I won't lie, as I powered my way through several dungeons with my new mech form I spent so long plotting and planning how to win the grail war from the shadows that I ended up overlooking one of the most obvious solutions for a while. Why should I be in the shadows? If I can get everyone together then that's just all the better! A large amount of the war's participants aren't even that bad in the first place!
If I could get Archer, Saber, Caster, maybe even Lancer and Rider on my side, then it would be so much easier. All I need to do to get those last two is free them and promise Lancer a good fight, then save Sakura like I planned on anyways and kill the old worm. Maybe that would be a good uniting goal, get everyone together to roflstomp the dead apostle.
Archer would be relatively simple to turn over as long as I can get him to give up his plan to create a paradox, Saber would be with Shirou who would be easy to influence, Caster would require that I find her in time to offer her a deal before she finds her new master, but I'll have to take what I can get there. Assassin is summoned by Caster so either I can beat her to the punch or let it happen again if she's on my side.
Really everything would be so much easier if I could get Medea on my side, not only is she absurdly powerful but she can also steal servants with her dagger! She would be a top priority among the servants to gain as an ally. Her and… Berserker.
If only gaining Berserker as an ally would be easy. I'd need Illya's cooperation though, which might be hard to gain unless I can somehow make her see the truth sooner. Or, failing that, maybe I can make a deal with her. I don't like the idea of manipulating someone in such a situation but maybe I can use her failing body as a bargaining chip. Offer to have the Doc fix her body as long as she cooperates.
It leaves a bad taste in my mouth but anything is better than having to fight that monster.
Then after that, the final two people to get rid of would be Kirei Kotomine and Gilgamesh. I am not looking forward to a fight against the Golden King but hopefully with enough servants on my side it wouldn't be that difficult. Especially with Archer's Reality Marble. As for Kotomine, he would be tough in a straight fight, but I wasn't looking to give him a fair chance. Maybe I could give Lancer a shot at revenge. I'm sure Gae Bolg would be more than enough to kill the evil priest.
Anyhow all of those worries were for later, and it was likely not everything would go according to plan. I finished up the most recent dungeon before stepping back out into my workshop, heavy metal feet clanging against the ground before I dismissed my Mecha form, falling to the floor as the armor seemed to sweep and distort into my back before disappearing entirely.
One thing was for sure before I decided to take on the Fifth holy grail war- I needed backup plans. Since that dragon so easily showed me that nukes wouldn't be enough, I needed to look at something even more destructive for future contingencies. I wouldn't ever detonate something like it outside of a controlled environment, but hopefully something like Archer's Reality marble would be just enough for what I had in mind.
I'd already done the Oppenheimer, time for the Teller.
I sat down at my bench and started drafting schematics and materials lists. If there ever was a need for something truly overkill, hopefully this would be a surefire way to kill everything.
}x{
The next day…
I spent some time with the Doc during the following morning, talking about enlisting his help in the events to come before I started preparing for the challenge in full, donning my servant armor and some of my best equipment.
Around noon I was just about as prepared as I could be given the circumstances, so after some pacing and procrastinating I took out the challenge token, deciding to finally bite the bullet.
[Would you like to use (Challenge Token- F/SN)?]
Yes, might as well do it now before I chicken out again and double down on my preparations.
[Challenge Token used!]
[Challenge Start]
[Now Entering- Nasuverse]
[Warning!]
[Teleportation interrupted! Detecting interference!]
The wash of grays from my typical world to world shifting was suddenly overtaken with a rainbow of light, a swirling mess of colors overtaking my vision, just like… a Kaleidoscope.
Oh.
Oh fuck.
I found myself deposited into a plush chair in a Victorian style study, my arms pinned to the armrests by an invisible force and a powerful aura in the room. I could feel Gaia taking hold like a weighted blanket as the world tried to erase my existence as a servant, only for my mana to fight back. But most of all, I could feel the weight of a singularly powerful gaze upon me.
The chair I was put in sat in front of an old mahogany desk, and behind it, a gray haired old man… with pale skin and deep red eyes. He scrutinized me for what felt all of a moment before his lips split into a grin, and a shiver broke over my back.
"Well, well. I don't think I've ever seen a servant like you before." His eyes traveled over my armor before settling on my face. "You look like Jeanne D'Arc's alternate, but you aren't her, are you?" He rubbed his chin. "Do you know who I am?"
