through those experiences once again" Ozy explained.

"Okay! So, you're saying that the timeline that you and Arash came from had the both of you as normal so you would be summoned almost guaranteed for nearly all timelines, but Arthur over here was a timeline specific hero so you both could get summoned here with no issues, but Arthur needed a specific catalyst to be summoned here. And while we might not have had the correct catalyst someone else did but the Grail gave us the version that was the most compatible with us. And the reason you all remember each other is because you chose to remember that particular previous summons as you all felt it was worth remembering. Is that about right, Pharoah?" asked Shirou as he had an epiphany. Ozy laughed boisterously.

"Good to see my vassals are also quick on the uptake." he said with a smile. Then he saw Illya yawning. "Ah it seems as though the young ones need to head off to sleep. Very well. I shall permit such action as it does seem quite late and summoning an entire faction of Servants with only four Masters must be exhausting even if two of you are technically homunculi." He began to head out when Iri stopped him.

"Pharoah! Wait a moment. The other house was for our family while this guest house was for the Servants summoned tonight." she tried to explain. Ozy laughed good naturedly.

"I'm afraid that you have that in the wrong order, Lady Mage. The main house is reserved for the Pharoah while this guest house is reserved for my vassals." he said as a matter of factly.

"But all of our things are already set-up in there and it will take hrs. to get it all packed and moved over here." said Illya with a slight whine to her voice. Ozy's gaze softened at Illya.

"Very well. For this one night I shall permit my vassals the privilege of staying in the same house as their pharaoh." he relented. With that the rest of the Servants headed to their rooms in the guest house save for Berserker who stood out in the main yard like a statue and Rider who headed for the main house along with the rest of the Emiya family. Kiritsugu had Saber stay behind.

"You wanted to ask me something?" asked Arthur.

"Yes. I want to know if even though this isn't your Avalon, can you still utilize this version?" Kiritsugu asked. Arthur looked at Avalon before he placed it in front of himself. It dissolved into gold particles before flowing into Arthur. He then looked at Kiritsugu.

"Everything seems to be in order. Even if it isn't mine, I can still use it to its fullest potential. Do you want me to have it for the remainder of the war, Master?" Arthur asked. Kiritsugu nodded.

"Unless I feel that someone in our faction needs it more, yes. So, would you be willing to stay up with me and go over some potential strategies now that we know what Servants we're working with?" asked Kiritsugu.

"I can do that, and I would like that very much, Master." said Arthur with a smile.

"Good. I think our first order of business is to build some potential strategies around dealing with the Black Faction, which is Yggdmillenia." said Kiritsugu.

"Agreed. If only we could figure out what Servants that have been summoned for their faction." said Arthur.

===Romania – Millenia Fortress – summoning chamber – evening

Fiore couldn't help but be in awe as she looked around at the Servants that had been summoned both new and old. While Lancer of Black had been around for the last two months, and Caster of Black for the last month she had only seen both of them in passing. She did in fact know their True Names of Vlad III and Medea respectively but even then, she could hardly say that she knew them beyond what had been written about them in myths and history. She understood that while Lancer carried himself like a noble, he was intimidating which made sense given his historical reputation. Caster she was fascinated with due to her being a mage from the Age of the Gods but her reputation as being the Witch of Betrayal in myths was off-putting enough for Fiore to keep her at a distance.

As for the freshly summoned ones, her attention turned first to her own Servant. She had been aiming to summon Heracles as the arrow had come from Greece and had allegedly had the tip covered in Hydra Venom. Her Servant appeared to be a calm-looking man, gentle like a calm sea who was in the early days of his prime. He had long sandy brown hair that went down to about his mid-back with a hair tie near the end to keep it from flying completely free. He wore a somewhat archaic style of dress, without any traits to reveal his identity. He was a man of delicate features clad in leather and fabric armor. He was quite handsome and had emerald, green eyes that held ancient wisdom and boundless patience it was the only thing that seemed to indicate the man was older than he appeared. The style of his appearance was truly that of a bowman, so she was certain that she had indeed summoned a Greek Archer. The only metal armor he had on were the cuisse for his upper legs, knee cop on his knees, and the greaves on his lower legs. His arms were bare and lean but muscular like those of a top athlete. On his feet were simple styled Greek sandals. Fiore also noted his presence to be like that of a massive forest, cool and clear air engulfing her very existence but not in a way that felt suffocating or uncomfortable. She then finally noticed there was one other feature to him. A horse tail with color matching that of his hair. She then realized who her Servant was. Chiron the Sage of Heroes.

Now the connection to her catalyst made sense. He had been killed by this very arrow and the Grail thought that Chiron was the most compatible Servant for her. That or one of the other factions had attempted to summon Heracles as well but she decided to simply accept it and work with what she got. He gave her a polite and friendly smile which she returned and then he gave her a slight bow. She presented her hand that bore her Command Seals to signify wordlessly her status as a Master. He gently took her hand and held it lightly in his as if it were a baby bird and he was trying to not cause it distress while he held it. He looked at her Seals for a moment then nodded, showing his acceptance of their contract. The fact that this had all been done without a word spoken between them yet, gave Fiore hope that this was the start of a harmonious contract between them. With that squared away, she turned her attention to the other Master-Servant pairs.

Her eyes focused on her Brother Caules and his Servant. Since she purchased his catalyst and knew that it was schematics for 'the Perfect Human' by Victor Frankenstein, combined with Caules summoning his Servant under the Berserker Class there was no doubt about who he had summoned. Frankenstein's Monster. She recalled during the rare times that she and Caules would have free time and Caules would invite her to watch movies as a way to relax and several of them were old black and white films. Among them being Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein. In those films, Frankenstein's Monster was portrayed as being a tall man over two meters tall and even a bit on the ugly side, by contrast the Servant was obviously female and resembled the Bride of Frankenstein at first glance. She was a lovely young girl clad in a white dress that looked reminiscent to a wedding dress with hidden eyes, carrying a giant mace. Her eyes were covered by her long hair and only peeked between the gaps. The few times she glimpsed them, they were each a different color. One was gold the other was blue. Due to Frankenstein's monster's appearance, Fiore smiled as she watched Caules struggle with how he was to approach this situation.

The other three Servants summoned tonight were a complete mystery to Fiore. And with both Angelica and her uncle Gordes both deciding to keep the identities of their respective Servants of Saber and Assassin secret to all but Darnic, she knew that the odds of being allowed to know that knowledge was unlikely. Unless Darnic felt that as his chosen successor she should be allowed to know such things. But she wasn't going to push unless it became necessary.

Her eyes still wandered over to the three other freshly summoned Servants. Starting with their Saber of Black, Gordes' Servant. He was a tall man with silver-grey long unkempt hair, teal-colored eyes and a slender well-toned body. Said body was encased in a black formfitting bodysuit upon which was radiant silver woven plate armor. He carried his Great Sword on his back. His exposed skin was dyed brown despite being clearly of European origin though this didn't detract from his looks if anything it made him even more attractive. Finally on his exposed chest was a strange, teal-colored symbol/tattoo that covered most of the exposed chest and even seemed to glow faintly.

Before she let her mind wonder as to who this could be she instead let her eyes wander over to Celenike and her Servant. Said Servant was an androgynous-looking figure who was fancily dressed in what looked to be a black dress and stockings with armor incorporated into it as well as fancy armored knee-high boots. They had a sword strapped to their side and wore a white fur lined collared knee length cape over their attire. Beautiful beyond all compare, they had their long pink hair done up in a braid and had black ribbon hair ornaments which seemed like something a princess would wear and had pink eyes to match. They were the shortest of the Servants and also looked to be the most carefree of the Servants. Fiore couldn't help but wonder if Celenike had meant to summon this Servant or not and furthermore Fiore wondered what fate might await this Servant while serving under Celenike. Actually, maybe it's best I don't know, and I do feel a bit sorry for this Servant and what awaits them with having someone like Celenike for a Master.

Deciding to keep her mind from going down any twisted mental paths, she refocused her attention on the last Servant that had been summoned and thus completing their Faction. That was Angelica's Servant. While she had no clue as to who Assassin was, she could guess that they were Hassan-I-Sabbath though which of the 19 heads she could only speculate. The only things that she could discern was that the Assassin had skin and clothing that were nearly black. They wore the standard skull mask associated with the well-known Hassan of the other Grail Wars. Along with the full body cloak that hid all other features of Assassin. Again, all confirming that Assassin was Hassan-I-Sabbah but not which one. An unknown voice then spoke up.

"Alright may I have your attention, please." said the voice sounding excited. Everyone turned towards the source of the voice. It turned out to be Rider of Black who had struck a pose pointing to the ceiling for some reason. This left everyone confused as to what Rider of Black was doing or what he wanted. Seeing as he did indeed get the attention he wanted, Rider assumed a more normal stance with an easy smile. "Everyone who was just summoned should introduce themselves, right? I mean, we are a team. Oh! Oh! I know! Why don't we say our True Names?" Rider asked excitedly.

"Now hold on a minute, here. While it's true that we agreed to exchange True Names as a sign of good faith, both Angelica Ainsworth and I received permission from the leader of our clan to keep private the True Names of our Servants. That being Assassin and Saber of Black respectively." said Gordes pointing to Rider angrily.

"Yes. But only as long as we both agree to give those True Names to him in private, Lord Gordes." Angelica reminded him calmly. Gordes then turned to her and stated in a calmer voice.

"I'm well aware of that, Lady Ainsworth. And I intend to keep my end of that agreement. I just need to confirm my Servant's identity in private, then I'll inform Darnic afterwards." he stated. Rider pouted a bit at that but seemed to quickly get over it.

"Well alright then. I'll go first. You guys can call me Astolfo. I'm one of the 12 Paladins of Charlemagne. And I'm the Rider of Black. Nice ta meet you." he said giving a charming smile. He then ran up to Fiore's Servant who was a bit startled at the sudden interest. "And you are?" he asked in excited curiosity. Her Servant turned to Fiore, wordlessly asking for her approval. She nodded in ascent. He then turned to the now named Astolfo and gave a patient smile.

"Servant Class Archer. I am Chiron." he said calmly gesturing to himself. Astolfo took one of the now named Chiron's hands in both of his.

"Well, hello, Chiron." he said happily before letting go of said hand and did a single spin. Astolfo then turned his attention to Caules' Servant. "Okay. Your turn." he said happily. But Caules's Servant simply turned her head to the side, glaring at nothing but gave an angry grunt. This seemed to sadden Astolfo a bit but then focused on Caules himself, catching him off guard. "Excuse me. Would you mind telling me her name?" he asked. Not giving Caules any time to react before he got up close and personal with Caules who seemed to be in a state of surprise by Astolfo's antics. "Come on. It's fine. Please?! Please?!" he asked with stars in his eyes, almost sounding a little crazed. After a moment's pause Caules answered.

"Her name is Frankenstein." Caules admitted. Astolfo turned back to the now named Frankenstein still smiling.

"Okay Fran it is then." he declared. This only made 'Fran' angry as she gave an angry growl at Astolfo. "Ah! Sorry. I guess you don't like it when people use your name." he said holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner. Then looking embarrassed. This continued with Vlad and Medea. Whereas he addressed Saber and Assassin he addressed them by their class names. Fiore, however, noticed that Chiron looked surprised to see Medea. But before anyone could say anything, Vlad got up from his throne room and addressed the group.

"As I'm sure you are aware this Holy Grail War is going to be far grander than a typical war. Instead of simply a single group of 7 Servants, there will be several factions of 7 Servants. We are the Black Faction while our enemies have dubbed themselves the Red Faction. However, what many of you are not aware of is that another faction of Masters and Servants, calling themselves the Gold Faction, have formed an alliance with us. Their Servants will assist us in the battles to come." The freshly summoned Servants looked at Vlad in surprise at this information. "Due to this, I'm confident that with our combined power, we will easily be able to annihilate the Red Faction and their Servants. My proud Heroes, I look forward to your glorious battle. For my country and for my own wish, I swear I will be victorious." he declared loudly. With that all the Servants of Black kneeled before him.

"Well said, my king. Now with your permission I require yours, Fiore's, Angelica's and their Servants presences with me in the Einzbern's wing of the fortress the Einzberns have all the preparations ready to summon their Servants and it's only fair that the heads of the three Rebelling Families witness those who've will be summoned." said Darnic.

"Very well. Let us see who our allies will be." said Vlad as he followed Darnic. Fiore attempted to grab the wheel bars on her wheelchair to start moving forward only to find the chair moving on its own. Confused, she turned to look behind her only to find Chiron already grasped the handlebars of her seat and had begun to push it forward, moving with it.

"Oh, you don't have to do that I can get around on my own." she said gently.

"I do not doubt your ability to do so, Master. I am simply fulfilling my role as a Servant. So please allow me." he said with a kind smile. Fiore found herself getting shy and simply faced forward to try and hide her blush. She heard him chuckle slightly at her reaction, but she gave no further protest, and they followed the rest of their group. A few minutes later they reached the wing of the Einzberns. They entered the sitting room of that wing which had been converted into the summoning room. There was old man Acht and 6 other homunculi who would be acting as the gold faction masters but before all of them were the 7 Servants showing that the summoning had already happened. Old man Acht approached him.

"Darnic. Good to see you and the others arrived." he said with a sinister grin. Darnic simply returned the greeting.

"Judging from the 7 new members I can assume that the summoning was a success?" he asked.

"Indeed, and it worked better than expected. We've already taken the time to explain the situation to them, so they know that the Servants of Black are allies." old man Acht explained. At Fiore and Angelica's slightly confused looks the two heads explained their plan of using the gold Faction as auxiliary forces and to replace any members of the Black faction that becomes lost. As well as their cheating of the system with a faction consisting of 3 Sabers, 3 Casters, and an Extra Class Servant with that class being Shielder. Fiore had mixed feelings on the matter worried what would happen if their enemies found out about how thoroughly they cheated the system while Angelica just hopes that this doesn't come back to bite them. Like this thorough cheating leads to more than 3 factions being summoned.

"We'll worry about that when that becomes an issue but for now, we must focus on the current situation." said Darnic firmly.

"Agreed. Now as a token of good will, we will reveal the True Names of our Servants of Gold." said old man Acht. He turned to the Servants behind him and gestured for them to come forward. First the three Sabers stepped forward and kneeled before Darnic and his entourage. Of the three the most forward of the three was dressed as a knight in white-silver armor with ivy decorations on his chest plate. Peeking out beneath said armor was black and blue underclothes. He had a blue hilted sword strapped to his left side. The Servant himself was a young man in his mid to late 20s with blonde hair and sea green eyes.

"Servant Class Saber. My True Name is Gawain. Knight of the Sun. May my blade assist you in the battles to come." He said solemnly.

The 2nd Saber Servant behind Gawain on the left was also dressed as a knight in silver white armor with black lines but with teal tunic and underclothes. He looked to be of similar age to Gawain though his features seemed a bit more androgynous. He had a sword strapped to his right side. His eyes were as Green as emeralds and his hair was platinum blonde done up in a combination of what to be a braided bun and pigtails with metal clasps to secure the latter. But his most unusual feature was his right shoulder that was covered from his shoulder to the tip of his fingers in silver armor. "Servant Class Saber. My True Name is Bedivere. Personal Guard to the King of Knights. While my skills are nowhere near the caliber of Sir Gawain and other Knights of the Round, I hope that I will be able to serve you well." he said solemnly.

"May I ask Sir Bedivere how you came by that arm?" asked Fiore.

"Much to my embarrassment, I lost my arm early on in my career as part of the King of Knights personal guards. With Merlin's assistance, a blacksmith was able to make me a replacement arm which Merlin enchanted with his magecraft so that it would function exactly like my old arm. However, I rarely wore it save for ceremonies, instead I chose to improve my swordsmanship to overcome my handicap of having just one arm. I did use it during the Battle of Camlann and when I returned the sword to the Lady of the Lake on my king's orders, she gave me her blessings and turned it into a divine construct. She named it Airgetlám. After the same silver artificial arm that replaced the arm lost by the Celtic god-king Nuadha. Why she chose that name? I don't know but considering that it was a gift from her, I didn't dare question it, just simply accepted it." he explained looking a bit embarrassed.

"And now it has manifested with you as a Servant and is no doubt your noble phantasm, correct?" asked Darnic.

"That is correct, Master of Black." responded Bedivere. Everyone turned to the 3rd Saber on the right behind Gawain. He was also dressed as a knight in armor similar to that of Bedivere, but his tunic and underclothes were deep royal blue along with similar body type to the other two Sabers. Unlike the other knights, he looked to be the oldest. About late 20s to early 30s though he would still be thought of as handsome. Of all the knights he was the only one who wasn't blonde or some variation of blonde. Instead, his hair was brown and short. He also had brown eyes. He had a sword strapped to his left hip with a red, white, and silver hilt and a red kite shield with a crest emblazoned on it featuring a gold lion and red dragon which was strapped to his back that was nearly as long as he was tall and slightly wider than he was.

"Servant Class Saber. My True Name is Kay. The adopted older brother to the King of Knights and one of her first Knights. May my sword and shield serve you well in the battles to come." he said solemnly.

"Magnificent. To have some of King Arthur finest knights serving as part of the gold faction and as allies, I couldn't be more satisfied." said Vlad with a look of wonder though his noble upbringing kept him from showing any more than that.

"And this is just half of our faction. We chose the Caster as the other half and had to have an Extra Class Servant be part of the faction. We chose the Shielder Class." explained old man Acht. He gestured to said Servant who also kneeled along with the other knights as the back of the other 3. Like the other 3 he was dressed like a knight though his was similar to Gawain's, but the colors of his armor were black and purple, and his tunic and underclothes were light purple. And over all this, he wore a dark purple cloak with a hood. On his left hip was strapped a sword with a purple hilt. Standing tall was a large cross like shield that was taller than the knight was even if he stood up. It was dark brown with a large circle at its heart. If Sir Kay looked to be the oldest of the kneeling knights, then this one looked like he might be the youngest between his early teens to early 20s absolute most. Yet he had short snow-white hair and gold eyes.

"Servant Class Shielder. My True Name is Galahad. The Grail knight of the round table." he said solemnly.

"The only knight that in stories found the Holy Grail and then returned it to the heavens and the bastard son of Sir Lancelot, is that correct?" asked Darnic.

"That is correct, Master of Black." Galahad said neutrally.

"Now let us introduce you to the last 3 members of our faction. The Casters." said old man Acht. The 4 knights rose and moved off to the side of the room. The first one of this group caught everyone's attention as this Caster class Servant, and the only female of this faction, was almost the spitting image of Fiore. The only difference was that she looked a little older and had green eyes instead of Fiore's blue. About mid 20s. And she was wearing a long white dress with gold trim. She looked like a regal noble woman.

"Servant Class Caster. My True Name is Guinevere. Wife to the king of Knights and former queen of Camelot." she said as curtsied to the group.

"You were also lover to the King's most outstanding knight, Lancelot, correct?" asked Darnic. This caused the now named Guinivere to flinch slightly, but she nonetheless answered.

"That is correct, Master of Black." she stated though she looked a bit sad at that answer.

"One further question before we go onto the other two. I want to know why you resemble my heir and successor." said Darnic.

"I think I can answer that question, Master of Black." said the male Caster in white robes. Darnic got a good look at him. He was a young man in his mid to late 20s, fair features, bright blue eyes, white hair, long pointed ears though he wore flowers that almost covered these up. His attire consisted of white robes with black pants and boots, all made of the finest materials that still looked modest. He was carrying a bizarre staff that looked like a crook but had a cage-like structure incorporated into it. At Darnic's look he bowed and introduced himself. "Pardon me, allow me to introduce myself. Servant Class Caster. My True Name is Merlin. The Court mage and advisor of the King of Knights. Now to answer your question concerning the resemblance between your successor and Guinivere. The answer is quite simple. Guinivere was one of several princesses in her family. While lady Guinivere herself did spend the rest of her life in a nunnery after Camlamn, she had at least two other sisters who married off to other kings and lords. At least a few of them did have heirs and lineages that have survived to this day. It's very likely that your successor most likely came from one of these surviving lineages though their records were lost to time. It was 1500 yrs. ago so records going back that far were either destroyed or simply lost and never found. Regardless this can be seen as something like a family reunion between distant Aunt and niece." said Merlin with a happy smile on his face. Fiore and the others looked astonished. Still Fiore saw Guinivere look at her fondly who in turn then curtsied once more.

"I look forward to working with you, Master of Black." she said formally. Then came the last of the Casters. Unlike the others this one felt starkly different. He emerged from the shadows and suddenly all the other occupants in the room either tensed up or narrowed their eyes at this Caster in suspicion.

This last Servant of the gold faction was a young man with a surprisingly young face without a single crease on him yet. This was made secondary as he had huge, rolling bulbous eyes that easily reminded one of nocturnal animals. He also had oily, glistening cheeks, combed back, black, greasy hair and a deathly pallor to his face. Strangely enough he had a muscular build and was a very tall individual. He had cracks on his hands though Fiore didn't want to know what caused them. His garments too were quite odd. His attire consisted of a luxurious robe of ancient design; blood-like scarlet patterns adorned the pitch-black fabric. Beneath that he donned an inky black cassock, and an evil aura reeled about it. Also, the patterns dyed crimson red on the cloth as if stained with blood. They also had been decorated with luxurious latches made of precious metals; his whole style looked exactly like some "evil magician" from one of those Mangas that Fiore remembered Caules liked to read. As he stood there silently, his features looked dreadful, like the face of a corpse, he had a look of scorn on his face. Nevertheless, he bowed deeply and spoke.

"Greetings. I am a Caster of the Gold Faction. My True Name is Gilles de Reis." He said in tone that while polite Fiore couldn't help but feel a shiver go up her spine though she remained outwardly calm.