I suppressed the shiver that ran down my spine. I knew very well who he was, and as surprising as this is, it worked in my favor. "Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Grandmaster of the Clock Tower, Master of the Second True Magic, The Kaleidoscope, and a prolific prankster." I was somewhat proud I managed to deliver that all without my voice cracking, but it was quickly nullified by seeing the grin that spread across his face.
"So you do know who I am. Curious. Not every day I get a servant trying to cross dimensions. Do I get to know why you were set to be summoned into the fifth holy grail war despite having no master and no connection to the grail?" He asked, almost as if he didn't care about the answer. Maybe he didn't, either, but I think he actually would want to know this answer.
"Just a side objective, really." I said, and that was true. "I had a few things I wanted to change and figured I'd give them a shot, but actually I came to see if I could ask you for help with something." That caught his interest. "I have someone I need help in bringing back to their home world, and while I'd probably eventually find it, the person in question isn't immortal, and I'm not sure how long it would take. I was hoping that if I stirred things up enough in the grail war and solved a few loose ends that hopefully I'd gain your attention so I could try and work something out. I guess I miscalculated there." I chuckled weakly.
Zelretch was my entire goal for coming here. Forget the Grail that could grant wishes, forget the epic battles and heroes of legend, I wanted someone with more expertise and power than me in traveling between worlds to help get Ruby back to her home. The Second True Magic was the operation of parallel worlds, meaning the old vampire could share memories with a nearly infinite number of his other selves, draw power from the multiverse, and walk between worlds on a whim. Nobody else would know better on how to assist me.
The Grandmaster eyed me for a solid minute, making me shift uncomfortably before breaking out into a wide grin. "Well, why didn't you just say so!" I felt the restraints on me release, and I could move freely again. I let out a breath of relief and massaged my wrists as the dead apostle reclined back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. "Do you have any idea how dreadfully boring it can get watching over the world without things to shake up the timeline? Sure, you get some deviations here and there, different routes and different roles, but how often do you have something that just completely obliterates the known timeline?"
"So we can work something out?" I asked, trying to not look too hopeful.
His grin only brightened. "Sure, sure. It's not everyday someone comes to me to ask for help, and certainly not someone who can travel between other worlds without the Kaleidoscope." He pulled out a brandy from a drawer in his desk before pouring himself a cup. "Tell you what, if you survive the war, I'd be willing to teach you a bit of the second true magic, if you don't mind sharing your own method of travel." He knocked the glass back , savoring the taste before pouring one for me, which I took carefully.
"Well, I can't really share how mine works because I don't even know how it functions. I just know how to use it. I can, however, show you something better." I took a sip of the brandy, grimacing at the taste of alcohol but finding the flavor itself to be interesting. "How would you like a mage-craft free, purely scientific inter-dimensional portal gun?" Zelretch raised an eyebrow. "That also functions as a gravity gun." I tacked on, and he grinned like a child given candy.
"You are going to be one interesting student… miss 'still hasn't given her name'." He quipped. I blushed.
"You're going to find it a bit stupid, but I don't remember my original name, so I just went with a variant of Jeanne's name, since she's almost a sister. I am Jeanne… D'Altra." I finished, looking away in embarrassment. Zelretch chuckled, but at least he didn't rip on me for it.
"I suppose that makes you Jaltra then, sister to Jalter and Jeanne." He grinned. I groaned.
"At least there's only three of us, unlike Artoria. Too many 'saber faces'. Saber, Salter, Lalter, Lartoria, Ruler, Lily, Caster, then the Mysterious Heroine's and even her goddess self!" I huffed. Seriously, why were there so many?
Zelretch nodded sagely before pushing off from his desk and righting himself. "Well!" He clapped his hands together. "Now that I've confirmed you're not going to be a threat to humanity, you might as well be on your way! Don't worry about contacting me after the war, I'll be watching for when the moment is right. I'll even give you a nice little boon to start things off with! Toodles!"
"Huh?" I looked up in shock. "WAAAAIIIIIT—!" I was interrupted mid-word as a flash of colors overtook me before I found myself falling. Rain pattered against my face and I felt my back hit several tree branches on my way down before I collided with something, (and if the 'oof' I heard was real, someone). The Brandy glass I had been holding was crushed in my grip on the way down, so I tossed it to the side and got up, realizing there was someone I hit on the way down.