"One of the Saint of Orleans most trusted generals and followers. After she was burned went into seclusion and then allegedly committed crimes against children and young women inspiring the villain known as Bluebeard until he was hanged by other French nobles though this was more to get ahold of lands rather than the crimes he committed. Is that about right?" asked Darnic.

"Yes, Master of Black. That is an accurate description of my life that led to my current incarnation." he said though his facial expression hadn't changed. Fiore noticed Chiron moved to her side where she could see him, and she saw him tense and narrow his eyes at this final Caster. She realized that he was moving to protect her if it became necessary.

"Now that that's settled, all Servants of the gold faction save for mine, go into spirit form. I wish to speak with the other heads of our movement in private and the other masters of gold are to return to their quarters immediately and take your Servants with you. The only Servant of Gold who will be staying is mine." said old man Acht. With that all but Merlin disappeared, and the other homunculi left.

"So, your Servant is none other than Merlin." said Darnic in amazement.

"Indeed. Now what do you think of our Servants? Are they satisfactory to you?" asked old man Acht.

"In terms of quality, they are nearly all outstanding. Though I do still have some questions." said Darnic. Old man Acht nodded."I was not aware of Guinivere being trained as a mage. What exactly is her specialty?" asked Darnic.

"Healing. We have rare documents that mentioned that the women in her family would go onto become prominent healers throughout her family's existence. Guinivere was no exception. Her magecraft is exclusively healing. Merlin's is more towards illusions, but he is a bit more well-rounded in his magecraft." said old man Acht.

"And Gilles?" asked Darnic.

"Mostly in familiar creation. He can either summon them from elsewhere or he can take the discarded homunculi that are no longer useful to us and recycle them into his familiars. So, we summoned him specifically to help with bolstering our forces." explained old man Acht. Darnic nodded before turning his attention to Angelica.

"Now Lady Ainsworth. I would like for you to reveal your Servant's True Name." he ordered. Angelica nodded. Suddenly more forms appeared until they seemed to fill the room. All wearing full body cloaks and skull masks.

"My Assassin Servant's True name is Hassan-I-Sabbah more specifically the Hundred Faced Hassan. As you can see that name is quite literal." she said neutrally.

"Wonderful. We can use them as a spy network to gather information throughout the war. Perhaps even use them to assassinate other Masters and if we lose a few we will have enough to spare." said Darnic with a crooked grin. "Now I just need to wait until Gordes reveals to me his Servant's True name." he said.

"You mean that fool hasn't told you yet?" asked old man Acht. "I thought for sure he would be bragging about the Servant he got."

"You know who his Servant is?" asked Fiore in surprise. Old man Acht gave another one of his unintentional sinister grins.

"Considering we're the ones that provided him with his summoning catalyst. I would hope so." he said. Darnic chuckled darkly.

"So that's why he was so cagey and nervous about his catalyst. He simply didn't want to admit that he went to his rivals to get ahold of a high-quality catalyst. Well in that case do you know of the identity of his Servant?" asked Darnic.

"Yes. He's the previous owner of the fortune that we the Einzberns found and have lived off of for centuries. The fortune is the Das Rheingold." Everyone's eyes widened at that.

"Then the Servant's name is . . ." Fiore began.

"Yes Lady Yggdmillenia. Saber of Black is none other than Siegfried. The Dragon-Blooded Knight." said old man Acht.

"As I said in the summoning chamber, Master. With our faction's power combined with that of the Gold faction, we will easily be able to overcome the Red Faction and achieve victory." said Vlad. Darnic nodded in agreement.

"Now there is one final thing to bring up. Since this Grail war has far more participants, the Grail will summon its own mediator to police the War." Said old man Acht. Darnic's eyes widened in recognition.

"You mean . . ." he began. Old man Acht nodded his stoic face back in place.

"Yes. A Ruler Class Servant. If they haven't been summoned already, they will be soon. I expect that they will make their presence known to us soon." said old man Acht seriously.

===Airplane – unknown airspace – passenger seat – early morning

Jeanne sat in the plane with the shutter down so as to not look outside. She closed her eyes as she thought back to how she got here.

FLASHBACK

"What are you talking about?" asked Jeanne as she was feigning ignorance. The revealed Soul Reaper named Hanataro looked at her unconvinced by her act.

"Ma'am please don't try to act like you don't know what I'm talking about." he said firmly. "I can sense your spirit energy or rather energies. I know that there is the girl who owns this body and you who's also currently in control of said body. I'll admit unless you're someone like me who's had to constantly analyze fluctuations and changes that occur with one's spirit energy in order to help with healing them, it would be subtle enough to be missed and one would assume that you alone were the only inhabitant of this body." he said seriously. Jeanne was shocked by this and after a moment of consideration she looked at him with a serious look of her own.

"Let's say you might be onto something, theoretically. How would you be able to tell the difference?" she asked in curiosity. This seemed to get Hanataro to relax slightly but his serious face remained.

"When a human gets possessed by another spirit, usually a hollow, a reaper can usually tell the difference between the two energies pretty easily. One is obviously a toxic presence that is trying to consume and/or take over the one that is the original inhabitant of the body. You on the other hand are a very powerful spirit but your presence feels pure. Similar to that of a Soul Reaper. As a result, I know that the body you're inhabiting isn't yours as that's a living body and not a gigai which souls like Soul Reapers would use on assignment in the world of the living as possession is strictly forbidden by our superiors. And unlike a Hollow trying to consume the original soul, I can feel the two presences in the same body but don't seem to be in conflict. In fact, you're both co-existing quite harmoniously. One is more prominent, that being yourself, but I can still feel the living soul for the living body which seems to be stable." he explained. It took a few min for Jeanne to fully understand all that he said.

"So, you're a military? And what is a gigai?" she asked.

"To answer your first question, yes, we are a military organization for the afterlife and the world as a whole. As to the answer to your second question, Gigais are artificial bodies which are used for a variety of reasons by Soul Reapers like me within the World of the Living. A Soul Reaper might use a Gigai if they lose their powers, as only with their powers can they return to Soul Society or more commonly known as the afterlife. However, while remaining in the World of the Living, we are targets for Hollows because of our pure souls and therefore our powers being more heightened compared to that of ordinary humans, and so choose to reside within a Gigai and begin to behave like Humans in order to blend in and avoid being hunted. But we may use a Gigai if it is required for our mission to interact with Humans, or to reside among them in order to search for threats and to blend in while doing so. When the Gigai is hosted by a Soul Reaper, it assumes the appearance of its host, who can now be seen by normal Humans they happen to be around while residing in the Gigai. Otherwise, unless they are spiritually aware, Soul Reapers, like me, are invisible to humans. Also, the Gigai does not take on the clothes its Soul Reaper host is wearing, and thus, we must acquire modern clothes in order to blend in with the Humans. We can leave Gigais by a variety of methods, but the fastest method is by using a Gikongan to replace the soul within, allowing us to freely leave the Gigai. This is done so we can fight at our full strength while ordering the replacement soul to keep the Gigai out of harm's way. Leaving the Gigai without this method can be troublesome for a Soul Reaper." explained Hanataro.

"And what is a gikongan?"

"Gikongan or artificial souls are souls, designed by Soul Reaper scientists, which separate a Soul Reaper's spirit from a Gigai, should they be inhabiting one, or evict stubborn spirits from their corpses if necessary. They are compacted into a pill for easy portability. The pill forces the soul out of the body and allows the artificial soul to take control of it, operating in a pre-programmed manner until removed by the Soul Reaper. They can be used on a body which has no soul, such as a gigai or a corpse, or even an inanimate object, such as a stuffed animal. These artificial souls possess their own personalities, which can be specially designed to fit one's specifications." he answered. Jeanne couldn't help but be shocked and fascinated by this information. Then her mind remembered something earlier.

"What is a hollow?" She asked, not sure if she would like the answer. Hanataro proceeded to explain hollows to her and the danger they were to humans. The more spiritually aware a person was the more likely their souls would be sought after for food. Soul Reapers we're also sought after as they were considered the best food for Hollows.

"But given what I sensed about your soul, I'm almost certain that unless you can either get a gigai that can conceal your presence from a Hollow or have a soul reaper with you, you'll just keep attracting them especially since any hollow won't pass up getting a two-soul meal."

"What if there were other souls like me? Would we all attract hollows that easily?" She asked. Hanataro seemed to be thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"There are no hard and fast rules for Hollows. But there are a few generalizations for them. For example, most new hollows or ones that haven't developed any hunting strategies or control of their hunger, tend to stick near cities as they have a high chance of getting a meal or two. With so many souls in a small area, most not particularly strong, it can help mask the presence of stronger souls in cities and for Hollows it means that there's a higher chance of eating a stronger soul and therefore helping them get stronger. But this comes with the problem of a higher chance of being killed by a Soul Reaper." he explained.

"So high-risk, high reward." said Jeanne, indicating that she was following along. Hanataro looked pleased and continued.

"Right. While older Hollows with that control and hunting strategies will head out to suburbs and rural areas. Sure, it means that they get less access to souls, stronger or otherwise, as their food source, but they can establish a territory where they are the only ones to hunt in the area and have no competition as well as a less chance of being killed by a Soul Reaper. Also, the more inexperienced non-seated officer or grunt Soul Reapers would be stationed in the cities as most hollows there would be small fry while officers, like myself, would be assigned to the suburban and rural areas as the Hollows there would be fewer but more dangerous. So, I guess my question to you, miss, is where would these other similar souls be at?" he asked.

"I'm supposed to be heading to Trifas Romania." said Jeanne. Hanataro's eyes widened, and he looked worried.

"Romania as a whole has very few large cities already and Trifas is considered a village of under 1000 residents at best. So having just you alone there would guarantee that you and the girl you're possessing will be targeted by a high-level Hollow. So how many other souls like you would be there?" he asked, worried.

"Well, I can't say with certainty but if I were to give a rough estimate, I would say that there are at least 40 or so souls similar to myself and I'm the only one who's possessing another person. The others won't have that problem." she explained. Hanataro looked horrified.

"That's terrible. If that many souls are gathered in such a small area, then Hollows of all kinds will swarm that area regardless of whether that place is the territory of a more powerful hollow or not so that the Hollows can get the chance to get a powerful and tasty meal. And it won't just put those souls at risk but the people of Trifas themselves will be targets for hungry hollows. You'll need at least a few Soul Reapers of high rank. A lieutenant or Captain level Soul Reaper at least per Reaper." he said in a panic.

"Are those pretty high up in your military?" asked Jeanne in curiosity.

"Captains are the highest rank in our military while lieutenants are the 2nd highest. So, you'll need at least those level Soul Reapers to come with you if you're serious about going to Romania." he explained.

"So, I can't ask you come with me?" she asked. Hanataro shook his head.

"Even if I was at that level, I wouldn't be able to as I've been assigned to this area." he said sadly. Jeanne looked down in concern. Hanataro grew thoughtful before he pulled out what looked like a cellphone. "Hold on a moment. I think I might know someone who can help you." he said. Jeanne looked at him in curiosity.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, while I'm bound by my orders, I do know of a group that technically works outside the normal rank and file of our regular military. If you take a small detour and head to Karakura, Japan first, I think you might be able to secure help there and then have them travel with you to Romania. Then you take care of whatever business you have there, and they will make sure the Hollows don't harm anyone, you or the people there." he explained. Jeanne looked thoughtful. What do you think Laeticia? Personally, I know that I need to get to Trifas as soon as possible but after the encounter tonight I don't know what to do. She waited for a response and a few minutes later Laeticia said her piece to Jeanne. These Hollows sound serious. And since this is the first time you or I have heard of them, we have no idea how to deal with them. Then there's the fact that this is going to be occurring on top of that war that you need to supervise. Which according to Mr. Hanataro will act like a dinner bell for hungry hollows as they like to eat powerful souls like you and other heroes that will be summoned. So, I think we will need these Soul Reapers to help us. Plus, maybe they can assist you with supervising the war somehow. Laeticia suggested through their connection. Jeanne then nodded. Alright. Thank you, Laeticia. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. She replied back to her. She could feel Laeticia's happiness for her gratitude which caused Jeanne to smile. She then looked at Hanataro who was giving a patient smile.

"I take it you two came to an agreement?" he asked. Jeanne blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"Was it that obvious?" she asked shyly. Hanataro gave a slight chuckle before his face got serious again.

"So did you consider my offer?" he asked. Jeanne nodded.

"Yes. I think it would be best to get assistance from the people you mentioned earlier." said Jeanne firmly. Hanataro nodded then opened his flip phone and began to dial. I didn't know that Reapers knew how to operate a cellphone.Jeanne heard Laeticia voice her thoughts in her head.

"Hello Mr. Urahara. Yes. This is Hanataro Yamada. Listen, there's someone who needs to talk to you. Alright. I'll put her on the phone with you." said Hanataro as he then handed her the phone.

PRESENT

I then explained to this Mr. Urahara as much as I could about needing a Soul Reaper to be my bodyguard while I was in Romania without talking about the Holy Grail War. With Hanataro's help I explained how I was a spirit possessing Laeticia's body in order to fulfill some unfinished business there but due to my soul being so powerful it might attract Hollows hence the need for a Soul Reaper bodyguard. By now the plane had landed and she had disembarked from the plane. She made her way down to baggage claim. I still don't know if he was convinced by my argument, but he did say he would meet me in Tokyo airport as I just had to let him know when I'd be arriving. After a full day of convincing everyone in the college that I had to leave, though the destroyed dorm helped my case, I got my things packed, got to an international airport and secured a ticket and called Mr. Urahara on the number Hanataro gave me to let him know that I would arrive in Tokyo by 7am of the next morning. I guess it's a good thing I didn't mention that to anyone in France besides Hanataro. Jeanne thought to herself as she made it to baggage claim.

===Japan – Haneda Airport – baggage claim – morning

Jeanne waited patiently for Laeticia's suitcase to be brought out onto the conveyor belt. Now I just have to see if Mr. Urahara did make it here and is waiting for me. I wonder what he looks like. She stopped her thoughts when she saw her suitcase and grabbed it. As she left, she saw a bunch of people holding various signs written in Japanese. Thanks to her connection to the Grail she could speak, write, and read any language without issue so she easily read what all the signs said. Then she spotted a sign with her host's name on it and saw who was holding it. She was a little surprised to say the least. The man holding it looked quite scruffy to the point that many people would mistake him for a hobo. As evidenced by the wide berth he was given. He held up the sign in his left hand. He made eye contact with her as she approached him hesitantly. He gave her a smile that she understood was supposed to be friendly but seemed to come off as slightly creepy. "Laeticia Domrémy, I presume?" he asked politely.

"Uh yes. That's me. Are you Mr. Urahara?" she asked tentatively.

"Indeed I am. Kisuke Urahara at your service." he replied with a bit of flair. He quickly tucked the sign under his left arm and then pulled out a green paper fan from the inner pocket of his coat. He then used said fan to hide his face. Jeanne couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow in confusion. "Alright. I see that you've got all your things in order. So why don't we head for the train station and get on our way to Karakura. Once we've settled in on the train, we'll have a proper discussion on your call yesterday morning. As I found its contents most intriguing." he said in a jovial tone.

"Uh alright." she replied uncertainly. With that the two walked out of the airport and headed for the train station. On the sidewalk was a small black cat with golden eyes.

"Hey, Yoruichi. You sat here and waited for us. You're such a good little kitty." he said as he picked up the cat and spoke to it like it was a baby. Jeanne looked at the cat wearily. Kisuke noticed this. "Is something wrong, Ms. Domremy?" he asked in curiosity.

"Sorry it's just that I had always been told by the priests that preached God's Word to us in the village that I grew up in that cats were in league with the Devil. Especially black cats. And that those who owned them were witches." said Jeanne carefully as she didn't want to give away anything that might indicate she was from a different time.

"You do know that those teachings were based on superstition and ignorance, right?" he asked his tone now serious. Jeanne nodded. "Well then why don't you pet Yoruichi. I promise she's tame." he said. Yoruichi was placed on the ground and slowly walked towards Jeanne and then rubbed up on her legs. Go ahead, LadyJeanne. Even I know that cats were just misunderstood animals that actually helped more than harmed people. Just pet it a few times, it will be fine. Laeticia encouraged. Jeanne followed her instructions tentatively and Yoruichi meowed and purred as she did so, causing Jeanne to smile.

"I'm glad to see you both getting along despite your earlier misgivings. It would've made me very sad that you didn't like my cat." said Kisuke with a small smile of his own that looked very genuine.

"This cat is yours?" Jeanne asked.

"More like I'm her human." he said coyly. "Now let's get going. We already stalled longer than expected. It may only be a 20-minute ride on the train but it's another 20-minute walk from the station at a brisk pace. So, we got about a total of 40 minutes of travel ahead of us. So, let's get a move-on." he said his jovial tone returning. Yoruichi followed behind him and Jeanne grabbed her suitcase and carry-on and followed after the pair.

===Japan – Haneda train station – morning

Several minutes later they boarded the train that arrived at the station. Once they sat down and the train pulled away, Kisuke hid his right hand behind his fan as he then performed a few hand gestures. Jeanne watched as the world around seemed to adopt an orange filter. "All right. Now that the barriers have been put in place, I need to know something. Who are you really Miss Spirit and why have you possessed this young lady?" he asked seriously. Jeanne suddenly felt like her survival instincts were kicking in. She tried to look for an escape which he seemed to catch on to as he added. "I already can sense that there are two spirits inhabiting the body before me. One that's native and the other that's foreign. This matches up with your explanation on the phone about having unfinished business, but I want to know what that unfinished business is. Oh, and to outsiders it just looks like we're having a chat even if things get rough between us and I doubt you know how to get out of this barrier. And since we have about 20 minutes before we reach the station, I could easily subdue you in this confined space and make it look like something far more innocent than reality. So, what is your unfinished business in Romania, Ms. Spirit." he asked seriously. Jeanne realized that she was trapped. He has me exactly where he wants me. I'm pinned and can't escape. Even if I donned my armor, this space is too confined to move about freely and there are civilians. He would be able to subdue me and then Laeticia and I would both be at this man's mercy. But what will happen if I reveal my whole hand to him. For that matter how did he become suspicious of my actions? I gave nothing away to- her thought came to a halt. She sighed in resignation as she realized what happened.

"Hanataro told you about the details I left out, didn't he?" she asked resigned to the consequences. Kisuke nodded.

"I contacted him shortly after you confirmed that you were at the airport in France and pumped him for any more info that you left out. All he had to add was that 40 other souls like you were going to be in Trifas, Romania and voiced his concerns about what would happen if a Soul Reaper wasn't present to protect both spirits like you and the residents there. So, what reason does that many powerful souls need to be in such a remote village?" he asked suspiciously. Lady Jeanne, I think it would be best if we just were honest and told him everything. I know you want to keep the War a secret, you had to be aware that whoever they might let us take to Romania was going to find out eventually about it when we got there. Laeticia voiced her opinions to Jeanne over their connection. I'm well aware of that. But I'm worried that due to these Soul Reapers being a military and outsiders to Magecraft and the paranoia that plagues Mage culture, if I don't say things just right it could lead to a confrontation that could led to countless number of lives lost. Not to mention that while these Hollows are most definitely a threat, I have no clue if they are a threat to just non mages and Servants or if mages could also be at risk. After all mages are known to be cold-hearted and will happily sacrifice others to achieve their goals or desires. If these Hollows can be weaponized, mages will use them if it means getting their wishes granted. Finally, we have no idea if Soul Reapers can even fight Servants, weak or otherwise. They might be able to protect us from Hollows but maybe not Servants and with over 40 of them in Trifas if they go rogue and come after us then the Soul Reapers will possibly be destroyed and leave us vulnerable once again to Hollows. Jeanne replied her mind started to spiral. Lady Jeanne, please you need to take deep breaths. Jeanne did so, causing Kisuke, still watching Jeanne, to quirk an eyebrow. Jeanne, however, paid attention only to Laeticia's thoughts. I understand that there is a lot of pressure on you, and it helps me understand how it felt when you lead men during the Hundred Year's War. But now you aren't expected to carry everything on your own and now we have potential allies. Plus, these Soul Reapers seem to deal with the afterlife exclusively so maybe they will only want to observe unless we ask that they watch our backs. I'll admit that I can't calm all your fears as they have merit, but we won't really know the answers to those fears unless we lay everything out for them and see what happens from there. From what I can tell, the worst-case scenario is no one comes along, and we have to deal with both Hollows and the War solely on our own. Laeticia voiced her seemed to consider this before nodding to herself. Very well. We'll try it your way. Fortune does tend to favor the bold after all. With that Jeanne faced Kisuke as he continued to watch her.

"I have to ask, how direct is that connection with your host?" asked Kisuke.

"Despite the fact that we have near perfect compatibility, she is essentially a voice in my head observing everything but can only manifest when we decide to switch who's in control of the body." explained Jeanne.

"Prove it." he said, catching her off guard. "I want to observe this switch and see what happens." he elaborated. After a moment she nodded and closed her eyes. When she opened them again nothing looked different. Then she spoke.

"Good morning. It's nice to meet you Mr. Urahara. My name is Laeticia Domremy." she greeted politely holding her hand out for a handshake. Urahara's eyes widened but he still took her hand and shook it.

"Impressive. You were speaking near perfect Japanese and now you're speaking in English. Also, your spirit energies swapped so now the native host is dominant and the foreign spirit is now less noticeable, but I can sense you a lot easier when she is the one who's observing rather than interacting. Also, now that I look at it there's subtle differences when one or the other is in control. When Laeticia is in control your facial features are more innocent and your voice is an octave higher. When the other is in control your voice drops half an octave and your facial features become more serious and sterner." he said aloud. "So, on your end Ms. Laeticia, how straight forward is your connection?" he asked.

"I see what she sees and hear what she hears but she's determined to keep things at that so I don't feel pain should she get injured. Except for times when we decide to let me have control, I would be just an observer. Like watching a movie except the movie is what's happening in the real world." Laeticia explained.

"And how long is this arrangement supposed to last?" he asked.

"As long as it will take to fulfill her responsibilities in Romania. But for a rough estimate she thinks that it should be a month at absolute most." she replied.

"And this possession was done with your consent?" he asked. Laeticia nodded.

"Yes. According to Lady Jeanne, she and I have near perfect compatibility due to the fact that she's my long distantly related Aunt. And only after she explained things to me, and I gave my consent did she finally possess my body." Laeticia explained.

"Lady Jeanne?" asked Kisuke smiling slyly. Laeticia's eyes widened, and she put a hand to her mouth as she realized her mistake. "A lady named Jeanne who came from France and is a distant ancestor of yours. And who has unfinished business in Romania that needs her to possess the body of her descendant. You realize that this paints a very concerning picture, right?" he asked hiding his face behind his fan again. Laeticia's features became serious once again and she faced Urahara with a firm look showing that the, to him, now named Jeanne was once again in control.

"It's probably for the best that she gave that slip-up as I've decided to lay everything out so you can understand why I need a bodyguard." Jeanne explained.

"Oh?" asked Urahara looking intrigued.

"Have you ever heard of the term, Holy Grail War?" she asked. She watched as both he and his cat, who'd been listening to the entire time, both froze at that term indicating that they were familiar with it.

"How do you know of it?" he asked in a serious tone. All traces of joviality were gone and while still intrigued he seemed to be keeping that in check as he seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.

"Because I was designated the War's Supervisor." Jeanne replied equally serious.

"I see." Said Urahara. He turned to face forward as he looked to be in deep thought. After a few moments he spoke aloud. "Yoruichi. Once the doors open to let us out to the train train station, flashstep over to the Kurosaki Clinic and tell Isshin to get over to the shop along with all the kids as they should be there due to my prior instructions. If they're not there do whatever you have to do to round them up and get them to the shop." He ordered. Jeanne was surprised as she realized he was talking to his cat. Even more shocking when said cat responded in a male voice.

"Understood, Kisuke. You better call Tessai and have him gather up the people in the shop as I think we'll need to have some Soul Society members present." said the cat. Jeanne and Laeticia were caught off guard by this and thus didn't comprehend what they were saying. The cat just spoke! The both of them thought at the same time. They were brought out of their shock as Urahara pulled out a device. Oh Wow! That's an iPhone! Those came out only a couple of years ago. But they are so expensive that I can't afford one yet. Laeticia thought sadly to Jeanne. iPhone? Jeanne responded curiously. Yes, they're a combination of cell phone and personal computer. All small enough to fit in your pocket and take with you wherever you go. I hope to save up enough money to get one soon. Laeticia thought a little giddy. I see. Jeanne responded fascinated. Then she heard Urahara speak.

"Tessai. Yeah, it's me. Have Kuchiki, Abarai, and Hitsuguya left yet for the Soul Society? No? Good. Tell them that I'm bringing a guest that has some interesting information that I think they'll want to hear. Yoruichi and Isshin are bringing the rest of the Karakura group and his daughters. I want everyone sitting at the table in the meeting room. The one big enough to hold a group of that size. Oh and get Noba, Ririn, and Kurodo there as well. We're just arriving at our station. So, we'll be at the shop in about 20 minutes or so. Great. We'll see you there." said Urahara. With that he put his gray iPhone back into his pocket. Then the doors opened with the intercom voice stating that they reached Karakura train station. With a snap of his fingers, the barrier disappeared. Yoruichi then vanished as well. Urahara got up and turned to Jeanne. "Alright then, shall we?" he asked politely. Jeanne got up from her seat and grabbed her bags only for Urahara to take her suitcase, leaving her with the carry-on. Jeanne smiled gratefully.

"Thank you." she said.

"No problem. Now let's get going. We got a 20-minute walk ahead of us." he said casually. With that they left the train. Then proceeded out of the station and then onto the sidewalk. As it was still fairly early it wasn't that packed yet. But the thing that caught her attention the most was the air in the city. Not just the smells of a modern city but it felt like it was heavier on a level that she as a spirit could feel settle on her. Which shouldn't have been possible.

"Mr. Urahara? Is there something wrong with the air?" she asked. He continued walking forward but did carry the question.

"In what way?" he asked.

"Not like a bad smell but it feels heavier. Like a slight weight is on my shoulders." she described. She couldn't see his face, but she heard his tone which was jovial.

"If you'll be patient until we get to my shop, I think we'll be in for one interesting cultural exchange." he said. Realizing she wouldn't get a straight answer, she moved onto something she hoped he would answer.

"How did you come to know about the Holy Grail War?" she asked.

"That's a very interesting story." he said. From there he went onto explain that the heavy air in this town caught the attention of the occasional mage at least once a year. The first time a mage came to Karakura Kisuke didn't even know about this until children began to go missing. By sheer dumb luck Kisuke had witnessed one of the children being kidnapped and followed. Then he saw children being dissected and used as macabre power sources for spirit energy killing some and then the bodies being haphazardly disposed of. Kisuke admitted to thinking that it was his former subordinate but then discovered the existence of mages. The two dueled though Kisuke curb stomped him and then discovered the existence of magic circuits. He quickly crafted a kido to detect those who possessed them. The mage refused to reveal anything about who they were why they did what they did, etc. Then they killed themselves. Kisuke dumped his body at a nearby morgue and then set the kido up around the entire perimeter of Karakura. From there whenever a mage arrived, they would be observed and after a few days would be captured and interrogated. If they meant no harm and were cooperative and answered questions, then they would have their memories replaced, a kido that compelled them to stay away from Karakura would be placed on them until they left the country of Japan, and then they would be ditched in an alleyway in Tokyo. If they were uncooperative but wouldn't do anything harmful then same procedure though they left them stark naked in said alleyway. If they were uncooperative and did intend to cause harm, then they had the choice of suicide or death by hollow then the body would be dropped off at the morgue.

"And that's how things went for the next two and a half decades. But my biggest venture into the Mage world came 5 years ago. But that's going to have to wait as we are here." he said as he stopped them in front of an average looking Japanese shop with the title Urahara Shop on it. There was a courtyard surrounded by a fence for the perimeter and a little gate for people to enter. He opened said gate and allowed for her to pass and then followed after her. She stopped in front of the doors and Urahara got in front of her and faced her with a dramatic pose. "Well then Ms. Domremy and Ms. Jeanne, Welcome to the Urahara shop and my humble abode." he said with pride in his voice. Jeanne smiled at his antics. He then stood up a little straighter.

"Alright there should be a large group of people in there all waiting for us. We'll have you explain your predicament and give context and then we'll figure out if there's anything we can do to help you. Be prepared as you'll get a lot of questions thrown your way." he said in a serious tone.

"That's to be expected. And thank you for all this." Jeanne said gratefully.

"You're welcome. Alright. Let's head inside, shall we?" he asked as he turned to the doors and opened them. Once they were both inside, he quickly shut the doors behind them. She looked around and saw that they were inside a modest looking convenient store though she saw various charms, and other magical and spiritual regalia festooned to one side. "This way please." he said, leading her deeper into the store.

"Do you also live here, Mr. Urahara?" she asked curiously.

"I do indeed. And we'll be meeting quite a few people in the back. Some are my employees, but the others are regular customers here and at least one of them is a dear friend of mine." he said opened the shoji doors in the back. Once inside what she assumed to be the living quarters of the shop he closed them. Then led her down the hall passing several closed doors along the way making Jeanne and Laeticia both wonder just how big was the living quarters section of the shop. Then she noticed that the air, which had already felt a little thick back at the train station then, had even more of a weight to it now. They finally stopped at another pair of shoji doors, and she could hear voices on the other side. "Alright wait here and I'll set the stage for your grand entrance." he said with a cheeky grin catching Jeanne off guard.

"My . . .. what?" she asked confused and a little blindsided. But Kisuke had already opened the doors and walked in.

"Good morning, everyone!" he greeted whoever was on the other side of the doors.

"Can it, Hat n' Clogs. You got us all up here superass early on a Sunday. Can you please not beat around the bush this time and just get to the point." a male voice said heavy with irritation.

"Kurosaki's bluntness, aside. I agree with him and would like it if you didn't stall. You can start by introducing us to the unknown individuals outside the room." said a younger but equally irritated male voice.

"Jeez. Alright fine. Okay come on in." she heard Kisuke order. With that she stepped into the room.

She honestly didn't know what to expect but she certainly hadn't expected the motley crew that was sitting around a long square table as they were being served tea. Nor was she expecting the number of people to be present. There were about 17 individuals not counting her, Kisuke or the three plushies that she saw on the table. While there were a couple of adults, most looked to be about her age or younger. "Kisuke, did you have a relationship with someone other than Yoruichi and then have a child out of wedlock?" said one of the only other adults in the room as he teased. However, Jeanne was horrorstricken at the prospect. Not of being mistaken for a relation of Kisuke as she could see that reasoning easily. But at the prospect of being labeled a bastard child as that stigma was heavily ingrained on her through the sermons that were preached in her town's church. So, she quickly strove to correct that assumption.

"I assure you sir. I'm of no relation to Mr. Urahara. And my parents were married when I was born." she said in a panic. Everyone was eyeing her with strange looks. It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop and Jeanne felt a bit of sweat roll down the back of her neck. Then snickering could be heard and everyone looked on the table to see Yoruichi, the black cat, snickering. She looked at Jeanne.

"I have to say that if it weren't for the fact that you were serious, I'd have thought that you had a terrific sense of humor." Yoruichi said in a male voice. Jeanne gasped in shock as she remembered that the cat spoke on the train.

"That cat can talk!?" She asked in a shocked tone.

"Her name is Yoruichi." said the girl with auburn hair.

"Don't feel too bad. We all took a while to get used to this as well." said the very tall man with a deep voice.

"Alright. Let's get introductions out of the way. The sooner we get started the sooner we can get to explanations and then we'll see what can be done for you, if any." said Kisuke getting everyone's attention. This got Jeanne to center herself and focus back on the task at hand. She then took a deep breath and looked at the people at the table again. By now she noticed three people carrying trays of tea. "Alright. I'll start with my associates for my shop as they will be making tea and running the shop while we talk." He then pointed his cane to a tall, muscular, lightly tan-skinned man. In his hands was a tray with about 10 cups of some kind of hot drink which she assumed was tea. "This is my closest associate and friend Tessai Tsukabishi." said Urahara. After Tessai was done putting the cups from his tray onto the table in front of the other occupants, he then bowed to her which she responded in kind. Then he stepped aside as Urahara pointed his cane at the next person with a tray with what looked to be another 10 cups though she couldn't fathom why so many were needed but she paid attention to Urahara when he spoke. This next individual was a small boy with red hair. "This is Jinta Hanakari. He lives here in the shop and works in it for room and board." said Urahara. Once Jinta was done setting the cups on his tray onto the table, including oddly enough in front of the 3 plushies, he turned to Jeanne with a suspicious look before bowing. Again, Jeanne returned the bow.

"Hello ma'am. Nice to meet you." he said politely though it seemed heavily forced. The now named Jinta went to stand next to Tessai by the door. Then Urahara pointed to the last individual who was holding a tray. This time with a tea kettle on it. Said individual was a young-looking girl with a perpetual blush on her cheeks. "And lastly, this is Ururu Tsumugiya. She's in the same position as Jinta as in she lives here at the shop and works here for room and board." explained Urahara.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." she said in a polite but shy tone. Jeanne smiled warmly and bowed in return.

"It is nice to meet you as well." she said warmly causing the now named Ururu to go completely red face. Ururu quickly put the kettle onto the table and then went to stand beside Tessai and Jinta.

He then turned to address Tessai. "I want you three to open up the shop and run things while I'm in the back here. In about an hr. please bring in some more tea as I think we're going to be here a while." Kisuke instructed. The three gave various forms of confirmation to his instructions and with that the three left the room, closing the doors behind them. Urahara then turned back to Jeanne. "Okay with that out of the way. Let's continue with the introductions. Now how familiar are you with Soul Reapers?" he asked her. Jeanne thought about it before she answered.

"I know that their overall duty is to slay Hollows, that they are a military organization for the afterlife, and that lieutenants are 2nd highest ranking position in each squad, of which there are 13 total, and that Captains are the highest rank. At least that's the bare minimum that Mr. Hanataro Yamada provided for me on information." Jeanne said.

"You met Squad 4's 3rd seat?" asked one of the people sitting at the table sounding a bit young. She turned to the people at the table and answered.

"Yes. I was attacked by a Hollow and nearly died had Mr. Yamada not come in and saved me. After healing myself and my roommate after rendering her unconscious he gave me that much information." she informed.

"Well, your information isn't incorrect, but it seems that Hanataro left out one other critical piece of information. Slaying hollows is one of two of our primary functions as Soul Reapers and the other one is Konsō or Soul Burial. In other words, guiding spirits to pass on from this life to the next in the afterlife otherwise their negative emotions start to fester and corrupt them until they too, become Hollows or are devoured by them." explained Kisuke.

"Hollows started off as human souls!?" asked Jeanne, shocked.

"Yep. When people die but don't immediately pass on to the afterlife on their own, their souls linger in this world. The Soul Reaper must get to the soul in time to perform a Konsō to help them pass onto the afterlife. If not, the soul is vulnerable to Hollows coming to eat them and Hollows don't differentiate whether the soul is of the dead or living. As long as they can get a meal then that's all that matters. But if people die with resentments or regrets then the longer the soul lingers in this world the longer those regrets or resentments fester and start to corrupt the soul until it consumes them internally and they transform into a Hollow. Their bodies become black with a hole on them somewhere and most distinctively is their white bone masks. After that the only way the Hollow can go to the afterlife is to be slain by a Soul Reaper with their zanpakuto." At Jeanne's odd look he simply pulled the cane to reveal that it concealed a blade. "This is my zanpakuto. In simple terms it's a portion of our souls that we've been able to weaponize in order to perform our duties. When we slay a Hollow with this, we are exorcising it. Though as long as the masks are destroyed anyone can exorcise them. When that happens, the Hollow is purified and can pass on peacefully to the afterlife along with any other souls it devoured prior." he explained. "I think that's all the relevant information you need otherwise we'd just be satisfying your curiosity. Oh, there is one other thing. Zanpakutos all have 3 stages of power. They are sealed, like mine currently is, Shikai, which is achieved by learning your zanpakuto's name, and Bankai, in which the Soul reaper must face their zanpakuto's spirit form and battle them to earn the right to gain access to their full potential granting them power that is 5-10 times stronger than their Shikai forms. And the zanpakuto changes in each stage. Now do you have any questions?" asked Urahara. Jeanne thought about it for a few minutes before she shook her head.

"Not really. I feel if any questions do come up, I can just ask the Reaper who hopefully will accompany me on my journey." said Jeanne. Kisuke guided them to the table and sat down after that.

"I'm surprised you've accepted the idea of the afterlife being run by a military." said the older man who had attempted to tease Jeanne earlier.

"I was brought up Roman Catholic and our village priest was an avid reader of the works of Dante Alagiri. Specifically, his work Paradiso. The priest went on for hours during his sermons about how the classes of angels talked about there were like the classes of nobility that my fellow villagers would've been familiar with as they were also the warrior class. So, the idea of the afterlife being run by a military is actually not that much of a stretch for me to accept. Though I wonder does that mean that Reapers are just another name for angels?" asked Jeanne curiously.

"NO!" said everyone in the room immediately, catching Jeanne off guard. The youngest looking boy then spoke up.

"I assure you; Miss. Soul Reapers are completely human despite what some think. At the end of the day, we are just overpowered human souls that have learned to weaponize a portion of our souls and use our power to protect the souls of the living and the dead. But that is all we are. As far as Angels are concerned, if they have a place in our system, I have no knowledge of that role. I mean no disrespect to your faith." he said.

"No that's fine. Thank you for clearing that up." said Jeanne. Urahara picked up his fan and got everyone's attention again.

"Alright. Since we're on the subject of Soul Reapers how about we start with the group. I'll start with myself. You already know me as Kisuke Urahara the owner of the Urahara Shop, but I am still a Soul Reaper. Technically I'm in exile but my powers as one are still intact and I sought asylum here in the World of the Living." He then pointed his fan at Yoruichi. "Yoruichi here is also a Soul Reaper that also went into exile with me, but she's got the ability to shape-shift into a cat." he said with a sly smile. Then he pointed his fan at the other adult in the room. Said man was tall and muscular with spiky black hair and brown eyes. He appeared to be in his 40s. He wore casual shirt and trousers. "This here is Isshin Kurosaki. He's also here due to exile and he's a soul reaper that has successfully had living biological children. Which are the three seated on his left. But we'll introduce you to them a little later." explained Urahara his smile getting cheeky.

Then he pointed his fan at the group on his right. The first individual he pointed to was a young man who looked to be in his early 20s. He had brown eyes and long crimson hair, which was currently kept in a high ponytail. His upper body, or what she could see of it was covered in tribal tattoos. On his forehead he wore a white headband. He was dressed in what looked to be a simple white tee shirt and brown cargo pants. "This here is Renji Abarai. He's the lieutenant of Squad 6." said Urahara. From her seat she gave a small bow which he returned with a small smile. Urahara moved down the line to the next person on his left.

This individual was a short, relatively young man who had the appearance of a child, with turquoise eyes and short, spiked, white hair. He wore a black, short-sleeved, golf shirt and gray pants. "This is Toshiro Hitsugaya. He's the current Captain of Squad 10." said Urahara. Jeanne looked to him with a gentle smile and bowed from her position.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. To be made a Captain at your age, you must be incredibly skilled and wise." she said sincerely. This caused about half of the table to snicker or chuckle at that comment. The now named Toshiro looked annoyed at the reaction. Jeanne looked around confused.

"You'll have to forgive us Ms. Domremy. You're not wrong in your assessment as Captain Hitsuguya is in fact very skilled and intelligent and earned his rank as a Captain. He is actually a child prodigy even by Soul Reaper standards, which considering how long lived we can be that is even more impressive, but due to his appearance as a child he often tries to overcompensate by being very serious and acting far older than he is as many of his peers find it hard to take him seriously." explained Yoruichi with a smirk.

"Do you have to phrase it like that?" asked Toshiro annoyed. Jeanne found herself tuning out the argument and looking at the half-drunk tea in her designated cup as she realized that this was one of the things in the modern era that changed so drastically. Now that people live longer than 50, it's considered strange if not laughable for a child to assume such an important military position. They value children being allowed to have a proper childhood. She thought as a nostalgic smile crept up her face.

"Ms. Domremy!" someone shouted startling her out of her thoughts. She looked around and sees everyone looking at her with concern.

"Oh. Sorry about that. I found myself getting caught up in nostalgia. Please. Let's continue with the introductions." she said trying to move things along. After a pause Urahara indulged her and continued with the introductions. He pointed his fan at the girl of this trio. She was short and petite and had light skin and purple eyes. Her hair was black, with several strands hanging between her eyes. Currently she was wearing a blue sundress.

"And finally this is Rukia Kuchiki. She the recently promoted lieutenant of Squad 13." said Urahara.

"My congratulations on your promotion." said Jeanne. The now named Rukia smiled.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." she replied.

"Yeah, if anyone deserves the promotion it's Rukia." said the boy by Isshin. He was smiling at Rukia, and she returned it, looking truly happy.

"Alright now do you have any questions before we move onto the next group?" asked Urahara catching Jeanne's attention. Jeanne thought about it for a moment before speaking.

"Two. One you don't have to answer on account that it's just for my own curiosity. And that is that three of you were stated to be exiled. May I ask why that was?" she asked.

"The broad strokes are that Isshin has only been in self-imposed exile for about 20 yrs. while I have been in self-imposed for the same amount of time as Kisuke. About 100 yrs. Though the reasons were ironically the same. It was for the people that had come to love. While Kisuke was exiled by court for a crime he didn't commit. But I think that's all we wish to divulge for now unless it becomes necessary." said Yoruichi diplomatically. Jeanne nodded.

"Alright my 2nd question is that I noticed that each of you has a different number squad, and I was just curious if there was any significance for that. Is there a hierarchy to the number of squads?" she asked.

"With the exception of Squad 1, no. All squads have the two overall goals of Konsoing souls and Exorcising Hollows but the reason for the different designation numbers is that the squads have developed specialties over the yrs. The two most obvious ones are Squad 11 and Squad 4. The former is our frontline assaulters as they are the first into battle, but it also has the highest mortality rate for obvious reasons. By contrast the latter is our medical division and oversees both medical and custodial needs for the entire 13 Court Guard Squads. Again, all lieutenants and captains have the same authority for their respective ranks regardless of background, faith, ethnicity, etc. within the military itself. The sole exceptions are the captain and lieutenant of Squad 1 as they also serve as the Head Captain and Head Lieutenant of the entire 13 Court Guard Squads. Does that answer your question, Miss?" asked Toshiro as he finished explaining. Jeanne nodded.

"It does. Thank you." she said politely.

"Alright. Now we'll move onto the non-Soul Reapers. I'll tell you now that there will be a lot of terms thrown around, but we'll have to keep explanations brief as we still must get to you and why you are in need of our help Ms. Domremy." said Urahara. Jeanne nodded.