Someone in a long purple cloak.
Someone who smelt of magic.
Someone with pointed ears.
I blinked.
"Well damn."
Tired but annoyed purple eyes greeted me from their position on the muddy ground where I had fallen on the woman I now recognized to be Medea, the Caster servant of the fifth grail war, who evidently I had just caught after she had killed her master and run away. A boon indeed, if I could get her on my side.
"Sorry about that, no choice in the landing zone there." I apologized, helping her up and trying to dust her off. She grunted and swayed as she tried to stand, looking at me with confusion.
"Another servant? Why are you helping me?" She asked, voice slightly strained. Oh right, no master, she's probably suffering from being eroded by Gaia without a mana supply.
"Because I would like your help, and I want to." I responded. The rain was getting annoying now, so I took a pair of umbrellas out from my inventory behind my back and popped them open, giving one to her. She took it carefully, looking like she was ready to be killed but also thoroughly confused.
"Where did you even come from, and what do you want with me?"
"Unwilling teleportation, and I would just like to have you as an ally, maybe even a teacher. I know exactly who you are, Medea, and I know exactly who the other servants are too. I need your help with a number of things that need to be done in this war."
"You know who I am, and you would still ask for my help?" She chuckled bitterly. "Am I just to be a tool for you and your master to use and then discard in this war?"
"What? No!" I waved my hands furiously. "I don't want the grail, and I don't even have a master. I suppose an introduction is in order, at the very least. I am Jeanne D'Altra, the Avenger of this war, and the 8th… no, sorry, 9th servant in this conflict."
"Ninth servant? And an Avenger? The grail told me nothing about a servant of that type." She sagged against the trunk of a tree behind her. "What fresh hell have I been summoned into?"
"A pretty bad one, I'm afraid, but I already have some plans made to deal with things. Your help would greatly speed things up though. Stick with me and I can even grant your wish." Medea looked sharply at me.
"You presume to claim you can create miracles? Don't make me laugh, Avenger." She scoffed.
"I can't do miracles, no, but I have far more mana than any human would. You want a second chance at life, right? I can sustain you for far longer than this grail war would allow."
"And how would you know about my wish?"
"A long and complicated explanation, but the closest and simplest answer I can give is 'Zelretch.'" Medea blinked, then swore.
"Of course you're involved with the vampire. So, you're from another reality then?"
I made a so-so motion. "Yes, and no. Yes I am, but not from one of these realities. Suffice to say though that I've seen how this war goes down before, and the game is pretty much rigged from the start. I'd tell you more but I'd prefer it if you were with me first. There is a lot to cover and you probably wouldn't last the full explanation. Not as you are now." I said, pointing to the faint motes of mana wafting off her form. I offered her a hand. "I'll keep you around as long as you'd like, and I could always use a magician of your caliber to assist me in some of my work."
Medea sighed heavily, considering her options for a minute before growling and taking my hand. A drain on my mana was felt before three red seals and a symbol etched itself onto the back of my hand. It itched like freezer burn for a good few seconds before fading into a dull feeling as Medea breathed a sigh of relief, feeling her health return to her as she was pumped back to full of mana.
"Don't make me regret this, Avenger. I will find a way to make you pay should you cross me."
"I expected nothing less. I try to be a good boss, but let me know if you want something. I find it pays to work with people instead of against them. And please, call me Jeanne." I smiled at her. Medea grunted.
"Where to now, O' glorious leader?" She snarked, looking at her muddy robes with distaste before using a spell to clean herself.
"Why, the most fortified position in the war! Ryuudo Temple, and the location of the greater grail. The perfect base for your territory and a place we're going to need to study." I started walking. "Come, there is a lot I need to fill you in on now that we're partners."
Luckily Caster had already been going in the right direction, so it wasn't too bad of a walk. I had her bring up a privacy barrier around us before I began to fill her in on the details of this war. "So, to summarize things in the shortest way, this war is fucked. The grail is corrupted, the Archer from the last war, (a seriously arrogant prick,) is still around, and there are at least two people we absolutely need to kill. The war itself is pointless at the moment since an evil deity summoned in the third war corrupted the grail, turning it into a monkeys paw that will choose the route that causes the most suffering to get the job done, and the potential damage is so bad a Counter Guardian is getting summoned in this war.