"Then we'll start with these three. The only thing you need to know about them, besides their names, is that they are spiritually aware, meaning that they can sense spirits and can be quite resourceful. But don't have any other supernatural abilities." said Kisuke as he pointed his fan to the first individual being a girl. She was a thin teenager with short red hair and purple eyes, her bangs parted on both sides of her face, and she wore red framed glasses. Her attire consisted of a casual pink shirt and blue skirt. "This is Chizuru Honsho." said Urahara. Chizuru gave her a little wave which Jeanne returned with a polite bow. The next person he pointed to was a very young man with short black hair and green eyes, parted down the middle with a stray bang in his face and the tips fanning out. His attire consisted of black jeans and a stylish hoodie. "Mizuiro Kojima." said Urahara. Mizuiro gave her a polite bow from his seat which Jeanne returned. The last person Urahara pointed his fan at of this trio was a teenage boy with medium-long brown hair, which flipped outward. He had brown eyes and a slim figure. His expression was all smiles. He wore casual clothes, consisting of a plain T-shirt and jean pants, with a stylish jacket. "And last of this trio is Keigo Asano." said Urahara.

"Nice to meet you, Ms." said Keigo acting very friendly.

"Knock it off, Keigo. She doesn't need your poor attempts at flirting." Jeanne looked to see that it was the same boy who had complimented Rukia earlier.

"How dare you mislead her, Ichigo! I was just giving her a friendly greeting." said Keigo defensively.

"Mr. Asano. We all know that you'll flirt with any cute girl that you see in front of you. Better stop now before you get into even further trouble." suggested Mizuiro as he gulped down his tea. From there Keigo continued to bicker with the rest of the group.

"Is he alright?" asked Jeanne

"This is just them on a typical day." Urahara said to her offhand before raising his voice. "Hey! Cut it out! We still have to get through the rest of the introductions." Urahara ordered. Everyone quieted down. "Thank you. Now there are two more trios to get through, but we'll save one of the trios for last. The next trio we'll introduce are spiritually aware beings but have developed supernatural powers that go beyond being able to see ghosts. Before you ask, we'll get to that a little later as there is one other group to introduce you to. For now, let's introduce the individuals." said Urahara.

He pointed to an individual with his fan. The first individual was a teenage girl of average height. She had brown eyes and long, waist-length, burnt orange hair. Her most noticeable physical trait is her slender yet curvaceous figure for a teenager, not too dissimilar from Jeanne/Laeticia's body type, especially in terms of her large breasts. She wore her hair in bangs tucked behind her ears with hairpins. Her attire was a simple long sleeved red dress that while it covered her up completely, it still accentuated her figure. "This is Orihime Inoue." said Urahara. Orihime gave a small wave and shy smile in quiet greeting which Jeanne returned along with a gentle smile. Urahara moved down the light to the next individual. Said individual was another teenage girl of average height with black hair and brown eyes. She had a contrasting appearance to Orihime Inoue. She was a tomboy and has a very lean frame compared to Orihime's curvier figure. Her hair was short and dark, kept spiked out at the sides, in tune with her less than feminine appearance. Her attire consisted of a red ¾ sleeve shirt and blue jeggings. "This is Tatsuki Arisawa." said Urahara. Tatsuki gave a friendly smile and bow which Jeanne returned. Moving to the last person of this trio, Jeanne quirked an eyebrow as he was staunchly different from the rest of the group. He was a young man with dark-skinned with pronounced cheekbones and has wavy brown hair with bangs that generally hung over his brown eyes. He was muscular and extremely tall and appeared to be much older than the rest of the group, making Jeanne think that he was in fact one of the adults in the group. He wore a flashy short-sleeved shirt with open collars and casual black pants. "This is Sado Yasutora though we all call him Chad." said Urahara. He greeted her with a simple nod while she bowed to him in greeting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Yasutora." she said politely.

"Please you can call me Chad or Sado. I respond to either." he said simply in a deep voice.

"Oh no. I couldn't be that informal to someone who's older than me." said Jeanne maintaining her formality.

"How old are you?" asked Tatsuki. Jeanne thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I'm 19." she answered. This caused most of the teens to laugh. At her confused look one of the boys left to be introduced answered.

"You'll have to forgive us as with the exception of the Soul Reapers and yourself all of us here are under the age of 18. Including Chad." he said with a small smile. Jeanne's eyes widened in surprise and slight embarrassment. She turned to Chad and bowed to him.

"I'm so sorry for my assumption." she apologized.

"It's all right. You're not the first to think that I'm older than I actually am. Probably won't be the last." Chad said simply. Kisuke patted her on the back in reassurance. Jeanne still looked down in embarrassment.

"Alright I think it's time to move on. Now we have one more group though they only have one person to represent them. They are Quinces." explained Urahara. He pointed his fan to another individual. He was a tall and bespectacled young man with slender build. He had straight, chin-length black hair framing both sides of his face and was fair-skinned with blue eyes. His attire consisted of a white buttoned shirt with a blue vest and tan casual pants. "This is our own resident Quincy, Uryū Ishida." said Urahara. "I'll explain the differences between the different groups in a few minutes. We just have a few left to go."

He pointed his fan to the last group that had the youngest looking members of this group. "These three are Isshin Kurosaki's children." he said. His fan was first pointed at a young girl with short light blonde hair, with short bangs hanging over the right side of her forehead. She also wore a red hair clip on the left side of her head. Her eyes are dark brown and appear much softer than most others save for Orihime. She was dressed more girlishly compared to the other young girl next to her. She wore a green hooded sweatshirt and some pink shorts. "This is the youngest of the Kurosaki children. Yuzu Kurosaki." said Urahara. Yuzu gave a small wave and friendly smile which Jeanne returned. Then Urahara moved to the next individual. She was another young girl, but she had dark grey eyes and black hair that was straight and cropped to hang around her face, just above her shoulders. Her eyes were large and dark. She wore sportswear consisting of knee-length leggings and red shorts with a plain white t-shirt. "This is her twin sister, Karin Kurosaki." said Urahara. Then he pointed to the last individual. He was a young man whose most distinguishing features was his spiky orange hair and a frown on his face. He was fairly tall, and lean-built with peach skin and brown eyes. He wore slim fitting clothes that hugged his frame and showed off his muscles. Said clothes consisted of black shirt with a white V-neck neckline. Over which he wore a blue jacket. And then wore tan casual pants. "And finally, the oldest of the Kurosaki children is Ichigo Kurosaki." said Urahara.

"Hey." he said nonchalantly. Jeanne gave him a friendly smile and bowed to him in greeting.

"Now we have one last group to introduce you to and that is the mod-souls." said Urahara. Jeanne looked at him with a quirked eyebrow. Urahara pointed his fan to the trio of plushies and to her surprise they began to move on their own. They walked up to her but stopped about two feet from her position. The plushies consisted of an anthropomorphic turtle plushy in gray dress trousers and a white ruffled shirt with a red bow tie. "This is Noba." said Urahara pointing to the turtle. The next plushie was a pink rabbit-esque purse, also wearing a colorful suit and tie. "Kurodo." he said pointing at the rabbit. And finally, a bird-shaped plushie with a blue-hooded coat and red bowtie. "And finally, Ririn." he said pointing at the bird plushie. "Now I know there are questions from you that need to be answered. We'll start with the mod-souls. Are you familiar with the term Gikongan?" he asked. Jeanne nodded.

"Yes, along with the term Gigai." she answered.

"Alright that saves us a little time. So, think of mod-souls as Gikongan or Gikon for short but they have extra abilities hence the name mod or modified soul. Gikongans simply get a gigai or body out of the way while Mod-souls can fight back if they encounter a Hollow. I'll use these three as examples. Noba has the ability to create portals, Ririn has the ability to create illusions, and finally Kurodo has the ability to shape-shift into anyone and even mimic their voices and abilities to a certain extent. All of these they can use to combat Hollows while also if used like Gikon can get the Gigai or body to safety. Pretty straight forward, right?" asked Kisuke eyeing Jeanne who nodded.

"Okay then now we're going to get to the harder stuff. In order to explain Quinces and the trio with actual powers we need to talk about reishi. Reishi itself is simply the atmospheric spirit energy that takes the form of spirit particles. These particles are abundant throughout the world but only those who are spiritually aware can develop an ability known as Reiryoku which is simply the ability to sense and manipulate those particles and their own spirit energy. Now about 90% of all souls in existence have a small amount of spirit energy in order to live simply by virtue of having a soul to begin with. But of the remaining 10% only about 8% have enough to develop Reiryoku such as becoming spiritually aware but that's about it. The remaining 2% though develop enough Reiryoku to be able to possess supernatural powers beyond just being spiritually aware. That's where Inoue, Arisawa, and Yatsutora come in as they are part of that 2% that have developed powers beyond just seeing ghosts, but each have manifested uniquely within each of them." explained Urahara.

"So, it's like Mana and Prana. But I was under the impression that Mana was being slowly depleted from the world." Jeanne thought aloud.

"When we introduce you properly, Ms. Domremy, I'll explain my theories. Now back to those particles. Simply put, Quinces, Hollows and Soul Reapers all interact with those particles in fundamentally different ways. Soul reapers use reishi generated by their own spiritual cores to fight and harness those particles in the atmosphere to purify them and harness them to affect the atmosphere around them. When you got off the train you asked why the air felt heavier well that was because the spirit particles are more densely compacted in this town making the air feel heavier but not oppressive. Did you feel it get heavier still before you crossed the threshold of this room?" asked Urahara. Again, Jeanne nodded.

"Yes, I did but after a few minutes of discomfort I felt fine though I'm still able to tell that the air feels heavier in this room than the rest of the town." she said. She then saw everyone giving Ichigo knowing looks and smirks and he in turn looked embarrassed. Jeanne was confused by that interaction.

"Good observation. Well Soul Reapers can harness those particles out in the atmosphere and project a more physical pressure onto either a selected target or in just the general vicinity of their location. This is what's known as Reiatsu or Spiritual pressure. Now technically Hollows and Quinces can exert Spiritual pressure as well as they are using a similar technique. The three groups can all utilize Spiritual pressure as all three possess Reiryoku." said Urahara.

"What's the difference between the two terms?" Jeanne asked.

"The difference between Spiritual Power or Reiryoku and Spiritual Pressure or Reiatsu is simple: Reiryoku is the amount of energy a being has stored within their body or soul that exceeds the need of simply existing, whereas Reiatsu is the pressure that a person's Reiryoku exerts. In other words, Reiryoku is potential while Reiatsu is energy in use and can be sensed by other spiritually aware beings. The Spiritual pressure can also be used as a weapon as well against opponents, the most obvious ways are stunning them, instilling fear or can even cause full on paralysis and even phantom pain in the opponent. But other ways are coating a person's body with their spiritual pressure hardening their skin to protect them from attacks. Usually, the only way to overcome that is to face an opponent with equal or greater spiritual pressure. And can actually cause physical damage to weaker beings just by being close to someone exerting their Spiritual Pressure even to the point of being lethal. Now while Hollows and Quincies share this particular technique, they interact with those spirit particles I mentioned earlier very differently." explained Urahara.

"Like how?" asked Jeanne.

"Well, we'll look at Quincies first. Quincies are living humans that have developed their Reiryoku to the point of developing supernatural powers while Soul Reapers are usually just dead Human Souls. Quincies' powers are fueled by taking reishi in from the environment around them and then combining it with their own. Exact opposite of Soul Reapers. Then they shape that combined energy into a variety of spirit weapons though a bow is the usual one due to tradition." said Urahara.

"And Hollows?" asked Jeanne.

"Hollows eat other spirits to absorb their reishi. This then converts their reishi into Hollow reishi which has the properties of eating away at other reishi around it. This makes the reishi toxic to Quincies. Hence why they often used bows in the past to avoid being near hollows while they killed them and therefore not poison or potentially kill themselves in the process." explained Urahara.

"You know Kisuke, you're not usually this forthcoming. Usually, you like to hoard information like a magpie does shiny objects. Then only giving out bits and pieces of that information when you want to. So why the sudden change?" asked Isshin suspiciously.

"Why don't we first let Ms. Domremy introduce herself properly." suggested Urahara with a sly smile.

"Before I do that, I have to ask why so many people? I thought I'd only have to explain myself to a few people not a group of nearly 20." said Jeanne

"That's mostly due to the fact that while the Soul Reapers and Mod-souls are most likely going to help you on your trip the others are here because of Ichigo's request. You see Ichigo is a very unusual existence in that he's a living human with Soul Reaper powers which is due to his heritage of his father being a Soul Reaper and mother being a living human to say the least. While His sisters are only spiritually aware or only have fledgling powers due to the same heritage." Urahara explained.

"I see so all three are children of life and death." reasoned Jeanne.

"That's probably the most eloquent way of putting it that I've heard anyone say that. But the reason why I had all my friends and family come here is because, well, I realized that despite my best efforts I can't separate my Soul Reaper life from my private life. So, I decided to keep everyone in the loop as best as I can this time around as trying to keep everyone in the dark as a way to protect them proved to be pointless and in fact almost got a few of my friends killed." said Ichigo speaking to Jeanne directly this time. Jeanne thought about this and nodded.

"Very well. I'll respect that. Mr. Urahara is there anything else I need to know from you?" she asked.

"No, I think that's all the relevant info from my side of things. So now I believe it's your turn Ms. Domremy." said Urahara with a sly smile.

"Very well." Said Jeanne. She closed her eyes and then when she opened her eyes Laeticia was the one in control.

"Hello everyone. My name is Laeticia Domremy. I'm the native host of this body. It's a pleasure to meet you all." She said formally. Everyone quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Why are you speaking in English when you were speaking Japanese earlier just fine." asked Toshiro.

"That's because you were speaking to Lady Jeanne. Through her I'm able to see what she sees and hear what she hears, and I can understand what was being said through her as an interpreter. So, when you were introducing her to everyone you were also introducing me to everyone as well. So, we don't need to go through that again and I heard the earlier part of the conversation about hollows and quinces so there's no need to go over that again." Laeticia explained.

"How convenient. Well, it saves time and lets us move along." Said Urahara switching to English.

"Hold on. I just want to ask a few questions. Laeticia, I've been able to sense two souls inside that body but because it didn't feel like a Hollow, I let it be til now. So, I'll take the opportunity to ask how are you faring with this 'dual ownership'" asked Toshiro cautiously having also switched to English. Laeticia thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I'm doing alright. Lady Jeanne has assured me that this arrangement is only temporary and once she's finished her duties, she'll vacate the premises and I'll be back to being the only person in this body." Explained Laeticia.

"And how long will this 'arrangement' last?" asked Toshiro suspiciously.

"About a month. Two at absolute most. After which she'll leave as I stated earlier." Said Laeticia firmly.

"And what are her 'duties' that she has to perform that requires possessing another person's body?" asked Toshiro.

"I think it would be best to let Lady Jeanne explain. So, I will 'step aside' and give her control." Said Laeticia. With that she closed her eyes again and Jeanne once again assumed control speaking once again in perfect Japanese causing many to look at her in astonishment.

"Alright now I'll explain why I'm here and why I needed to possess a human girl's body. But first I need to ask what do you know about the Holy Grail?" she asked causing all to look at her with confusion.

"In religious circles, Christianity in particular, the Holy Grail was supposedly the cup either Christ drank from at the Last Supper or the cup that caught Christ's blood as he was crucified on the cross." said Uryu as he adjusted his glasses.

"You'd be correct for religious knowledge but in the supernatural world that I am a part of the Holy Grail has a different meaning." said Jeanne. From there she gave a crash course on the Holy Grail was in mage circles and its original purpose. The Holy Grail War and the Third Magic Heaven's Feel that was a part of this original Ritual, which alarmed nearly all Soul Reapers. Not because it would put them out of a job but because materializing souls would simply attract existing Hollows to them for a meal making them tempting targets for food. She then gave the group a crash course on the history of the other known Grail Wars and the events of the 3rd Grail War and what has happened as a result.

Urahara supplemented this with his own knowledge of Mage culture due to encounters with mages over the last few decades that eventually led to his meeting Kariya Matou, whom Ichigo remembered as Mr. Flying Geese and the kindness he showed when praying with him over his mother's grave that day. Yoruichi added her bit about her encounter with Tokiomi Tohsaka and his adopting out of Sakura and her potential fate with the Matous and their dealing with Zouken which left everyone disturbed and disgusted. She also explained what she gleamed of mage culture as a whole. Then the duel that allowed Yoruichi and Kisuke to adopt her as their ward but had her kept under the Matou name originally to give her the opportunity to study at the Clock Tower later in life but now because Kariya did in fact succeed in achieving Yoruichi's challenge, though she asks that that be left private which everyone respected , and did indeed adopt Sakura fully as his daughter though Yoruichi and Kisuke were still thought of as Aunt and Uncle respectively to her and they are registered as her godparents should something happen to Kariya. And how a yr. ago, just months before Rukia's deployment into Karakura that fateful day in mid-May, Kariya and Sakura left without a word only to tell them after they gained asylum with the Tohsaka's, of all people, that both he and Sakura were now participants in a Holy Grail War and so far, have kept them abreast to the situation throughout the yr.

"Alright so let me get this straight. Mages are a group of humans who somehow obtained supernatural powers but aren't exactly spiritually aware and during what they call this Age of Gods they were able to be seen as almost on equal footing with the Gods seeing themselves as above their fellow humans or as special." said Toshiro. Urahara, Yoruichi, and Jeanne nodded. "And now that the common man has obtained technology that allows them easy access to knowledge, mages powers are being rendered obsolete or at least mundane threatening their status of being special." continued Toshiro. The same trio nodded. "So now they are obsessed with continuing their bloodlines and their legacies and trying to reach what they call the Root, which we know as the cycle or reincarnation. And they will do so at all costs throwing away their humanity and committing insane acts of depravity in the process all so they can obtain a power that will justify their status of being special if only amongst their peers." said Toshiro. Again, the Trio nodded. Toshiro pinched the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.

"It's like you've taken the worst aspects of Aizen and Mayuri's personalities and created an entire culture around that." Isshin commented looking fairly disturbed. No one countered him on this. Keigo spoke up then.

"So, this Holy Grail War you said consisted of two person teams consisting of Master and Servants. Mages are the obvious Masters but who are the Servants?" he asked. Jeanne nodded.

"To answer that I need to let you know what a Heroic Spirit is. Whenever a person dies or is brought into existence through fiction or myth and they had a significant impact on the world then they are recorded into the Throne of Heroes where they will wait to be summoned by either the Counter Force or by mages to participate in a Holy Grail War. Once summoned they become Servants." She explained.

"Alright then the next obvious questions are what is the Counter Force? What is the Throne of Heroes? And what's the difference between a Servant and a Heroic Spirit? And what happens to them when they are summoned?" Asked Renji. Jeanne nodded and continued with her explanation.

"I'll start with the Counter Force as it connects to the other questions. First you need to understand two things, first is that there are multiple universes that exist alongside each other. Side by side yet kept separate from each other. And that there are different timelines that exist for each universe. These timelines and universes need to be thought of as part of a tree. Should one of these timelines in one of these universes hit a dead end then they are to be pruned away so other more prosperous timelines can be given the chance to flourish. The other thing you need to understand is that within each universe and timeline there exists that one's version of Earth. The Earth throughout the multiverse has essentially developed a soul but due to conflicting priorities that soul has split in two. There's Gaia whose priority is to ensure the planet's survival and therefore sees humans as a threat. And Alaya or the Counter Force which is the part of the Earth that acknowledges humanity as its children and, like any loving parent, wants to see them grow and be prosperous. These two conflicting sides exist throughout the multiverse, being the only connecting force between all the universes and timelines and the only time that the two sides of Earth's soul are ever in agreement is deciding which timeline must be pruned from existence due to either humanity reaching a point of stagnation or the world itself has been destroyed. But because of this, the Counter Force needs others to act on its behalf of protecting and guiding humanity down the path that will lead it to its greatest prosperity. This is where the Throne of Heroes comes into play." explained Jeanne. Are there any questions so far before I proceed?" she asked.

"Holy crap! So, the multiverse is real?! I always thought that was just something done in fiction when writers wanted to explore new ideas with their stories without breaking with pre-established lore." said Keigo, surprising his friends.

"I'm surprised you actually grasped any of what she said at all, given how you slack off in school. You deliberately go out of your way to stay out of the top 50 ranks of our grade year." Chizuru pointed out.

"Hey just because I sweep by in school doesn't mean that I don't understand concepts like multiverse theory." Keigo shot back.

"That's enough. We need to stay focused." Yoruichi cut in bringing everyone's attention back to Jeanne. "Please continue." she said more calmly.

"Thank you. Now to explain the Throne of Heroes. Agents of the Counter Force are known as Counter Guardians. The difference between Counter Guardians and Heroic Spirits are the former are individuals who have willingly made a pact with the Counter Force for various reasons to serve the Counter Force, while the latter are individuals who had an impact for good or ill reason on the world as a whole or who've been brought into existence through belief or faith of a massive group of humanity be it for a region or throughout time are taken, willingly or not by the Counter Force out of the cycle of reincarnation. Both types, however, are placed on the Throne of heroes which is a plane of existence that exists outside time and space for all the multiverses. And as said earlier both types share the goal of acting on Alaya's behalf of protecting and guiding humanity towards prosperity." Jeanne explained. A lot of the people present looked a bit uncomfortable at this explanation.

"So, wait these inhabitants of this Throne don't even get an afterlife?!" Tatsuki said looking shocked.

"Not an afterlife like you're thinking. See the truth is that since the mythological and fictional characters never were alive to begin with so it's not correct to think of the Throne as a different afterlife since some inhabitants never lived to begin with." said Jeanne.

"And those that did? What happens to them?" asked Isshin.

"Those that died in real life were actually taken and placed on the Throne at the brink of death. Not quite dead but close to it. The planet itself just replaces the memories of everyone around that individual to make them believe that they did in fact die and then disposed of the bodies in some form. Then once on the Throne they exist in a form of stasis for pretty much eternity waiting to be summoned. We don't get to interact with the other Throne inhabitants and the Throne itself is just a dark void that seems to go on forever. From there other variations across the multiverses are taken and placed on the Throne as well and if the variations between the Heroic Spirits aren't very drastic their minds, soul, and bodies merge into a single entity. If the changes are drastic enough, they exist as a separate heroic spirit." explained Jeanne.

"What happens when you get summoned?" asked Mizurio.

"Depends on who's doing the summoning. If it's the Counter Force doing the summoning, we get summoned essentially to either protect, kill, or guide someone or something that will help with the larger goal I mentioned earlier. But this comes with the problem of not being given all the information needed to fulfill that upon summoning. We are given enough knowledge to navigate the time period we are sent to, to get by but we often have to figure out what we're supposed to do from there on our own. And this can happen at any point in time save for during the time that either we existed or the person who created us existed as another heroic Spirit will go in that one's place so as to not create a paradox in the timeline. But eventually we find out what our objective is for our summoning and accomplish the task and then we are sent immediately back to the Throne to wait for the next summoning. In the event that we are summoned by a mage, however, it's entirely to fulfill the desire of the one who summoned us to achieve their goals and we are treated as tools at worst and glorified familiars at best. It's only very rarely that we get summoned by Masters that do see us as partners to work with, but most mages can't support a Servant outside of a Holy Grail War unless there are unique circumstances that allow that. So, unless our bond with our Master is quite strong, most Masters don't bother to try to keep us after the Grail War is over as it's too much effort to do so and just end the contract with us and send us back to the Throne." said Jeanne. She looked around and saw what had been discomfort from everyone now were sporting looks of anger, horror, sympathy, pity, and even disgust. Jeanne even looked confused. "What?" she asked.

"You guys go through all that, get treated like crap by everyone who summons you, and are denied even an afterlife. How have you all not just grown to hate humanity for what's happened to you?" asked Uryu his expression unreadable. Jeanne thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I guess it's because when taken to the Throne of Heroes, we are kept in a state that is equivalent to a coma and every time we're summoned is like a dream. See when we're summoned the world knows that we technically shouldn't exist anymore which requires an anchor which our summoner acts as for us to keep us in this world. A piece of our soul is placed in the body that contains that fragment. This container body is what makes us go from Heroic Spirits to Servants. The Servant Container body only houses a fraction of our souls upon summoning. Though how large that fraction is depends on how many classes we qualify for as Servants depending on our deeds. But once the anchor is undone and we are sent back to the Throne we can choose to hold onto memories be they good or bad. Those we choose to forget are erased and those we hang onto are incorporated when we return to the Throne. Since most choose to hold onto positive memories it keeps acting as reminders for why we keep on fulfilling our roles to help humanity prosper. Hence why it's very rare for Heroic Spirits to genuinely hate humanity." Jeanne said with a small smile.

"But you basically spend the rest of eternity in a coma/solitary confinement, you're all robbed of an afterlife at all, and when offered the chance to be summoned you're treated like weapons, tools, or like shit with maybe a few times where you're treated decently and the only reason you accept the summoning is because it's either that or continue existing in the coma/solitary confinement state. How can you all be so accepting of this?" asked Ichigo looking a bit appalled. Jeanne frowned at this but did answer.

"I can't speak for other Heroic spirits but for me it's two reasons. One is the fact that I had already made the choices in life that got me to this point. So, my current existence is no one's fault but myself. And the other reason is that seeing people right now, enjoying themselves, having good lives, people born in this time are treasures to heroic spirits like me. Everything we did was for a better future and seeing how this era is I can take pride in that knowing my efforts weren't in vain." she said with a gentle smile. For a few minutes no one said anything as they let her words sink in. Then Rukia spoke up.

"You mentioned Servant Classes. Can you elaborate on that?" she asked, deciding to move along with the conversation though the saddened looks on everyone's faces all seem to indicate that they wanted to say more but didn't know what else to say on the matter. Jeanne kept her smile and answered the question.

"Yes. Of course. When a Heroic Spirit is summoned and made into a Servant, how powerful they are is dependent on three factors: one how famous they are, how old they are as in how old their legend, myth, or historical record is, and finally how many Servant Classes they qualify for. Together these three factors determine how strong a Servant will be upon summoning. Usually, the older the legend the more powerful they'll be but if they lack age their fame or infamy can make up that difference sometimes. And vice versa. A perfect example of either of these is King Arthur for the latter and Cu Chulainn for the former. Both would be evenly matched in this regard as while Cu Chulainn is only really well known of Irish mythology and therefore only well known in his homeland of Ireland, his legend in oral tradition is said to be as old as the 1 century CE. By contrast the earliest stories of King Arthur only go back to the 6 and 7 century CE but they make up for it by having worldwide fame due to the British colonies that were all over the world and therefore allowed for plenty of cultural exchanges between Britain and other nations. And those are just two examples of Servants." explained Jeanne.

"And these Servant Classes?" Rukia asked.

"There are technically 14 classes of Servants that can exist but 7 of them are considered Extra Class Servants and the only relevant one is the Class that I was summoned under which is the Ruler Class." said Jeanne. She then proceeded to explain her particular Class to the group.

"I see. Your role is to Oversee this Holy Grail War. Before we get into any rules of engagement, what can you tell us of the other classes?" asked Toshiro.

"The 7 regular classes are pretty self-explanatory. They are Saber, Archer, and Lancer which make up the Knight Classes. And then there are the Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker Classes which make up the Calvary Classes. Now which Servant goes to which class depends on their skills in their legends, myths, Etc. Many Servants actually qualify for multiple classes but unless they either have innate skills that can carry over to whichever Class, they get summoned to, or they are able to get a double or multi- summoned skill that grants them the abilities of two or more classes while still being summoned for their original class. You could think of say an Archer Class Servant being able to do Martial Arts as that would count as an innate skill but not qualify for another class. By contrast a Rider Class Servant could fight using mostly Magecraft and that could be a double summoned skill giving them access to both sets of abilities. But there is a bit of a catch. See the more Classes a Heroic Spirit qualifies for the more their soul is divided up and the less powerful they are upon summoning. This can be alleviated with the multi-summon skill but not many possess it." explained Jeanne.

"Could you provide us with an example?" asked Urahara.

"Of course. I'll use King Arthur and Heracles as the example. See upon being summoned a Servant container body can't possibly house the entire Heroic Spirit so the Servant form only receives a portion of that soul while the rest and their original body remain on the Throne. Hence why I compared being summoned to dreaming. Already the most the Servant vessel can contain of the Heroic Spirit is roughly half in total. Let's say that you manage to summon King Arthur and they only qualify for the Saber Class than the most powerful Servant form of King Arthur can be is half of what King Arthur would be if he was still alive. But if they qualify for more than one class and don't have a multi-summon skill then that power gets divided up further thus the weaker the Servant will be upon summoning. Not counting the Extra Classes, the soul can be divided up to 7x as there are Servants that do qualify for nearly all the regular Servant classes. Heracles being one as he qualifies for all classes save Caster. So, on that metric alone you would think he would be one of the weakest Servants you could summon. But then the other two factors come into play as his myths both have worldwide fame and are over 3,000 yrs. old. These two factors give him a boost that while he's only using 1/6th of his soul, you would be forgiven to think that he's fighting with ½ of his soul." She explained. Everyone looked speechless. "Now if the Servant does possess a multi-summon skill this increases their power and gives them access to more of their noble phantasms. But again, this can only increase to about ½ their souls at most." She elaborated.

"Noble Phantasm? What's that?" asked Chad. "And while you explained to us what's different between a Ruler Class Servant and others you didn't elaborate on what Command Seals are." he noted. Jeanne's eyes widened.

"Oh, Shoot you're right. Hold on a second." She immediately removed her jacket, catching everyone off guard. Then she turned around and pulled her long-braided hair out of the way and showed everyone the large red tattoo on her back. Everyone looked at it curiously. "These are my Command seals or Command Spells whichever you prefer to use as they mean the same thing. They are, in my case, two spells that will compel a Servant's obedience to do whatever I want, and the command is irrevocable. For example, if I feel that it's necessary, I can force a Servant to commit suicide. They can verbally protest and try to resist with all they have but if their ability to resist magic isn't at EX rank their bodies will follow through with the action." she explained. now everyone looked horrified.

"Why would you order them to do such a thing?" asked Yuzu fearfully.

"It's just an extreme example to demonstrate how powerful Command seals are. They can be used to help the Servant. Like giving them a boost while they're deploying their noble phantasm and ensuring their victory. And I can use these Command seals as is or, if need be, I can use them as bargaining chips to get Masters to cooperate. While I have two, Masters get three but that means that they run the risk of wasting command seals for petty reasons. So, receiving one of mine as payment for something can be a very useful bargaining chip." she said trying to reassure her.

"You mentioned EX Rank what does that mean?" asked Keigo.

"When quantifying how strong a Servant is, they have Class skills and Personal Skills, Stats, and finally their noble phantasm. All of which are ranked E, D, C, B, A, and EX ranked with E being the lowest and EX being the highest. Their noble phantasm also has a type as well like anti-unit, Barrier, anti-army, anti-magecraft, anti-fortress etc. All this tells you is what kind of noble Phantasm they possess. As to what a noble phantasm is. To simply put it's the crystallization of that Servants' legend, myth or feat given form and essentially allows them to perform it again except it will hopefully destroy their opponent. But because their Noble Phantasms are their trump card, it also reveals their identity." explained Jeanne.

"What do you mean?" asked Karin.

"Well, when a Servant is summoned for a Grail War, their name becomes a precious commodity so upon being summoned they are usually referred to by their Class name rather than their True Name. So, for me my Class name is Ruler while my True Name is Jeanne D'Arc." said Jeanne. Before she could continue Yoruichi, Urahara, and even Uryu all looked at her with surprise.

"What! You're Jeanne D'Arc?!" they all asked.

"Who's that?" asked Rukia looking curiously. Everyone else looked to be in the same boat as her.

"Jeanne D'Arc is a famous military commander from the Middle Ages. She's more commonly known by her English translation of her name which is Joan of Arc." Now all but the 3 full time Soul Reapers looked at Jeanne in shock. "During the last years of what was the Hundred Years War, she heard allegedly the voice of God and through her visions was allowed to lead troops as a military leader in her own right. She was most famous for her securing of the town of Orleans in France. Under her leadership France was able to eventually regain and ultimately win the Hundred Years War. Sadly, Jeanne wouldn't live to see that. She was captured by enemy troops and due to her reputation, they couldn't execute her without cause. So, they put on a show trial with the hope of having her be executed for Heresy. But Jeanne was able to brilliantly defend herself against her accusers to the point that they couldn't get her to either confess or proclaim innocence from the accusations as either would've guaranteed her death during that time. And even tried to escape from captivity multiple times though all her attempts failed. But eventually they got her to sign an agreement that stated that she wouldn't wear men's clothes as the Church forbade women from wearing them at the time. That evening a guard tried to break into her cell and sexually assault her, but Jeanne, both defended herself and then put her amour and clothes back on for her own protection and the Church, despite her testimony of nearly being raped, now could execute her on grounds for violating her agreement. In the end she was burned at the stake at the age of 19. About the only silver lining to all this is 10 yrs. later, only a few yrs. after France won the Hundred Years War, the French Government looked over the court records and posthumously exonerated her and then had her canonized as a saint." recited Uryu. He then looked at Jeanne who looked astonished by his wealth of knowledge. Uryu coughed embarrassingly. "Is that about right?" he asked. Jeanne thought about it for a moment then nodded.

"Yes, that is more or less accurate. Though I never thought of myself as a saint." she said with a small smile. Everyone else once again looked at her with looks of sadness, pity and even righteous anger.

"How is it you don't have any resentments or regrets in spite of all that?" asked Renji. Jeanne thought about it before answering.

"When I was presented with that document, I had a final vision that more or less showed me two routes. Since I knew refusing to sign that document would be the proof, they needed to have me executed all I saw was which road I could take if I signed it. Either I would be assaulted and raped and end up pregnant and my reputation would be ruined, and I would have to resort to prostitution in order to provide for myself and my child or I would violate the agreement and be executed but my reputation and purity would remain intact. I knew that I had no way to provide for a child on my own and everyone would only see me as a tainted and loose woman despite everything I had done and any child I had would be even worse and be seen as trash unworthy of life. I couldn't bear that. So, I chose execution. As to regrets or resentments I knew that the moment I took up arms that I was throwing away any chance at an ordinary life and that there would be enemies who would do everything to destroy me, but it all goes back to that first decision, so the fault is no one's but mine. So, I have no regrets and for resentments what is there for me to be resentful about, as my family was safe and could now be part of a world without war, my purity was intact, so my families' reputation remained unblemished from me, and I performed my duty to the king that I served at the time. So, I can say honestly that I'm content with how things are." said Jeanne reassuringly. Toshiro eyed her for a few moments before sighing.

"Either you're one of the best actresses or liars I've ever met or your being completely honest about what you said." he said.

"I agree." said Yoruichi. "Now then what are the Rules of this Holy Grail War? We know that you're the Overseer but have yet to hear about any rules of engagement." She pointed out. Jeanne nodded.

To be honest there are only two rules that exist. They are the elimination of all non-mage witnesses and to keep Magecraft a secret but beyond that, that's it. As overseer it's my job to keep casualties to a minimum and to bear witness to Servant bouts to declare a winner due to my impartiality. But beyond that for the participants, technically anything goes outside of what I said earlier." said Jeanne.

"Lady Jeanne. When you say elimination of non-mage witnesses, do you mean . . ." Orihime asked trailing off unable to finish that sentence. Jeanne looked at her sadly before answering.

"Yes Miss Inoue. By elimination, I do mean killing them. Mages are known to be cold-hearted, while a simple use of hypnosis is all it would take, many mages usually prefer to kill witnesses as they feel it's too much work to even do that much. So, they'd happily just order their Servant to consume their souls and be done with it rather than just making an effort to try to avoid human casualties." said Jeanne tiredly.

"What did you say about Servants eating souls?" asked Tatsuki looking shocked at this new bit of information. Jeanne looked saddened as she told the next bit.

"That's tied to the fact that since Servants need an anchor to exist in this world their energy that they need to sustain themselves comes mostly from their Master through their pact and supplemented by what mana exists in the air around them. Mana is the mage word for reishi or spirit particles just like prana is the mage word for reiryoku or spiritual power. However, should the Master be unable or unwilling to provide them with the energy that they need to continue existing, the Servant must gain energy through other means. The most mundane way of doing so is consuming food. Servants have bodies that can revert to spirit form and manifest in the physical world allowing them to interact with the world around them including consuming mundane food. But they don't have to deal with the embarrassing bodily functions that would normally come with having a physical body." she explained. Everyone looked surprised to hear that.

"Wait! So, you guys don't need to deal with body odor, or need to use a toilet, or passing gas?" asked Karin looking shocked.

"Why does that fascinate you so much?" asked Ichigo looking at her like she had just grown a second head.

"We don't need to eat, or sleep, we don't feel hot or cold when out in the elements no matter how much or little clothing we are wearing and we never gain weight from eating too much. And we never need to worry about bathing as we can just go to spirit form and remanifest, and we're back to perfect condition. Servants just choose to eat, sleep, and bathe as it makes us feel human again. But they can also be practical as Sleeping conserves energy and consuming large amounts of food can actually restore our energy reserves somewhat. But it's not the most efficient way to do so." said Jeanne.

"What is the most efficient way to restore one's energy if the Master is unable to provide an adequate amount?" asked Isshin seriously, not sure he was going to like the answer. Jeanne looked down with a heavy blush on her face.

"This is where it gets a bit embarrassing. You see the most effective way is through bodily fluids like blood. So drinking blood is a way to do so but the other method is through . . . sexual intercourse." Jeanne spat it out while keeping their heads down, unable to look at any of the other occupants in the eye. It was dead silent.

"WHAT!" all of them reacted.

"Hold on you're saying that sex is a viable option with Servants?" asked Keigo looking very interested by this concept. Suddenly he was hit on the head by Tatsuki who was blushing like crazy.

"You pig. Of course, you would latch onto that." she said sounding furious.

"Of Course! How many people can say that they banged a famous character for myths or history?! Not many!" he responded. Then Ichigo assisted Tatsuki and punched Keigo laying him out flat on the floor.

"You deserve that Mr. Asano." said Mizurio as he quietly as he drank more of his tea.

"Alright let's settle down. So as to save Lady Jeanne here from further embarrassment I'll elaborate on this." explained Kisuke. You see most Mages aren't spiritually aware or at least have subconsciously suppressed and inhibited their ability to be spiritually aware and utilize Magecraft to manipulate the physical world to suit their needs. In fact, their Magic circuits which they use to channel their spirit energy from their souls are actually physical pieces of their bodies. I've found through research that if you were to remove those circuits it would remove their inability to be spiritually aware. The less magic circuits they have, the more spiritually aware they become or rather regain it depending on whether or not one chooses to remove their circuits in the first place or if they had only a few circuits to begin with. But their culture has it that the more magic circuits one has the greater the ability to perform Magecraft will be which is correct, but it also limits their potential as many would be very skilled at using kido if they were able to sense and utilize those spirit particles to their fullest. But instead, they can only access a small amount of them and mix it with their own spirit energy or what they call prana. Hence why they believe the misconception that the world's mana or spirit particles are being depleted. In actuality, they are just further suppressing their ability to sense those particles. But as a trade off their bodies become infused with their spirit energy due to the circuits in their bodies. This means that muscles, bones, hair, even their bodies fluids are saturated and infused with their spirit energy from sweat to saliva, to blood and yes even seamen and vaginal fluids for males and females respectively. So, there is a practical reason for sex to be a viable option for a Servant to gain energy. In fact, many would argue it's the most effective method of these three." explained Kisuke. He grinned and looked over at Isshin and Ichigo who had their hands over Yuzu and Karin's ears respectively.

"Kisuke. . . I understand that you're trying to explain things to save Jeanne here embarrassment. However, . . .GIVE ME SOME WARNING NEXT TIME WHEN YOU START GOING INTO THE GRITTY DEATILS LIKE THAT! MY BABY GIRLS ARE TOO YOUNG TO KNOW ABOUT THAT STUFF!" yelled Isshin. Ichigo looked equally pissed even though he was blushing.

"Isshin your girls are 12 they need to know about these sorts of things soon anyway." said Yoruichi playfully.

"THEN LET ME HANDLE IT! THEY DON'T NEED TO HEAR IT FROM SOMEONEELSE!" Isshin retorted.

"You still haven't told us about Servants consuming souls yet." said Chad blushing and was apparently trying to move on from the subject. This seemed to snap everyone out of the moment as they refocused their attention back on Jeanne, Isshin and Ichigo removing their hands from Karin and Yuzu who gave looks to the men that they didn't like being left out of the conversation Yuzu pouting and Karin glaring. Jeanne took a deep breath and continued.

"You're right. There is one other method that Servants can use to gain more energy. That is by eating human souls. This can be done by draining them of their blood like a vampire, ripping out their hearts and eating the heart or if they can separate the soul from the body without damaging it then they just consume the soul in that state. But unlike Hollows they don't absorb the soul whole. Instead, they break it down upon consumption reducing it to mere energy and annihilating the person who was that soul and then absorbing the energy for sustenance." she finished. Everyone, save Urahara, looked at her with looks of horror.

"That sounds slightly different then when the mage I killed did the same thing to stay alive." Kisuke noted curiously.

"THERE ARE MAGES THAT DO THIS AS WELL?!" asked Ichigo shocked and horrified.

"Yes. His name was Zouken Matou. He'd found a way to stay alive for 500 yrs. by both splitting his soul into thousands of pieces and then consuming others souls and bodies to stay alive. But unlike these Servants, Zouken had no way to annihilate the person who made up those souls and so just incorporated them into himself until he could barely differentiate himself from others anymore save for his desire to not die. Sound familiar?" asked Kisuke. Everyone looked disgusted at this.

"So, by cheating death he resorted to becoming a living Hollow." said Toshiro shaking his head. He then looked at Jeanne. "And these are the people you have to Oversee in this war?" he asked in a clipped tone.

"Some of them, yes. But while most will not engage in such terrible practices those few that have no scruples are now being given a powerful Servant that they can use however they like. Making my job as Overseer very difficult on my own. Now do you see why I am so adamant about needing assistance? As long as I am there to police the war, I can ensure that as few civilian casualties as possible are taken. However, due to the anomalies that are happening for this war, not to mention the discovery of Hollows which I have no way to combat, I know that there is simply no way for me to be able to do my job properly on my own. Not without outside help." explained Jeanne.

"What sort of anomalies are you talking about?" asked Yoruichi.

"The two most obvious ones being the sheer number of Servants that are being summoned for this war and the unique circumstances of my own summoning. For the former normal circumstances dictate that only 7 Masters and Servants participate in the Holy Grail War. True there is a backup system that allows for more to be summoned but assumptions were that there was only enough energy to maintain no more than 14 Servants. Instead, somehow there are 42 that have been summoned. Now as a Servant myself while my Command seals do give me some leeway, I am only a B Ranked Servant at best. So, while I could beat many Servants there are still plenty that could defeat me. If one of those Servants that could beat me had a Master who wanted me out of the way, maybe so they can use civilians for their Magecraft, allow their Servant a free meal by consuming human souls, or some other reason, then they can have their Servant take me out. And since I'm using a human body from someone else, that would put Laeticia at risk from said Master who might try to bring her harm should I be defeated." said Jeanne.