"The two people we need to kill are going to be Zouken Matou, a cruel magus who has forced his adoptive daughter to undergo crest worms since the age of 6, and Kirei Kotomine, the church's overseer of this war who secretly has the Archer from the last war- Gilgamesh. We need to kill him too, but he is very powerful so we'll need to try and get allies for that fight. The new archer should be the perfect counter but we have time to get him. There are a few we don't have time for, though. I'm not sure when- it might've even already happened, but the master of Lancer in this war will be betrayed by Kotomine when she goes to register, and he will take her servant from her. I want to stop it and secure them as an ally."
"You've got quite the list of ambitions…" Caster noted. We finally broke through the trees and took in the sight of the temple itself, a nearly invisible shimmer of magic betraying the temple's defenses. "A powerful barrier… I can see why you would want to fortify it."
"Yep, but the other reason we're here is I want to gather proof that the grail is tainted so that I can bring others to our side. Personally, I find the war distasteful and a waste. Hell, most of the servants in this war would actually be able to live decent lives without their wish but I suppose the chance to have theirs granted is too much to pass up. Too bad it takes the death of seven servants in a regular war to truly grant a wish. The command seals are there for a reason."
Medea scowled at that. "So in a normal war I would've been forced to kill myself even if I had won?"
"As far as I know, yeah. This war has 8 other servants, though I think 2 of them have yet to be summoned. Saber and Assasin. Saber will be summoned by someone else but I think we can get our hands on Assasin." Medea looked surprised.
"You still have the mana to support another servant?"
"Sure, you take just under a third of my mana regeneration, I can probably support two more servants if needed. Maybe five in an extreme case but I can't do that forever, I'd run out of mana at some point." Benefits of having a Dragon's Magical Core. Medea shook her head in disbelief at my magic reserves and we continued into the temple itself, the purple sorceress weaving a perception filter around us so that the regular monks didn't pay attention to us.
We continued through the temple, exploring it and delving deeper as we could feel the magic of the leylines getting stronger. After some searching we even managed to find a secret doorway heading deeper that was very well hidden. We might not have even found it at all had Medea not known to look for it. Walls turned to stone and caves as we went further and further, until it opened up into a huge cave, where the true system of the Grail war lay.
Great magical seals of incomprehensible complexity lined the walls from floor to ceiling, and even on that as well. The Greater Grail. The system that utilized the energy from the slain servants to punch a hole to the heavens, or more correctly, Akasha. The Root. The root of what you might ask? The Root of Everything that Ever Was, and Ever Will Be. Where else could grant wishes than the root of every single thing to ever exist?
Right now it was dormant, but even as it lay still and cold it emitted powerful magic, and a flicker of malignance. It felt like rotting garbage, black lines of taint spread over the seals themselves, not enough to break free but it seeped through to taint the outer world all the same. I grimaced as I felt its putrid presence, and a shiver crawled up my spine. Medea beside me had a complex expression, likely in awe of the work on the seals yet cringing at the clear corruption that had taken over.
I took a few pictures with my phone before waving as if to clear the air of a stench, tugging Medea along with me. I didn't want to speak in the presence of that filth for fear I might end up gaining it's attention.
Once we were back in the temple proper, I let out a groan. "Well, there's my proof that the grail is corrupted. Even its presence felt like it was eroding me." I let out a slight gag as the memory of the smell came back.
"Indeed… and you wish to study that?" She guessed. I grimaced.
"I did, to see if it could be purged of corruption, but it wasn't that important in the first place since we don't need the grail. Now, I don't really want you poking around near that ick at all since I've seen it firsthand. Can we create some kind of magical napalm bomb to destroy all of that?" I asked.
"While I am loath to destroy such an intricate work, I agree that such taint must be purged. Can I at least study the seals before we attempt such a thing?"
"I can take some more pictures to preserve everything in perfect detail for you to study later, but whatever we do against the grail it had better work the first time. I don't want to find out we fell short and have it kill or corrupt us. If it results in the destruction of the entire mountain, I don't care. Anything is better than that thing corrupting a servant, or god forbid a wish." I shuddered.