"How do you determine your Rank as a Servant overall?" asked Kisuke intrigued.

She quickly explained how ranks of Servants were determined: All Servants had 6 parameters all of which received a rank E-EX. What one did was to think of a normal grade scale. A being 100-91, B being 90-81, Etc. If no plus or minus was present, then use the middle number as fill in. If – was present, then use lowest number, if + was present use the highest number on the scale for each rank for easy calculations. E replaced F and EX was 110-101 for simplicities' sake. Then add them up and divide them by 6. The answer was the rank that Servant had for overall performance. When asked about Class, Personal Skills, and Noble Phantasms, Jeanne simply stated that Class skills were too broad for all who fell under a specific Class and each of them functioned slightly differently so they couldn't be factored into the Servants overall rank while Personal Skills were too unique and had the same issue as Class skills. Noble phantasms were factored into the overall rank but only after combining all of them under a single rank as some Servants had more than one while some only had one. And each one had X factors that weren't counted as part of their overall rank.

"I for example have two and one is A Rank while the other is technically C, but I can boost it up to EX under specific circumstances but it's a one-time use. So, the Noble Phantasm rank is given only A+. And if we want to talk about X factors for Noble Phantasms, I'm not sure if any of you are aware of Billy the Kid from the American West?" she asked.

"I am. There were a lot of western dime novels available down in Mexico. Supposedly, Billy the Kid was such a phenomenal gunman that even if his opponent shot first, he could quickdraw, fire, and kill his opponent in three shots in the time it took his opponent to shoot just one shot." said Chad.

"Yes. And Billy the Kid as a Servant, while his Noble Phantasm is only ranked C, if he gets within range of 100 ft, then even if you fire off a powerful attack going at blistering speeds that a normal human can't perceive let alone dodge, Billy can activate his Noble Phantasm Thunderer, his pistol, and it will activate its X factor, which is, in this case, the ability to warp time and reality itself to ensure that his shot hits his opponent first before he gets hit by his opponents' attack allowing him to dodge said attack. The only way this won't work is if you have an attack that guarantees it hits its target. And that's just one example of X factors for a noble phantasm. We haven't even gotten into the issue of bringing demigods from ancient myths and legends into a fight as they are the Servants that many Mages will try to summon." said Jeanne.

"Wait you mean like Heracles of Greek mythology and Rama from Indian mythology? But those were complete myths, right?" asked Mizurio.

"I already told you. As long as they had an impact on history and humanity as a whole, whether they were real or completely fictional is irrelevant. They can still be summoned as Servants. Though I have no idea how weak or strong they would be as it must be taken on a case-by-case basis." said Jeanne. Everyone was silent once again.

"I see. That is both fascinating and honestly . . .quite terrifying. Are there any other anomalies besides the unusual number of Servants?" asked Yoruichi.

"Yes. The fact that I needed to use a human vessel at all is proof that something about this War is not right. Normally I would be summoned in a manifested body like all other Servants save that my Master would technically be the Grail itself. As I am currently, that's not the case. But what has caused either my current predicament or the sheer number of Servants summoned I have no idea." Jeanne admitted.

"I understand that Domremy was the name of your village at the time when you were alive but is there any other reason for the near perfect compatibility with Laeticia?" asked Kisuke.

"Yes. She is the descendant of my sister Catherine D'Arc. So, she's my many generations great niece." she said with a smile. "Now are there any other questions?" she asked looking around the group.

"I've got three. Can't you summon your own Servants to help you? Could a non-mage become a Master, and could a non-mage support a Servant? And can a Master support a Servant outside of a Grail War?" asked Uryu adjusting his glasses.

"In theory I could but with the number of Servants already summoned, there's no guarantee that I would either cause some sort of malfunction with the Grail causing a potential disaster overall or that the Servant I'd summon would be extremely weak, especially since it would be a blind summoning." At everyone's questioning looks Jeanne elaborated. "When summoning a Servant, it's done through a summoning ritual, but you need a catalyst to help select a Servant for the summoning. You can use yourself as the catalyst in which the Grail will select a Servant who hasn't already been summoned that will have good compatibility with you, but you'll have little control over which Servant you get and while you'll be able to work with them, they might not be particularly strong. You can use a catalyst that is tied either specifically or abstractly to a Servant. For historical ones it could be a relic like a piece of clothing, armor, weapons, even body parts like a tooth, or lock of hair, etc. For the abstract ones it could be a document that has their myths written on it, a book of a particular author, or something along that line. These catalysts give you more control but still come with their own drawbacks. Abstract ones still rely on compatibility but now with a narrower pool of Servants to choose from while the specific ones force that Servant to answer that summoning but there's no guarantee the two will be able to work together. Then there is the issue of Hollows which I have no way to combat or don't know how. So, summoning my own Servant won't solve that issue hence my decision to come here." explained Jeanne.

"And Ishida's other two questions?" asked Kisuke.

"I'll answer the last one first with the assumption that all Masters are Mages. While summoning Servants is impressive, keep in mind that it's the Grail that's doing most of the heavy lifting in terms of providing energy for the Servant's to manifest. This is done through the Command seals which the Masters can control how much or little energy is given to the Servants and also supplement with their own energy and the energy present in the environment as I stated earlier. And the Servants have their own reserves of energy to utilize as well. But once the Grail War is over and the Grail goes dormant it's up to the Master to pick up the slack with their own reserves. It's possible for Servants to exist as familiars for their Masters after a war but only if they have about 50 circuits of good quality or have another mage they trust assisting them with the upkeep of the Servant if their count or quality is less than that. As for non-mages, it's possible for them to become Masters if the Seals are transferred to them willingly or not but only from already existing Masters as one needs Magic Circuits to receive Command Seals from the Grail. It was created by mages so it makes sense that the Grail would only grant the status of Masters to mages or at least those with Magic Circuits even if they are dormant and were never activated. It is possible for Servants to form new pacts with other Masters if there original one was killed, or they were incompatible, but they can only really choose between other Masters or at least others with Magic Circuits. As for supporting them if they have no way of channeling their energy like all of you, I see no way that they can support a Servant either during or after a war. I'm assuming that you're asking this because you want to know if a spiritually aware person can summon and maintain a Servant?" she asked.

"Do you think that's possible?" asked Chizuru. Jeanne thought about it.

"I want to say no but given all I've learned in the last few hrs., I really can't say yes or no on that as while non mages have become masters in the past, there was never any research done to see if they were spiritually aware or not. And keep in mind that the Grail was created by Mages for Mages, so they would've made sure that they or those like them would be the only ones allowed to have this ability to summon Servants besides the Counter Force. In theory I suppose you could try to alter the summoning ritual so those without magic circuits could summon a Servant, but I lack the knowledge on how to do that." said Jeanne.

"What if the Grail itself was tampered with?" asked Ichigo suddenly. This caught everyone by surprise as they looked at him. Ichigo elaborated. "When we were in the Fake Karakura Town and Aizen was about to head to the real Karakura Town he stopped as the Hogyoku began to glow. He paused and then said something like 'oh you sense your predecessor finally waking up after 70 yrs.' Then when Gin asked about it Aizen said that he saw the creation of a Holy Grail in Fuyuki about 200 yrs. ago and it was what inspired him to create the Hogyoku. At the time I was almost unconscious and couldn't understand what they were going on about. But then he stated to me that 'I should rejoice as something else had caught his attention so the real Karakura would be spared for a while longer and that I should get stronger by the time we saw each other'. And when Gin asked how long it would be before they came back to the real Karakura Town to finish the job, Aizen responded that this 'little side trip' should take no more than a few months as that should be more than enough time to either study it enough to decide if he should utilize it or decide to abandon it on account of it no longer worth trying to understand/or he deemed it useless to himself. After that I lost consciousness." he finished.

"And you didn't tell us about this before why, Kurosaki?" asked Toshiro.

"I didn't think much of it at the time because I was fighting to stay conscious at the time, he said that to me. I had honestly forgotten about it until we started to talk about the Holy Grail War today and I remembered that as the conversation went on." said Ichigo defending himself.

"You know that actually makes sense." said Urahara as he seemed to be in deep thought. Then he looked up. "Well. That changes a few things. I'll admit that I already was on board on sending a Soul Reaper with you just for an opportunity to see these Servants in action, but if Aizen is in fact involved then it would be a dereliction of duty to not investigate and first confirm if there is any sign of him present and then see what his intentions are with this Grail War. Not to mention that leaving a village of innocent people to be potentially eaten by Hollows because a Soul Reaper wasn't present while there is a death match between a bunch of powerful souls going on just doesn't sit right with me." he finished. Jeanne looked hopeful.

"So then, you mean?" she asked.

"Yep. You'll get your bodyguard for the Holy Grail War." Kisuke declared.

"Hold on. I do want to see something first. I want to see your Noble Phantasm in action." said Toshiro. Jeanne gained a serious look.

"So, you want a mock dual then?" she asked. Toshiro nodded. "Well, I think we night need to find someplace that won't put civilians at risk first." she said.

"Actually, we have an underground training room beneath this shop that we can use. It won't affect anyone topside so there should be no issues." said Kisuke. Jeanne looked thoughtful before she finally nodded. "Alright then. Ichigo would you and the rest of our group guide Ms. Jeanne to the underground training facility. I have to go get some equipment as I want to take some measurements for this spar. When you get down there wait about 15 min so I can get down there to watch." said Kisuke as he got to his feet along with everyone else. Isshin and Yoruichi eyed him with suspicion but left with everyone else as they guided Jeanne further into the living quarters of the shop.

"By the way, could you tell me while we're waiting about this Aizen and Hogyoku?" asked Jeanne as she followed them out of the room further down the hall.

"I'll explain it to you as I have the most knowledge present on that situation." said Yoruichi walking alongside her.

Kisuke waited until he could no longer hear any voices before turning back to look down at the hall he had entered, looking towards the shoji doors that led to the Shop proper. "Alright. So, what are you guy's thoughts on all this?" he asked seemingly to no one. Then a reflective rainbow light appeared, and 4 figures were now revealed to be standing in the hallway. One was Lisa, the other 3 were men. Across from her was a man with brown eyes and jaw-length blonde hair with a straight cut and had a serious expression that showed his upper teeth. He wore trousers, a shirt and a tie. This was Shinji Hirako. Next to Lisa was a man with purple eyes, long, wavy, blond hair and seemed to have a perpetually bored expression. He wore a black suit with a thigh-length, black jacket. He also wore a white frilled shirt with frilled cuffs (or large cuffs) and high collar, which he kept untucked. This was Rojuro or Rose Otoribashi. Finally, across from him and next to Shinji was the final member of their group. He was a tall, muscular man with sharp features, short light gray/silver hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark purple A-shirt with a white trim, in addition to green cargo pants, black combat boots, and a pair of orange fingerless gloves. He also had a series of piercings, with one on his left eyebrow and three on his left ear. This was Kensei Muguruma.

"If I had to sum it up in a single sentence. It would be that these Servants sound absolutely terrifying." said Shinji.

"And now according to Ichigo, Aizen might've been meddling with this Holy Grail War. But why would he be interested in something like this Holy Grail in the first place?" asked Rose.

"Were you not listening? According to Ichigo Aizen practically admitted that, that thing inspired him to create that damn purple marble of his that turned us into what we are today. Throw in the fact that if these Servants could be summoned by the likes of Aizen he'd have an entire army at his disposal that he wouldn't have to convince to join him. Just force their obedience through those Command Seals and they'd have to do whatever he said even if they were against it. Wouldn't surprise me if he'd find a way to get more than three of those seals so they would have no choice but to remain obedient. And enough seals to support an army of Servants as he has the energy reserves needed to support so many." said Kensei.

"Throw in the fact that he could summon actual demigods from myth and legends from across all of human history as his Servants if he figured it out how to do it, and we'd all be effectively screwed without a way to summon our own Servants. I'm not sure that while we have the firepower to outlast them, if they have some kind of bullshit X factors in their favor, our raw power might not matter." said Lisa.

"It's also a bit sad to realize that those Servants are forced to spend eternity in the cosmic equivalent of the Nest of Maggots. No wonder they'll take abuse from Masters that treat them like shit. Cause it's either that particular contract or stay in solitary confinement. If I were them, I know which one I'd choose even if it only lasted less than a month." said Shinji. The other three nodded.

"I think we'll sit in on this demonstration as I would like to know that X factors aside does our raw power have any effect on a Servant?" asked Rose.

"Then there's the fact Kariya and Sakura are most likely participating in this War. Do you think that at least one of us should go along as we know that even if you didn't ask, Ichigo is going to go. The kid's too much of a bleeding-heart kind of person. If someone came to him asking for help directly, he'd do so in a heartbeat. That's just the kind of person that he is. So, are any of us going with him since we've got family involved in this War?" asked Shinji.

"I have no objections to you guys sitting in on the demonstration, but I don't think that any of you should accompany Ichigo and Jeanne to Romania." Said Urahara. At their astonished looks, Urahara continued. "Think about it. Romania is part of Eastern Europe which is under Squad 10's jurisdiction. In other words, Captain Hitsuguya. While all of you were permitted to leave the battlefield once our battle in Fake Karakura Town was officially declared over, there's no guarantee that they revoked the standing kill order for the lot of you. And while either the captain will go himself or his lieutenant in an official capacity, or someone else, we've no way of knowing if that person is going to look the other way if they were to spot you or if they'll still carry out any standing kill orders. So reluctantly I think we'd best avoid that by having you all remain here in case any more mages than normal show up to go after Ichigo's family and friends." explained Urahara.

"You're not going to allow his friends to go along?" asked Kensei looking at him confused. Urahara nodded.

"I've seen first-hand how depraved Mages can be. If they were to find out about children who are more powerful than them who don't even have magic circuits, they won't hesitate to sick their Servants on them to capture them and preserve them in formaldehyde to study to see if they can use them or harness their powers for themselves. No, I want to make sure that should we have to tip our hands to these mages, that either they are those that we can put some trust in or that we can ensure that they don't try anything to reveal us to the more sadistic ones or backstab us for their own gain. By contrast I think Soul Reapers are powerful enough that they will hesitate to sick their Servants on us and if they aren't even spiritually aware then they might not even know we were present. So, if they can see us, we can easily pass as Servants. What better way to hide than in plain sight." Urahara rationalized.

"You can't seriously be thinking of sending Ichigo by himself with this Jeanne girl. I mean she does seem to have a good head on her shoulders but with over 40 of these Servants all of them with potential bullshit gimmicks, I don't think that Ichigo would be enough to protect that girl or the person she's possessing. Especially since he still can't use kido for shit." said Lisa.

"That's why I'll be sending Yoruichi, and I'll be heading with them initially to set things up in our house there. But I'll leave once we get the modifications to the basement finished and head back here to work on some side projects and to go over any data, I collect during my stint there." said Urahara. The group quirked an eyebrow at that.

"You have a house in Romania?" asked Rose.

"Yep. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 Yoruichi and I went on an anniversary tour of the newly opened Eastern Europe and bought a small house that's essentially a farmstead out in the middle of nowhere though in actuality it's located about halfway between Bucharest and Trifas. It takes roughly 20 min. to drive between the two locations so for users of Flashsteps it should take no more than about 5 min. tops to get to Trifas from the homestead. We visited there about 10 yrs. ago to spruce it up and equip it with modern amenities so I think it's time we went back to check up on the place again." He paused for a moment before speaking again. "Alright I think that it's time that you guys quietly head over while I go get the equipment I needed to get from my lab." he finished. With that they went off in two directions.

10 min. later Kisuke hopped down into the basement followed by Tessai with the former carrying a small yellow suitcase though no one had any idea what could possibly be in it. As soon as both landed Kisuke opened the suitcase and pulled out two gizmos that looked similar to Geiger counters, but he walked over to Isshin and handed one to him and murmured instructions to him and then Isshin pointed his out straight and stayed put. Then he approached the group all of whom were sitting on a ledge like step. "Alright before we get started, I wanted to know Ms. Jeanne if you got your questions answered?" he asked.

"Yes. The others explained about Aizen and his crimes and your ties to him as well as the crime you were accused of but never proven guilty of. As well as everyone's role over the last yr. or so. I must say that considering that you're all a bit younger than me it's really unbelievable some of the things I was told but I can tell that no one was lying. Honestly, if all this had been happening in the living world rather than the spirit realms, I'm almost certain that all of you would've easily been added to the Throne of Heroes." said Jeanne with a small smile.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but while I know you meant that as a high compliment, Ms. Jeanne, I'm personally glad that that isn't the case, especially with how you described how it is in that place. Said Uryu adjusting his glasses again. Jeanne nodded.

"So how is this going to go?" asked Jeanne.

"We'll start with you facing off against Inoue, Yatsutora, Ishida, and lieutenant Kuchiki as they each bring a different skillset to the table. I want to see how well you do against fundamentally different opponents as this should be a scaled down version of what you do on a normal basis as an overseer. Then if or when you defeat them then we'll have you face off against myself, lieutenant Abarai, and Kurosaki." said Toshiro.

"Why is lieutenant Kuchiki not permitted to be part of my face off with you as she is of the same rank as lieutenant Abarai and is a Soul Reaper? And why is Mr. Kuorsaki not included in the group with his friends as he is a living soul still?" asked Jeanne. Ichigo's frown intensified a bit.

"Please don't refer to me as that. The only person who is addressed like that is the 'old goat' over here." said Ichigo as he pointed his thumb at Isshin.

"How dare you disrespect your father, you delinquent son of mine!" exclaimed Isshin dramatically.

"And even then, it's Dr. Kurosaki. Please just call me Ichigo, alright? No need to be all formal with me." He continued without missing a beat. Jeanne was flustered once again.

"Oh. Alright." she said blushing.

"And to answer your questions, you already know about my status as a Substitute Soul Reaper, right?" Jeanne nodded. "Well, the thing is that I also have a Shikai and Bankai along with Renji and Toshiro." explained Ichigo.

"It's Captain Hitsuguya to you." said Toshiro.

"By contrast, Rukia only has a Shikai but she knows Kido. Something that I lack. So we figured that it would be a good comparison between the two groups. One with different types of skillsets and one that just has sheer raw power." Ichigo finished without missing a beat once again. Jeanne thought about it for a min. before nodding.

"Hold on! How come I don't get to join in on this sparring match?" asked Tatsuki.

"Ms. Arisawa, while it's true that you have since been steadily developing your spiritual powers, they are still fledgling at best. So, you will simply be an observer though I don't think Kisuke would be opposed to having extra help." said Yoruichi. Tatsuki sighed in resignation.

"Fine. I think it be better if I stayed near Chizuru where I can keep an eye on her anyway." she said finally.

"Why do you always act like I'm up to no good?" asked Chizuru dramatically.

"Because you usually are." replied Tatsuki.

"Alright are we ready?" asked Urahara getting everyone's attention as he seemed to have finished setting up his devices.

"One final question how will we determine the victor for this demonstration?" asked Jeanne.

"It will be whoever gives up first." answered Toshiro.

"May I have it be that for me, it will be if I successfully draw blood from my opponent?" asked Jeanne. Everyone looked at her confused but, in the end, acquiesced to her request as Orihime pointed out that she could heal everyone after the fact. With that the four disappeared or ran off to scatter across the training area. But Jeanne stayed put.

"What are you doing?" asked Renji curiously.

"I'm giving everyone a 30 second head start than I'll enter the fray." she explained. He and the others nodded and waited for the allotted 30 seconds.

"Alright. That's 30 seconds let's get started, Jeanne." shouted Kisuke. Then a flash of light engulfed Jeanne's form and then once gone they realized her attire had changed. Instead of wearing the school uniform that Laeticia wore for her school in France, she was now wearing what could best be described as a battledress with armour. The skirt had a slit that went to above her knee to allow for freedom of movement which showed her wearing thigh-high black stockings. Then on her feet were what could only be described as armored high-heeled boots that looked both fashionable and functional. As a finishing touch she wore on her forehead an armored ornamentation that acted as the part of a helm though the rest of her head was exposed. Still, she did cut a striking figure in this new outfit. Needless to say, it left everyone who saw this in awe. Then she took off straight ahead.

"Huh. Very interesting." said Urahara with a neutral expression. Ichigo, Toshiro, and Renji felt themselves nodding in agreement.

/

Jeanne ran straight ahead for a few minutes before she came to an abrupt stop. She looked around hoping to see if she could see any of them but had no luck. Suddenly a long thin line of light made a beeline for her head. Jeanne tilted her head to the side to have it miss. It severed some strands of hair but did no further damage. However, it was followed up by a barrage of arrows. I see. So, their Quincy Archer is over there. She thought as she summoned her flag and deflected arrows by spinning it baton-style though its banner part remained furled up on the pole. Now that I think about it, I can sense the other 3 not too far from my location. The two pseudo-mages are on my left and right. And lieutenant Kuchiki is flitting around the place.

Then another light from her left came hurtling at her. She rolled forward to avoid it. She decided to go after that person. She then kicked a boulder then with another kick she sent it flying toward the origin of the larger blast and then followed after it. She saw the one known as Chad dodge the boulder but then she summoned her flag and then threw it true at him. He barely had time to register that she had thrown her flag at him as he was in midair and didn't have time to use Sonído. He did try to stop it and was successful at catching it, but the tip cut his cheek allowing for blood to drip out. "That's one." she said as she headed back towards where the other pseudo-mage was.

Chad landed easily on the ground with no further injuries. He watched her take off never taking her flag from him. "Huh. That was impressive. I didn't even see her holding this flag let alone when she threw it at me. But why did she not take it from me?" he asked aloud. Suddenly the flag dissipated in a shower of golden particles. "Huh?!" he said in surprise with widened eyes.

"So, she can call up her weapons at will and not have to carry it around when not in use. I have to say that's quite convenient." said Toshiro revealing he was standing on a reishi platform above Chad. He turned back towards Urahara. "Urahara! Chad was defeated! How long between when Ms. Jeanne took off and now?" he shouted.

"Roughly 50 seconds." said Urahara. All the spectators' eyes widened at that. Less than a minute and already 1 out of 4 of her opponents were disqualified from the fight.

"She's not using flashsteps so she's slower. So how will she handle Kuchiki and Ishida as they are both pretty quick?" asked Toshiro aloud.

/

Once again Jeanne was heading straight across the terrain of the facility when she suddenly saw a vision. Said vision showed her going for Orihime and making contact with a shield which sent her flying back. Then in midair Uryu would appear and hit her with an arrow. So, he's able to use some kind of speed technique that will guarantee that I can't catch him but once I go for Ms. Inoue, he'll come in close expecting me to be repelled and take advantage of my moment of weakness. However, I think I can counter and lay a trap for him.

With that thought she continued straight ahead towards Orihime. She was standing there with a determined look on her face. She put her hands on either side of her head. "Shiten Kōshun, I reject." she shouted. Jeanne continued forward and called up her flag and used its tip to pierce the shield. But then she intoned.

"Luminosité Eternelle." she said. Her flag glowed a golden light and then, to the shock of everyone who saw it, Orihime's shield shattered. A look of shock and panic appeared on her face. Jeanne calmly called up her sword but then spun around and threw it in the opposite direction. Uryu who was just reeling from the shock of someone succeeding in breaking through Orihime's shield didn't even register until almost too late that something was heading for him. He had just enough time to register that a blade was coming at him. Wait! Did she just throw her sword at me?! He thought as he felt something warm dribble down the side of his face. He put his hand to his forehead and pulled it away to reveal that the tips of his fingers were covered in blood.

Meanwhile, Jeanne spun back around as Orihime, who had a look of confusion on her face watching her throw her sword, then looked as Jeanne called up her flag and thrusted it forward as Orihime reacted. "San-" she started. But Jeanne interrupted her.

"You're defeated. That's two and three in quick succession." she said affirmatively. Orihime looked to see her right arm had a slight cut and was bleeding. Then she heard Rukia's voice.

"Bakudo 61: Rikujōkōrō." she said. Six thin, wide beams of light slammed into Jeanne's midsection and held her in place. She was unable to move any part of her body, including the parts which were not struck by the beams.

"What is this?" Asked Jeanne unable to move.

This is a high mid level Kido. And Bakudo is meant for support in battle or restraint. Now then let me show you the power of my Shikai of my zanpakuto. Dance, Sode no Shirayuki." Rukia called out. Rukia held her Zanpakutō out in front of her and turned it in a circle counterclockwise. While she was turning it, Jeanne watched as the sword went from a standard katana to where the blade, hilt, and tsuba turned completely white. The tsuba became a hollow snowflake-like circle, and a white ribbon formed from the pommel. Jeanne suddenly felt a blast of cold hit her as this was occurring. Then this was followed by "Tsugi no mai, Hakuren" she said. After calling out this phrase, Rukia punctured the ground once, creating a large ice circle, before puncturing the ground in front of her four times in a semi-circle. As the ice particles began to flow up from the punctures she made in the ground, Rukia took a battle stance. Building up at the tip of Sode no Shirayuki, the ice particles were released as a powerful large avalanche of cold air. As soon as it came in contact with Jeanne, it flash froze her and encased her in ice once the area cleared of the snow clouds. However, seconds later Jeanne's body began to glow gold and bathed the entire facility in golden light. She also caused the ice incasing her to break up, freeing her. She landed on the ground safely. Rukia was shocked by what had just happened and that moment of shock is all it took for Jeanne to speed towards her and use her flag to cut her left cheek.

"I'll admit that, that move was splendid but unfortunately, I have the skills to counter you. So, you're defeated." she said.

"Alright, Ms. Jeanne. That was very nice. You not only soundly defeated all your opponents, even using unorthodox tactics to do it, but you did so in a very short time." stated Urahara as he approached the gathered crowd.

"How fast was I?" she asked curiously.

"2 minutes and 45 seconds. Why don't we all head over to where the others are and discuss what occurred?" Urahara suggested. No one had any objection to that and did so.

Once everyone was gathered at the ladder, Jeanne's body was engulfed in gold light, and she returned to Laeticia's school uniform.

"Oh wow! It's just like a magical girl transformation!" said Orihime excitedly. Everyone looked at her astonished, but no one corrected her.

"You know that's actually pretty accurate for what we're seeing." Tatsuki commented.

"Orihime. You're so smart and pretty as always." Chizuru chimed in and attempted to get close to Orihime only for Tatsuki to violently push her away.

"What are they doing?" asked Jeanne, tilting her head in confusion.

"Chizuru is an out and proud lesbian and has been after Orihime for quite some time." explained Mizurio.

"And what did Orihime mean by saying I'm a magical girl?" asked Jeanne in confusion.

"Magical girls are a genre of entertainment that exists here in Japan that star women or young teenage girls that have the ability to change their clothes through magical or at least supernatural means and gain supernatural powers to defeat all kinds of enemies in fiction. Usually in the name of justice, love and/or peace" explained Keigo. "To be fair, from these criteria that's not an inaccurate description of what you are." he added.

"How are you so knowledgeable about that, Keigo?" Ichigo asked highly suspicious.

"Okay. Okay. That's enough everyone. Let's go over how everyone was defeated. After all we still have to test out how she'll handle Bankais." said Urahara getting everyone's attention.

"I agree. While we could track you as you weren't using flashsteps, you still were traveling at quite a high speed is this because of any specific technique?" asked Toshiro.

"Not really. It's just the result of having excellent speed and endurance parameters. Just like my strength parameter is how I was able to dislodge that boulder and send it hurtling towards Mr. Yatsutora as following behind the boulder to hide my presence also showed off the two previous parameters." explained Jeanne.

"Yes, and then there's the fact that you can materialize both your weapons at will and unsummon them at the same time. Convenient. Means you don't need to worry about carrying around excess weight unless you really have to." remarked Toshiro.

"Keep in mind that here I feel fine enough that I didn't feel the need to materialize them until the last possible moment which gave me the element of surprise. In Romania, I'll always have to have one of my noble phantasms on hand as I could always be assassinated at any time and my flag is the only practical noble phantasm I can use. My sword I can realistically only use in melee combat but that's really it unless I feel something requires it's use as a noble phantasm." explained Jeanne.

"Why's that?" asked Renji.

"Because my sword sublimated the flames that killed me in life. So, it has crystalized as a noble phantasm that guarantees I will destroy any one target of my choosing, but it comes at the expense of my existence. So, I must be very careful with choosing the target that I want to eliminate." she said. Everyone looked at her with looks of shock and/or looks of horror.

"That's horrible. It's essentially a suicide attack." said Yuzu tearing up. Jeanne put a hand on her in arm and gave her a warm smile.

"It's for this reason that I'll do my utmost to not have to use my sword save for as a melee weapon for the duration of the war, Ms. Kurosaki." she said in a comforting tone. She reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief which Yuzu accepted and dried her eyes with it.

"Please call me Yuzu. Most of us here are pretty informal and don't mind being on a first name basis." said Yuzu.

"Yeah, about the only person here who prefers to be stuffy about names is Toshiro over here." said Karin playfully.

"It's Captain Hitsuguya." said Toshiro tiredly.

"Very well. I shall do my utmost to respect your wishes in terms of addressing you." said Jeanne. With a warm smile.

"There're three things I want to know about. Why did you throw your sword at me? How did you shatter Orihime's shield? And finally, how were you able to break out of Rukia's Shikai and Kido simultaneously without taking any damage to yourself?" asked Uryu.

"I'm also very curious about that." asked Yoruichi.

"My sword may be my noble phantasm, but it doesn't possess a soul like your zanpakuto's do so throwing it at an enemy is no issue for me. Then there's the fact that I couldn't use Command seals on any of you which took about half of my combat resources off the table so in order to win I had to get creative with my tactics. Plus, I'm going to be facing all kinds of Servants with different fighting styles and abilities so I really can't afford to be too reliant on a particular fighting style. Besides as long as I defeat my enemy it doesn't really matter how I accomplish that task." said Jeanne. Everyone mulled over that information as she continued. "As for Orihime's shield shattering, that's because my default noble phantasm is a barrier as well. I had a revelation as I was heading towards Orihime that showed if I attacked with brute force alone, I would be repelled and have to deal with a counterattack from her shield. Then saw Uryu take advantage of my surprise and land a blow that would've taken me out of the fight. So, upon realizing that I changed my tactics accordingly. I used my barrier noble phantasm to cancel out hers and then while everyone was in shock at my feat, threw my sword at Uryu and was able to nail him with it." Jeanne explained.

"Revelation? What's that?" Asked Kisuke.

"It's one of my personal skills that I have as a Servant. It's basically a skill that can give me visions of the future. But, for me at least, it's random and I have no real control over it. But if it comes to me at the correct moment, I can use that knowledge to change things to work in my favor. As to how I have such a skill, it's because my legends have it where I would hear the voice of God who would direct me on my campaign to lead France to victory during the Hundred Years War." She replied.

"Wow. And your ability to nullify Rukia's Kido and Shikai?" Asked Ichigo in awe.

"A class skill known as Magic Resistance. And before anyone asks there is a difference between class and personal skills. Remember when I said that those aren't factored into a Servant's ranking due to being too broad or too unique? Well, I'll elaborate on that now. Class skills are for any servant that is summoned under a particular class. Magic resistance for example is given to almost every servant class except for casters and berserkers. Casters because they cast Magic to fight so having magic resistance would handicap them, and berserkers instead have madness enhancement which acts as a form of magic resistance. Basically, they trade their sanity for strength. And as a result, they are too insane to be affected by any kind of magic. By contrast a personal skill is assigned to the specific servant that is tailored to them due to their legends or myths. A good example of a personal skill is One of mine called charisma. This is a skill that is assigned to any servant that served as either a military commander or at least a leader amongst others in order to rally them to their cause in either their myth or legend. Since I led the French troops in the 100 years' war, I therefore get this skill. However, charisma can be given to any servant that was a leader regardless of their class. that's the difference between personal and class skills." Explained Jeanne.

"I'll say that madness enhancement skill definitely has my interest. Makes me wonder if kenpachi zaraki has actually a madness and enhancement skill and at what level it would be." Said renji with a slight chuckle. Ichigo smirked at that comment. Jeanne looked at them with a confused look which they both waved off to say that it didn't matter what they were talking about.

"Could You explain how this magic resistance was able to Nullify rukia's Shikai and Kido." Asked toshiro. Jeanne nodded.

"My magic resistance Rank is EX. Meaning that I can effectively nullify any kind of magic that is cast at me. Even magic that is supposedly from the age of gods. As a result, rukia's Kido effectively acted as casted magic so my EX-level magic resistance was able to repel it. The same is true for her shikai. Since she didn't attack me directly, my magic resistance read her attack as simply high caliber magic being cast at me. So, my magic resistance kicked in and automatically repelled it making it so that I could get away from the attack completely unharmed along with my host." Explained Jeanne. Everyone looked at her with shock.

"I'm sorry did you say EX level magic resistance?" Asked Isshin. Jeanne nodded.

"Yes. So, unless you attack me directly with your blades, then any special ability your swords have will be read as magic attacks being casted of which I can then repel either with my magic resistance skill or with my noble phantasm as it does effectively the same thing just that I can extend it to protect other people besides myself." Jeanne explained. toshiro went into deep thought about this before looking back up At Jeanne.

"So, it doesn't matter if it's a Shikai or bankai, as long as they are direct attacks from the blade you can't use either that magic resistance skill or even your noble phantasm if it functions the same way. And contrarily if they are attacks that requires casting some sort of indirect attack like throwing spirit energy at you or fire or ice then you can repel it with either the skill or your noble phantasm, correct?" Asked Toshiro. Again, Jeanne nodded.

"I still want to see that noble phantasm in action. So why don't we have our three remaining soul reapers go to one end of the training facility while Jeanne stays here, then when you're ready all three of you activate your bankais and then we'll have Jeanne activate her noble phantasm and we'll see what happens, that sound good?" Asked Kisuke. Nobody objected to his suggestion. With that Ichigo, Renji, and Toshiro vanished and reappeared at the other side of the facility. Jeanne also took a stance calling up her flag in the process and holding it out in front of her.

"Alright whenever you guys are ready." Shouted Kisuke. On the other side of the training facility, Toshiro, Ichigo, and Renji quickly strategize on what they'll do for this demonstration.

"I want us to do a three-pronged combined energy attack using our strongest attacks that we can against ms. Jeanne." Announced Toshiro. This left the other two surprised.

"Are you sure you want to do that? Cause that could still kill her. remember she's still in a human body not in spirit form." Ichigo reminded them.

"I'm well aware of that, Kurosaki. That's why I wanna do an energy attack first. She was able to repel rukia's kido and shikai. So, in theory she should still be able to block our bankais without any troubles. However, should something happen or go wrong that's why Urahara and Tessai are over there. They'll step in and protect her should she not be able to do so herself." Toshiro pointed out.

"OK let's say she does manage to block all three of our attacks simultaneously well then what do we do afterwards?" asked Renji now curious.

"Lieutenant abarai of the three of us here, you are the only one that can physically attack her with your sword after the energy attacks are done. So, I want you to do so. Do you have a method of which you can achieve that?" Asked Toshiro.

"I could use an Enhanced Higa Zekkō, But it's an omnidirectional attack that will most likely kill her. So, it might be better if I just have Zabimaru be able to catch her in its jaws and try to crush her physically and just hope that her physical strength will be sufficient enough to keep it from actually killing her." Suggested Renji.

"Well, it's either that or Ichigo and/or I will have to get up close to her and try to slash her barrier open with our swords via direct contact and see if that will work." Said Toshiro.

"Alright. We'll do it your way then. So, after going bankai we'll hit her with our three strongest energy attacks and then Renji will then use his bankai as a way to physically crush her until either she gives out or until it gets called off, correct?" Asked Ichigo for clarification. Toshiro nodded.

"Hey! I asked if you guys were ready." Shouted Urahara. With that the three drew their swords and held them in front of them.

"Bankai!" The three of them shouted. Wind and debris whipped around the entire area obscuring everyone's view. When the dust and wind finally settled down the three soul reapers who had released their bankais had now revealed what they actually looked like.

" Hihiō Zabimaru." Said Renji. His sword had now turned into a massive skeleton of a snake which had a large red mane and with himself holding the tail. Renji also was slightly transformed, gaining a fur cowl around his neck. The cowl appeared to be the fur of an ape, and the ape's skull could be seen over Renji's left shoulder, while the rest of the fur extended to cover his right arm. He was wearing black leather gloves on his hands.

"Tensa Zangetsu." Said Ichigo. His sword, which had been as long as he was tall and strapped to his back, had now shrunk down to a daitō with a black blade instead. The cross guard has four prongs bent out to form, which thanks to the grail providing Jeanne knowledge she knew was the shape of the manji, which was the kanji for "ban," meaning "full," as in "full release". In hindsight, she couldn't help but find that to be a little bit clever. Instead of the cloth that formed a makeshift sheath for his sword, a short length of chain with a broken link at the end dangled from the base of the hilt. In addition to his sword, Ichigo's robe was replaced with a long-sleeved, ankle-length black coat with red lining, which was closed at his chest and left to flare out into ragged coat.

"Daiguren Hyōrinmaru." Said Toshiro. Of the three, his sword is the only one that didn't appear to have any significant change. But while his sword didn't seem to change, Toshiro himself changed quite drastically. Hitsugaya's Bankai caused ice to flow from his sword onto Hitsugaya himself, starting at his right arm, which ice formed onto in the shape of a dragon's head around his sword hand, encasing the sword up to the hilt, which also changed from the shape of a four-pointed star to that of an eight-pointed star. The ice continued forming up over his shoulders, with two large wings sprouting from his back and a long tail. The ice formed down his left arm and encased his hand, which ended in a claw. Hitsugaya's feet were encased in ice in a similar manner to his left hand, as they also ended in claws. These new ice limbs appeared to be movable and seemed to be used as an extension of himself to aid in battle.

Suddenly the facility exploded with energy as the three flared their reiatsus. Jeanne by contrast unfurled her flag before giving it a quick twirl and planting it in the ground all the while chanting "Our Lord is with us! Oh, flag of mine, protect our comrades!"

"Hikotsu Taihō!" Shouted Renji. With a flick of his wrist, the entire maned snake skeleton moved and opened its mouth firing a dense blast of concentrated spiritual energy from its mouth.

"Hyōryū Senbi!" Shouted Toshiro. He swung his sword in a linear direction and created an overflowing wave of ice from his blade in the form of a crescent.

Ichigo took a stance and also swung his sword in a linear direction. "Getsuga Tenshō!" He shouted. The dense spirit energy compressed into a black crescent. Together the three attacks combined into one and headed straight for where Jeanne was standing.

"Luminosité Eternelle! She shouted. It brought about a light that completely isolated everyone within it and cut them off from their surroundings. Everyone watched in awe as She was holding back essentially 3 bankai attacks. Even Ichigo, Toshiro, and Renji who had fired off those attacks together couldn't help but be in disbelief as they watched her hold them back. Then as quickly as the attacks came, they passed leaving nothing but dirt and debris flying around. Suddenly the giant snake skeleton or rather its head popped into existence and immediately opened its mouth and closed around the barrier. Jeanne tried to hold it off as best she could but in the end the barrier shattered under the pressure that was being brought on by the snake's jaws. Yet through just her sheer strength alone and her flag, she was able to hold its jaws open and not crush her though they could hear her straining to keep the mouth from closing on her. After what seemed like hours when in reality it was only a few minutes Kisuke finally stepped forward.

"All right that's enough. Renji deactivate your bankai." He ordered. Immediately Renji did as he was told. The snake skeleton then disappeared, and Jeanne fell to the floor. She managed to sit up though her flag was unsummoned. Isshin then ran over to her to check her over and make sure she had no visible wounds. After a quick check as well as using kido, he was happy to say that he couldn't find anything that was a visible wound or an internal one and gave her a clean bill of health. He then helped her to her feet where everyone else began to swarm her and started giving all kinds of exclamations.

"That was amazing!" "You actually did it." "It's one thing to see it it's another to experience it." Many of them said at the same time. Jeanne was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed and it seemed as though others were taking note of this as suddenly Ichigo shouted,

"Hey, knock it off guys. She just did something incredibly amazing and the last thing she needs is to be overwhelmed by everybody else. Give her some room." Jeanne was grateful for that. Then Toshiro stepped forward.

"I see you weren't exaggerating in the least." He said.

"At what point did you think I was lying?" She asked.

"It's not that I thought you were lying you're not very good at it. But it's one of those things where you have to see to believe." He admitted. Then a large growl noise could be heard catching everyone off guard. Jeanne blushed in embarrassment, which everyone realized the noise came from her as she touched her stomach.

"Jeanne, when was the last time you ate something." asked Isshin suspicious.

"Oh, I ate at the airport." she answered a little too quickly. Kisuke eyed her with suspicion.

"You weren't eating anything when I picked you up and your flight arrived at 7 am our time and that was only about a 15 min wait for me between when your flight arrived and when we met up." Kisuke pointed out. Jeanne looked down in embarrassment.

"I ate at the airport in France before I secured a ticket to Tokyo and before I called you. And then boarded the plane shortly after." explained Jeanne.

"So, you didn't eat on the plane?" asked Yuzu concerned.

"No both Laeticia and I both have never been flying before. Her because she had no reason to leave her home country and me because the concept of man flying wasn't even a thing when I was alive. So, we were both too nervous to eat or sleep on the plane. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"When did you sleep?" asked Orihime in surprise. Jeanne thought about it for a moment then replied.

"The few hrs. between when I was attack and when I got up at Laeticia's regular time at 7am, though it was a fitful sleep." she said.

"How long was that sleep?" asked Tatsuki curiously.

"Maybe about 5-6 hrs. as it was after 1a.m. when I was attacked and about half hr. of talks with Mr. Yamada and Mr. Urahara via phone call. When I woke up at 7a.m. I spent the rest of the day packing and convincing all of Laeticia's teachers to let her leave for Romania. Then grabbing a quick lunch followed by navigating the airport to secure a ticket and finding the terminal with my flight. I was too nervous to sleep as I worried about sleeping through the time of departure and sleeping on the plane." she explained.

"A one-way ticket from Paris to Tokyo is about 13 ½ hrs. Combined with that info you gave prior to your flight, 15 min. From disembarkment of your flight to meeting up with Mr. Urahara, 40 min. of travel from the airport to the shop, 2 ½ hrs. of explanations and demonstrations, that means that you haven't slept for close to 27 ½ hrs. and you haven't eaten for 19 ½ hrs." Uryu calculated. He then looked at her in disbelief. As did everyone else.

"How are you still functioning?" asked Karin, shocked.

"Remember when I said that Servants have their own mana reserves, they can utilize these reserves to keep them in top form, provided that they don't use their noble phantasms too much as that eats up those reserves very quickly and without a Master, the Servant would exhaust those reserves and disappear from the world back to the Throne. I've been using those reserves to keep myself awake and alert, but I used up nearly all of those reserves in the demonstrations. Right now, I'm using what's left to maintain my armor as the moment I dismiss my armor, I will pass out." she states a matter of factly. Suddenly Isshin sprinted over to her and picked her up bridal style, much to her surprise.