Medea thought, then nodded. "I can agree to that. Surprisingly thorough of you. I approve."
"Good. While we're here you should find a good place to set up shop, then start scouting around town, try and find servants and keep an eye on them if you can. The church and the school should be good places to start."
"And what will you be doing?"
I grinned. "I'm going to take a walk!"
}x{
Despite the usual connotations of a certain vampire 'going for a walk,' I actually was going for a walk to deal with a few errands here. I had forgone my servant armor to walk the streets in casual clothes, some denim jeans and a turtleneck sweater like my mom wears to blend in as a tourist. A cover that I think I was playing pretty well since I had never gone to Japan or Asia in my past life, so this was all a new experience for me. It was certainly different from the cities I had known, a lot busier, too. I had never liked big cities but there was a lot of stuff to find in them whenever you looked.
I was actually kind of enjoying the experience as a tourist as I bought some snacks from food stands and generally just walked around, enjoying the night life and the environment. Eventually I happened upon the river that wound its way through the city and grinned. I needed to go fishing for some prizes, but I wouldn't bother with searching the riverbed myself, that's what I build robots for.
I cast a notice-me-not spell over myself so that people wouldn't look before pulling a long and sleek cylindrical item about the size of a log out of my inventory. This was a submersible drone that would scour the bottom of the river and alert me when it found what it was looking for, a pair of proto-phantasms that were dropped in the river by Gilgamesh in the last war.
I turned the drone on and dropped it over the side, causing a splash in the river that a few pedestrians turned to look at, but saw nothing as the drone was already submerged.
Now that that was taken care of, it was onto the next preparation. I walked along the streets once again, finding one of the tallest buildings downtown before just astralizing to fly right up to its roof. Ensuring that nobody was there, I walked over to one of the giant satellite dishes and opened up a maintenance panel at its base. It was time to get my own eyes and ears around this city.
I took out a brick sized computer storage device and a few wires, rigging it up and shoving it in a corner of the box nobody should be looking at before checking a progress bar on my phone. The internet speeds in the old days sucked ass, but at least compression algorithms from the future allowed things to go faster. The device I hooked into the satellite dish was actually a new AI of mine I hadn't named anything more than 'The Machine' yet. It was currently limited in scope and capabilities, a new attempt of mine to program an AI that didn't follow the preset that Aperture had, but it was showing promising results.
In short- 'The Machine' was to be my spymaster. My all-seeing eye. It would infect every satellite and every network in this city, probably even this world so I could keep an eye on things from above and within. Watching with ten thousand eyes, listening with a million ears… Predicting and monitoring situations before they could happen.
Yes, I had created my own surveillance AI based off of the one in the TV show 'Person of Interest'. This was also my first attempt at a 'blank slate' AI, who I hoped would improve and evolve over time into its own individual being.
Unfortunately this would be a mediocre testbed for it, since it was around… 1990s here? Not that many cameras and mostly just satellites and landlines to hack, nothing like a modern era. It would, however, give my AI a decent way to grasp the basics of a traditional earth and their networks, and provide a knowledge base that could be built upon.
Affirming my work was done, I leapt off the roof and glided down to an alley before losing myself in the crowds again, walking off towards the residential areas. There was one house in particular I wanted to find, but it might take a while. Best to start my search from the local school though, it would be a central location for the events to come if I didn't change things too much.
I got closer and closer to the high school only to see a flash in the distance, in one of the courtyards. Oh no... Don't tell me this is the start of the show already and Archer is fighting Lancer? Well, if that is the case, no better time than the present to test Perfect Unknowable.
Casting the spell on myself I felt the world become a bit less connected as I started running towards the school, brushing through what felt like an invisible tripwire that I assumed was a bounded field. I leapt atop the school roof before slowing enough to peer over the edge on what was going on. I watched with fascination as Archer dueled Lancer, Kanshou and Bakuya singing in the dark as the married blades fought against a blood red spear.
I had known that Heroic Spirits would likely be masters of their crafts, wielding incredible skill and strength, but this was really putting it into perspective. Lancer was relentless in his assault, yet Archer's trademark style was like a dance in motion as he constantly parried and countered every thrust and swipe his foe took.