"Orihime get that shield ready so we can get to the top of the facility and back up to the living quarters of the shop. Kisuke, the Kurosaki family is commandeering your kitchen. Yuzu, Karin once we're topside you two are to head to the market and buy up enough ingredients to make enough food to feed two dozen people. Ichigo you are to go to one of the spare rooms and set up a futon so that Ms. Jeanne can get in a nice nap." he ordered. Everyone he addressed gave affirmatives to their instructions.

"Tatsuki and I can help with the cooking." Orihime volunteered them and Tatsuki nodded.

"Come on Toshiro. Yuzu and I need your help carrying everything." said Karin grabbing Toshiro by the arm and pulling him towards the shield before he could protest.

"The rest of you better go and help where you can." said Yoruichi to others who all nodded.

"There's no need for this." Jeanne tried to protest but Isshin would hear none of it as he carried her bridal style to the newly formed and waiting shield and the group waiting on it.

"Ms. Jeanne, I appreciate that you wish to do your duty and achieve it as soon as possible but you must also take care of yourself as your body is someone else's. So, by refusing to eat or sleep because you can doesn't mean you should as you'll leave your body in worse condition than when you got it. Not to mention that if you use up your reserves in a fight and are unable to get to safety because your body can't properly function due to lack of sleep or to hunger, you'll break your promise to Laeticia about ensuring that she comes to no harm as your bodyguard might be pre-occupied or otherwise indisposed to come and help you. Do you understand?" he asked seriously. Jeanne opened her mouth to protest but realized that he was correct. If she didn't take proper care of herself, then her bodyguard would have to not only protect her from outside threats but also from her own bad decisions and she didn't want to be a burden to anyone. So, she nodded meekly.

"You all go on ahead I have to collect all my instruments and go over the data from these demonstrations. Yell down here or find my personal quarters once our early lunch is ready." shouted Kisuke as the shield ascended to the hole at the top of the shop. Then once he saw the top door close, he turned to Tessai. "So, what's your analysis?" he asked.

"When she donned her armor, it felt similar to when most release their Shikais and when she fully activated her noble phantasm, it felt similar to when one releases their Bankais and powerful ones at that." replied Tessai.

"From all the information we've been told it's not too dissimilar from Zanpakuto spirits except these aren't forged from the individual's souls. More like weapons looking for a wielder." said Yoruichi who then seemed to go into deep thought. Kisuke eyed her curiously but before he could ask anything Shinji's voice was heard.

"I still stand by what I said before. The more I hear or see of these Servants, the more terrifying they become." he said.

"I have to say I'm inclined to agree." said Lisa. Kensei looked at Urahara.

"Are you absolutely certain that you don't want us to accompany Ichigo when he goes to Romania? Even after witnessing all this?" he asked. Urahara nodded.

"Yes. I brought you guys up to speed on mages shortly after we brought Sakura in as Yoruichi's ward. Since then, you've all been a tremendous help in detecting and alerting me when mages stumble across Karakura and for that I'm grateful. So, I want you all to continue doing that here while Ichigo is away. I'll be working on various projects for this and our war with Aizen so that means that you guys will have complete freedom to do what you want with any mages you find from here on until Aizen is taken care of. Provided that you first figure out if they are in fact came with dangerous intent towards humans, of course. Specifically, Ichigo's friends and family." explained. Urahara. After a few moments the quartet nodded.

"Very well, Kisuke. We'll do things your way. But I'm curious on the fact that since you'll be returning within a few days of going to Romania and Yoruichi will be staying behind, who else do you think will be accompanying Ichigo and Ms. Jeanne?" he asked. Kisuke gave a sly smile.

"I would think it was quite obvious." he replied.

===Topside – large dining room – Urahara Shop – Karakura – Japan – same time

Jeanne sat at a table awkwardly looking around as Ururu was serving tea to herself, Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, Isshin, and a spot for Ichigo as he was due to return soon. Once her task was accomplished, she bowed and left without a word. Everyone sat quietly and drank their tea.

"Thank you for convincing Karin to not take me along for the grocery run." Said Toshiro gratefully.

"I figured you wanted to discuss things here that are strictly soul reaper business, Toshiro. Plus, it gave the rest of the group something to do." Replied Isshin cheerfully. Toshiro looked like he was about to say something but refrained reluctantly.

"May I ask how you two know each other? I know Isshin is a soul reaper but how do you all know each other as it seems like you are familiar with one another on a more than professional basis?" Asked Jeanne curiously.

"Well that's pretty simple. As you know Ichigo is my son. Renji here is a friend of the family and a good friend of Ichigo's. Rukia here is practically family as I come to consider her my third daughter." He said proudly with a smile. Rukia just looked away slightly embarrassed. "And finally, Toshiro actually used to be my former subordinate in fact he served as my squad's third seat. Or third in command." He finished. by now Ichigo entered the room and sat down at the only empty spot with a teacup ready for him.

" OK the futon is set up so once everybody gets something to eat for an early lunch, then Jeanne over here can get a nap." He announced as he took a sip of his tea.

"You really don't have to do all this." Jeanne tried to explain. Isshin held up his hand.

"Ms. Jeanne. You stated previously that you haven't eaten or slept in well over 12 hours not to mention the fact that you are probably going to be feeling jet lag even if technically you servants don't feel that your body certainly will. Plus, this gives us a chance to show off Japanese hospitality. So please it's not a big deal it'll make us feel better if you just take things as is." Said Isshin in a kind tone. Finally, Jeanne relented.

"All right. But while we're currently by ourselves with no one else present, I was told that I would in fact be getting a bodyguard and I'd like to know who that will be." Said Jeanne.

"That would be me." Said Ichigo. The others nodded.

"He's the most logical choice. See there are rules and protocols that we have to follow. One of which being that a soul Reaper is forbidden from going somewhere else outside of their assigned posts while in the human world. Ichigo on the other hand isn't part of the rank-and-file soul reapers. In fact, he technically exists outside the system due to him still being counted as a living human in the world of the living. So naturally he's the only one who can technically go anywhere in the living world, and nobody can do anything to stop him. But that doesn't mean he'll be going alone." said Toshiro.

"Yoruichi and Hat n' Clogs are coming with me. Shouldn't that be enough?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"I appreciate your faith in me, Ichigo. But I'll only be there to set you up and then head back to Karakura to work on various projects including one I want to set up in the place that will be serving as your safe house for the duration of your stay in Romania." said Kisuke as he entered the room and sat down next to Isshin at the other end of the table. "And while Yoruichi is certainly able to more than handle herself she will best be utilized as a spy and to blend into the environment to gather information so she can't be seen around you too often. But I agree that you need another person to serve as your partner. One that can be visible. Not to mention someone who can compensate for the one skill you currently lack: Kido." Kisuke pointed out. Ichigo gave a sour look.

"Well, my training has been either learn as I go or only do bare basics and hope that will be enough. And you 'old goat' still haven't bothered to teach me Kido nor have Tessai or Yoruichi, Hat n' Clogs." Ichigo points out defensively. This makes everyone silent for a minute before Jeanne spoke up.

"That reminds me. I need to ask. Why did you four hold back during the demonstration?" she asked. This caught everyone off guard.

"What do you mean?" asked Renji. Jeanne explained how she noticed when fighting all the soul reapers, when they used their Shikais and Bankais she could feel that they were holding back. Or at least her magic resistance didn't have to fight as hard to repel their attacks. By contrast when Rukia used Kido, she was hitting her with all the force the spell could muster, and her magic resistance had to put in serious effort to repel it.

"But how is that possible? We were hitting you with everything we had." said Toshiro.

"I think I can answer that but first I need to ask how long have you four had your Shikais and Bankais?" asked Isshin. They quickly deduced that in addition to not having a Bankai, Rukia had only had her Shikai at most for about 39 yrs. due to Kaien being the head of the Shiba Clan at the time and he helped her unlock her Shikai in the first place shortly after she was accepted into squad 13 about that same time. Ichigo had both his Shikai and Bankai for at most a little over half a year with just about a month difference at most when he got both of them. Renji had his Bankai for nearly as long as Ichigo, just a few hours more than Ichigo. And he had his Shikai for as long as Rukia had hers of about 40 yrs. at most. As for Toshiro himself he officially had his shikai for at least over 30 yrs. and his Bankai for the longest of the 4, about 18 yrs. at most. "Well, it seems to me what the obvious answer is. None of you have reached your full potential yet." he answered. At their perplexed looks he elaborated. "Most of the current captains in the 13 Court Guard Squads have had their Bankais for as long as Rukia and Renji have had their Shikais if not longer. And their captains' shikais for nearly twice as long. The fact that all of you have achieved what you have in such a short amount of time does do you all credit but your youth, even by soul reaper standards, means that you still have potential that you haven't fully realized yet. And Ms. Jeanne's magic resistance and noble phantasm must have picked up on that. As to how you can realize it, I can only guess. It could be that you still haven't gotten over some old hang-ups, you haven't fully accepted parts of yourself that you find to be bad, or it could be that there are things about yourself that you haven't discovered yet. The possibilities are endless." he stated.

"Would this 'unrealized potential' interfere with them being able to do their job of being my bodyguards?" asked Jeanne worriedly.

"Not necessarily. As long as Ichigo and Rukia play the role of bodyguards and defense then the Servants and Masters should leave them alone. And the fact that their sheer raw power will hopefully act as a deterrent for most of the Masters who don't want to lose their Servants." said Kisuke. Rukia looked shocked to hear that she was going along as well. Kisuke smiled. "Did you really think that we'd have anyone else go with Ichigo but you, Rukia?" he asked with a sly smile. "You both make a great team; you are exceptionally skilled in Kido and he's good at Zanjutsu while you are able to perform Hakuda well enough to defend yourself should you be unable to use your zanpakuto and Ichigo uses other forms of unarmed combat, and you both can use flashstep very well to get out of trouble. Not to mention the fact that you've had more training in various techniques that Ichigo has yet to learn about." said Kisuke. Ichigo glared at him for that.

"But didn't you just say that Soul reapers can't leave their assigned posts in the World of the Living?" asked Jeanne.

"Our assignments were actually ending today, and we were going to head back to the soul society this afternoon but with all this new information now I think that Rukia should stay behind and go to Romania as well. As a captain I have authority to request an officer from another squad to investigate something that pertains to soul reapers and since her previous assignment has already ended, it will just be a bit of paperwork that needs to be completed. It's also fortunate that Romania falls under squad 10's jurisdiction as it won't look strange if I make the request as this sort of thing is common for Captain's to request officers from other squads to investigate supernatural matters in their jurisdiction and either can't or won't send their own subordinates to do it for various reasons." explained Toshiro.

"Wait what?" asked Ichigo, surprised. Jeanne looked equally curious.

"All of the squads have specific regions in the world of the living that their squads are regularly assigned to for specifically hunting hollows and performing Konsos." said Renji.

"Out of curiosity what are they?" Jeanne asked.

"13 has the entirety of Japan, north and south Korea, 12 has all of South America save for any islands offshore, 11 has Antartica but no islands that are technically in the vicinity, 10 has Eastern Europe including Romania, 9 has Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, 8 has the entirety of Africa and Madagascar but no other nearby islands, 7 has the most of southeast Asia including India and Malaysia but not Indonesia or China, 6 has the entire north American continent including Greenland and central America as well but none of its islands in the Atlantic or Pacific, 5 has both Russia and China, 4 has western Europe including Great Britain and Ireland, 3 has Mongolia, Nepal, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, 2 has the rest of south west Asian nations most of whom have Arabic populations so from Iran to Israel and from Yemen and Oman to Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, and finally 1 has Indonesia, Papua new guinea, Iceland, all of the islands of the pacific including the Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands as well as any other islands around the world that aren't specifically under another squad's jurisdiction." Toshiro rattled off.

"Unless we specifically request another Captain, then aside from keeping the effected parties in the loop if they have the clearance for such information, in this case Captain Ukitake and Captain Kuchiki, then no other squads are to interfere no matter what. So, someone like Kenpachi or Mayuri even with their status as Captains are forbidden to interfere or investigate unless the captain of that jurisdiction requests them or decides to bring them into the loop. And if they violate that then they lose their rank and privileges and have to spend time in solitary confinement in the Maggot's nest for a period of time, which is a prison for anyone who is deemed a threat to the soul society." Isshin added. "So, we won't have to worry about Mayuri stumbling across this and trying to come down and steal 'test subjects' for 'study'. Not if he wants to be allowed to continue being the head of the R&D Department."

"So, Toshiro will use his authority to request Rukia to be reassigned to investigate, along with Ichigo, a supernatural event that is happening in Romania, which is under his jurisdiction, and the only ones allowed to be in the loop are Renji, and Captains Ukitake and Kuchiki." said Kisuke. Everyone nodded at that. Now are there any other things we need to address before we have our early lunch? I can smell food from the kitchen which means that the others must've started cooking already." he added.

"I got three conditions I want to layout before agreeing to become one of your bodyguards. 1) Aside from other soul reapers, I don't want any of my other friends to accompany us to Romania as I really don't like how these mages sound and I don't want my non soul reaper friends to become experiments for someone who's been brought up in a culture that took the worst aspects of Mayuri and Aizen's personalities and blended them together. Especially when none of us want to kill anyone. I don't think they'd give us the same courtesy if given the chance." he explained. No one objected to that, and Jeanne smiled and nodded. "The 2nd condition is I don't want to kill Servants or Masters unless it's either in defense of someone else or myself. I understand that most Servants probably won't get a say in who they want to or not want to fight but I won't kill anyone if I don't have to, and I refuse to renege on my principles for the sake of convenience." he said firmly.

"And the Masters?" asked Jeanne.

"You mentioned how most Mages stay in the shadows and are either unable or unwilling to fight alongside their Servants. And once they lose their Servants, they're more likely to escape and go into hiding so unless they challenge me directly, I'll leave them be." he responded.

"And if they realize that you're not a Servant and come after you or your family or friends?" asked Kisuke.

"Most of these mages sound like cowards and bullies so if I beat them into the ground without killing them, my hope is that after that beating, they will be a little wiser to not do so again. And as long as I don't mention my family or friends to anyone once we leave Karakura and keep communication with them to only when we're in our base with just us present I think it will be alright." said Ichigo.

"I'll see if I can make any social media accounts that I made for you either private or close them altogether." suggested Isshin. Kisuke waved him off.

"Don't bother. Nearly all mages are completely inept with technology. Most barely know how to work a landline. Never mind understanding how a computer works." said Kisuke offhand. "I agree that as long as communication is kept to the safe house Ichigo's friends and family will be safe." he added.

"All of my family is in the soul society so if I mention them, it won't matter." said Rukia. Jeanne thought about it and relented.

"Alright. I will concede to your points and will accept your conditions." she said.

"I have one final condition. If it comes down to a choice between my agreement to be your bodyguard and my duties as a soul reaper, konso and hollow exorcise, then my duties must come first." he finished. Jeanne nodded.

"I can agree to all of those conditions." she said. This brought a small smile to both Rukia and Ichigo's faces.

"I think it would be a good idea to keep regular phone contact with myself so I can keep Captain Ukitake and Captain Kuchiki informed of the situation." said Toshiro. Rukia looked at him oddly.

"I'll already be sending daily reports to Captain Ukitake and send them in triplicate to you and my brother." said Rukia curiously.

"Part of the job will be to identify who the Servants are. I think myself, your brother, and superior will be very interested to know what kind of Servants are summoned." he pointed out.

"iPhones all have video call functions called FaceTime. I'll supply these iPhone ghost phones to Captain Hitsuguya, Ichigo, Rukia, Jeanne, and Yoruichi. Once everything is set up, we'll do nightly FaceTime calls to keep everyone in the loop." said Kisuke.

"Wait how different is the times between the soul society and the world of the living?" asked Ichigo.

"When traveling through official gates with the help of Hell Butterflies the times of the soul society and world of the living are the same for both places. But the Seireitei is on the same time zone as Tokyo just on different planes of existence like a layered cake with the soul society being on the layer above the world of the living. The same applies to the rest of the soul society like the Rukon districts. So, all you have to do is calculate the time difference between Romania and Tokyo and that should give you a rough idea as to when is a good time to contact both us and later Kisuke when he gets back to Karakura." said Toshiro. Everyone nodded.

"Alright so Rukia and I will go with Jeanne as main bodyguards." said Ichigo.

"Yoruichi and I will go to set things up at the safe-house we have there and while I'll return to Karakura, Yoruichi will stay to act mainly as spy and intelligence gathering but also as an extra fighter and kido user." said Kisuke.

"And we'll keep Renji, you, my Captain, and my brother all in the loop as often as we can." said Rukia.

"Wait you have a safe-house already there?" asked Ichigo in surprise. Kisuke explained that he and Yoruichi owned a homestead in Romania that was actually in-between the city of Bucharest and the village of Trifas but remote enough that no one would bother them if they had no reason to. It was also furnished with modern amenities the last time they were there and had been surrounded by kido barriers meant to both render it invisible to anyone non spiritually aware and compel others to keep away.

"So, it should still be untouched and intact with no problems. The modern amenities are probably 10 yrs. old but that can be easily rectified if necessary." said Kisuke.

"As long as it works then it will be fine." said Ichigo. Rukia and Jeanne nodded.

"Alright, I think the last order of business is to decide which mod-souls you'll be taking with you." added Kisuke. Ichigo, Jeanne, Rukia looked at him with perplexed looks. "With how cold-hearted mages are, it wouldn't surprise me if they would hold either of your body or Rukia's gigai hostage. And I think we need gikons that will be able to defend themselves rather than just escape as mages will probably wise up and set traps that will get non-mod-souls captured. Better to take mod-souls with abilities that mages can't easily counter than regular gikons who can only run away." Kisuke explained. After hearing that Ichigo and Rukia agreed.

"Alright then I think I'll take Noba as he can create portals which will be more effective in escaping or defending against enemies." said Ichigo.

"And I'll take Ririn as she can create powerful illusions perfect for confusing enemies long enough to escape." said Rukia.

"Alright. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" asked Renji. After a moment everyone shook their heads.

"I think that's everything that needs to be addressed." said Kisuke. Then a knock was heard at the shoji doors.

"Mr. Urahara is everyone done talking?" asked Yuzu on the other side of the doors.

"We just got done, sweetie. Is the food ready?" asked Isshin.

"Yeah. We're just brining it all in." said Tatsuki.

"Great. Bring it in and we'll start eating." said Rukia with a cheerful smile on her face. With that the rest of Ichigo's friends and family brought in a veritable feast of Japanese cuisine. Jeanne showed off that despite it being her first-time using chopsticks, she used them as if she had been doing so her entire life and explained that knowledge of the modern era was embedded into all Servants upon being summoned so she knew how to use chopsticks, was multilingual in any language, and had basic understanding of modern concepts like cars, trains, and planes and if she had a riding skill she could even drive them like she had been doing it all her life. This amazed the group. Conversation was kept light and food and company was good for Jeanne.

After an hr. as the food was being cleared away, Jeanne dismissed her armour but as soon as she did, she felt so tired and almost collapsed but was caught by Renji, who picked her up and carried her bridal style as Ichigo guided them to her temporary room. Once inside Renji set her down on the futon Jeanne looked at the two men. "Thank you." she said sleepily. Renji smiled good-naturedly.

"This will probably be the last time you and I will see each other face to face so I just want to say that it's been nice meeting you." he said.

"It's been nice meeting you as well, lieutenant Abarai." said Jeanne sleepily.

"I'll let you nap here for about three hours and then come back here and get you up." said Ichigo gently. Jeanne nodded. With that the two men left the room. As Jeanne began to drift off to sleep all she could think was that she was happy that she decided to take this detour as the gamble was worth it as she now was coming to Romania with solid allies who could help her bring the Holy Grail War to a successful end. With that she finally fell asleep.

End of Chapter 2

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Author's notes:

Just wanted to emphasize this: Jeanne didn't win because the Bleach characters powers were nerfed. She won because of unorthodox tactics and because she caught them off guard with her abilities.

Quick reference: EX and A ranks are equivalent to Bankai, B rank is equivalent to Shikai, C rank is equivalent to sealed zanpakutos. D and E ranks are weaker than sealed zanpakutos and would be destroyed by them easily.

Something to keep in mind: Soul Reapers are powerful with sheer raw power but are still constricted by the laws of reality. Not a whole lot but they are still restricted, nonetheless. Servants bend, warp, twist, and outright break reality on a regular basis by comparison. Hence why I will not be doing the Thousand Year Blood War (TYBW) arc. Sure, the Quincies' powers are bullshit in terms of how they work but the Servants can and would just outbullshit them with their abilities. In fact, the only ways to beat Servants is either by studying their abilities in order to counter them specifically or just pit them against another Servant.

Now you might have noticed that I alluded to the idea of True Shikais and True Bankais which are actually from the TYBWArc. That's because these concepts I actually like as it's a continuation and fulfillment of the concept of self-acceptance as I had always interpreted the achievement of shikai and bankai as self-acceptance. Once you've accepted all parts of yourself, good and bad, you reach your full potential which I think True Shikai and True Bankai represent. I just feel that these concepts along with a few others should've happened far sooner than the TYBW Arc.

So, I am incorporating those concepts here along with Masaki and Isshin's past that led to them becoming a couple, Ichigo's hollow being more than what was originally thought, Captain Unohana's past, the soul reapers using technology like iPhones and video calls and even watching television (this is from the Echoing Jaws of Hell Arc and the only thing about that arc that I liked), and finally the system of the soul society itself (this was explained in a side story called Can's fear your own world) but I will be making tweaks and changes to suit this story as while there were things I liked from these later stories, as a whole I didn't really care for any of them after the Fullbringer Arc so that's all I will be taking from them otherwise nothing else.

Thank you for reading this. Hopefully I won't take too long getting the next chapter posted.

Bye!