Cú Chulainn. The Irish hero from legend vs Archer- better known as EMIYA. A Counter Guardian. Once a regular human, EMIYA had ascended to the throne by making a deal with Alaya, the unconscious mind of Humanity. Unfortunately for EMIYA, that deal turned out to be less about saving people, and instead cutting out threats to humanity like a cancer, regardless of who got swept up in the aftermath or who was innocent.
As eons passed for the man, the death of so many people ground away at him and his resolve. Embittered and feeling betrayed by his own ideals which got him into that situation, he wants to make a paradox and erase himself from the timeline to make sure no other version of him can make the same mistake. Unfortunately for him, this plan will never work, and I am going to make sure he realizes that before he can try to kill his younger self again.
For now though, I was still a bit stunned by the skills on display between the two heroes. I knew I was going to be outclassed, but it was another thing entirely to see it in person. I knew just from watching these two fight that I would get mulched if I were to go against them in a battle of blades. The difference in skill gap was stunning, but thankfully I had my own tricks up my sleeve and I didn't plan on fighting regular in the first place, should I ever get involved personally.
Still though, it was bad news if Lancer was fighting Archer already. That meant that Lancer's old master had already been betrayed, and that Saber would be summoned tonight.
I saw as a disturbance near one side of the courtyard attracted the attention of the two heroes, and a much younger and different looking Shirou Emiya sprinted away, with Lancer right on his heels. Things would be speeding up, and quickly. I needed to make plans to snatch this opportunity while I could.
Lancer could not be allowed to remain in the hands of the priest.
}x{
Shirou Emiya was not sure how his day went so crazy within the span of a few hours. One moment he was finishing up some janitorial work at the school, the next he stumbled across a pair of superhuman men fighting, got himself caught, was stabbed through the heart by the guy with the spear, woke up to find himself miraculously healed, and then had to run from the man with the spear again!
When he ran home and stumbled into his workshop only to somehow summon a beautiful woman who called him "Master" who proceeded to fight the guy with the spear off, he thought his head was going to melt.
THEN, to top the situation off, his classmate Rin Toshaka showed up with the other man from earlier in tow and proceeded to help fight in his defense!
Suffice to say, he was confused, exhausted, and had ten thousand questions. When it seemed like the guy with the red hair was going to retreat, he had been relieved, because it seemed he would be able to relax and get an answer for things.
…It wasn't meant to be.
Just before the red haired man could leap away, someone in a purple cloak with a dagger appeared behind the spear guy and stabbed him in the back, yet didn't kill him. Lancer initially cried out in pain but it soon turned into a rolling laughter as all the tension faded from his frame. The woman he summoned and the guy with white hair tensed, only to whirl as another voice sounded out.
"Good, everyone is already here. That speeds things up." A woman said. She stepped out from the darkness to the side, revealing herself to have a pale complexion and nearly white hair, with burning golden eyes and a fierce looking black armor. A small smile was on her face as she approached the group. "Feeling better, Lancer?" She called out, looking to the spear guy.
"You sly dog! You managed to steal me from him! Heh, I can't complain, as long as you give me some good fights!" He responded, looking much more at ease than earlier.
The woman's grin turned a bit smug, like someone who knew something you didn't and she chuckled. "No need to worry there, you'll see plenty of fights if you stick around."
"Who are you? Another servant?" Rin called out, studying the woman intensely. Shirou noticed a red tattoo on the back of the newcomer's hand just like on him and on Rin, too, now that he noticed. The unknown woman made a so-so motion.
"In a way, not that I serve anyone that I don't choose to. My servant is Caster," She motioned to the quiet woman beside Lancer who now had her own set of seals on her hand. "But you can call me Avenger. Rest assured I didn't come here for a fight." Shirou noticed that the white haired man beside Rin stiffened at the woman's title.
"State your intentions or leave, Avenger." The blonde woman Shirou summoned announced, standing proud and ready with that invisible blade of hers. Avenger eyed her before nodding.
"Fine then. I want your help. Especially yours, Archer." She eyed the tanned man in question.
"Help with what?" Archer asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"With ridding the world of a certain worm. Then the 'Golden King'." She proclaimed, giving the man a knowing look. Archer stiffened again, tense and coiled.
"How would you know about that?" He hissed.
"Shortest answer you would understand relates to a certain old vampire. I also know that your plan is doomed to fail before it even began, but I can ensure a different outcome. At least for here." She responded, putting her hands up to show she meant no harm. Archer stared her down with intensity for a solid few seconds before letting out a breath and massaging his forehead.
"No matter where I go, that damn vampire always causes me headaches. Fine. Assuming the worm you're talking about relates to the Matou's, I'll work with you. We'll need all we can get to deal with the king afterwards."
"Hold on, what's this about the Matous?" Rin interrupted, mirroring Shirou's own confusion. This conversation was missing a lot of context, and he was starting to feel like he'd tripped into the deep end of a pool.
"Emiya." The woman called out, looking at him. How did she know his name? "You know of Sakura Matou, correct?" At his hesitant nod, she continued. "Did you know she's been suffering for the last ten years under her so-called 'family'?"
Shirou's freshly healed heart clenched. "I.. I thought that might've been true, but I had no proof…" It was true, Sakura was a lovely girl but she was just so… empty most of the time. Her eyes were almost dead looking, so rarely showing any spark of life to them. He had feared that was the case but she'd never tell him anything, and he couldn't find any proof. To have it confirmed… A fire lit in his heart, and an iron determination to help save her took root.
Archer gave him a look and shook his head, but it felt more resigned than the earlier annoyed looks.
"What do you mean Sakura has been suffering? The Matou's would never do anything to her!" Rin proclaimed, pointing heatedly at Avenger.
"Two words, Toshaka. Crest. Worms." Avenger practically hissed out. All the color drained from Rin's face while Lancer cursed and the blonde swordswoman sucked in a breath.
"They wouldn't… Father would've never let them take her if he believed they would do that!" Rin stammered out, shaking her head.
"Well I'm afraid your father didn't truly understand the Matous, or exactly what their old man was."
"I'm sorry," Shirou broke in. "What are crest worms?" The pale woman gave him a pitying look.
"It'll be easier on you if you keep your innocence, so I won't tell you everything. Suffice to say they are Parasitic magical worms. Classified as familiars but utterly reprehensible in their usage, especially on women. I don't wish to go into detail on exactly what they do but it is a cruel and disgusting thing to inflict on anyone, most of all a young girl." She shook her head in a grimace.
"What are we waiting for then? We've got almost half the war's participants in one place and we aren't already storming there?" Lancer asked, fiddling with his spear. Shirou was confused by what the man meant about a 'war'. Was some kind of magic battle taking place in the city? Is that why these superhuman people were fighting here?
"I'm waiting, because we need a plan. Zouken Matou is more than just a decrepit old man, he's practically a dead apostle. He uses his worms as a way to host his own survival and we need to make sure that none of them survive." Her eyes darkened. "A task made difficult considering Sakura is infected with them. We kill him but not his worms, and he's sure to try and take over Sakura or at least kill her. I've got someone who can help remove them and save her but we'll need to get her first before we can worry about hunting Zouken down."
"We can get her tomorrow when she comes to school!" Shirou spoke up, mind running through the possibilities as he tried to figure out the best way to approach this. Avenger made a noise like she didn't agree.
"Possible, but Shinji, her petty and jealous 'brother', has command over the Rider servant. Sakura's fronting the mana cost since he has no magic circuits, but thanks to a mystic code shaped like a book, Shinji has the contract. If they're walking together to school it's likely that their servant won't be far behind. Is there a time we can nab her when she's away from him?" She asked.
Shirou thought. "Well, Sakura often comes over to help around the house and to visit, but recently she hasn't come around as often…"
"Perfect. Tell you what, why don't you ask Sakura to help cook dinner when you see her tomorrow? Tell her you're having guests over and you would like assistance in making sure the meal goes well, or something like that." Avenger proposed. Shirou nodded thoughtfully. Sakura always seemed to like helping out, it was certainly worth a shot.
"I'll do it."
"Great! That helps wrap things up on that end, which leaves us with the next order of business." Her face became serious and she shared a look with Archer.
"Saber." She called out, addressing the blonde swordswoman who called Shirou 'Master'. "I assume Kiritsugu never got the chance to tell you why he had you destroy the grail last war, did he?" Shirou's heart jumped into his throat. Kiritsugu, his adoptive father?
Rin gasped at the question, while Saber faltered, her eyes wide as she took in the question. "I… how did…"
"The reason was, the grail had been corrupted in the war before. His wish was for nothing, as the grail has become a monkey's paw dedicated to causing the most suffering it can, so he had you destroy it." Shirou was getting more and more confused, just what the hell was going on? What was this war his father had participated in, and who was this woman he had summoned, who apparently worked under his dad? And what was this grail about?
"Corrupted..?" Rin muttered. Saber's sword faltered as things began lining up in her head.
"In the third war for the grail," Avenger began, "the Einzberns wanted an extra leg up on the competition and decided to summon another class of servant, an Avenger like me. Problem was, the one who they summoned was Angra Manyuu, the Zoestrian God of Evil, and he was very weak. So weak that he died near the beginning of the war, but instead of properly dying, his essence corrupted the greater grail, turning it into a method to unleash all evils of the world upon mankind. Any wish you want to make would be entirely twisted to cause the most suffering possible. Due to that, I've decided to entirely ignore the war and throw it on its head to try and get some things done and gain a few allies."
"We'll still need to face him and the priest, and we still have one other servant to consider." Archer announced, giving Shirou a sidelong look. Avenger followed his gaze and blinked in realization, much to Shirou's continued confusion.
"Right, Berserker and… Illya. That will be a delicate situation. I hope we can at least work something out though." She paced a little before snapping her fingers, pointing to him. "Shirou, your father kept travel records, right? Especially on any out of the country trips?"
"Uhh… I believe so, why do you need those though?" He shook his head, finally able to ask questions. "In fact, why are you helping us? Who are you all, why is my classmate here, why is everyone fighting, and what on earth is going on?" He panted lightly after nearly shouting that last question.
Avenger gave him a considerate look. "Right... you're still new to this." She sighed. "A lot of it would take too long to explain, so you can probably get a good explanation later from Ms. Toshaka here, but to summarize- Every few decades a magical tournament is usually held here where the winner can get any one wish they want from winning the prize, the Holy Grail. This would be the fifth such tournament, and starting far earlier than usual because the last one was a failure. During a grail war, masters, marked with command seals like the ones on your hand, summon a Heroic Spirit from history to be a servant to help them fight for the grail.
"I am one such spirit, though I have no master and am more of an independent outlier than the other spirits. Archer, Lancer, Saber, and Caster here are some of the normal types of servants. There is also Berserker, Rider, and Assasin, but Berserker is our biggest worry for now. You were probably never told this, Shirou, but Kiritsugu had a daughter. Do you remember him taking a lot of trips out of the country to Germany before he died?"
Shirou was stunned. A daughter? He had a sister? "I… Well, he did take a lot of business trips…" He said distractedly.
"Well, the reason he probably took those trips was to try and get her back. Problem was, the Einzberns, who hired him in the last war, were not very happy with his failure. Add in his dying body and their formidable defenses, and he was unable to do anything. Instead, he was forced away, seemingly to have abandoned her. Throw in some manipulation by the Einzberns, and now his daughter believes he abandoned her for you, and wants to kill you. You may have even already met her."
Shirou's head spun. This was a lot to take in, but one thing stuck out at him the most. He had a sister who was hurting. Other worries and questions started to fade as he realized that there were people in this war that needed help. Determination took root in his head once again. He would save them. He would save everyone he could.
All of a sudden, Rin's stomach grumbled, causing her to flush with embarrassment as most of the group turned to look at her. "Well…" Avenger began. "Seems like some of us missed a meal… Emiya, would you mind if we troubled you for dinner?"
—
Jeanne POV-
I had always heard about how Shirou had an immense talent for cooking, but I had never truly understood how good of a chef he was. Not until today.
The entire dining room was filled with noise as four other servants and two masters shared a meal together, with Lancer having treated himself to some hidden alcohol while the rest of the room dug in. Saber was putting away more food than most of us combined, but at least there was enough for all of us. Even Caster was finding the meal to her liking.
I sighed pleasantly as I ate another spoonful of fried rice, delighting in the flavor. I was never a foodie but I could understand quality cooking, and whatever kitchen wizardry Shirou and Archer shared outclassed anything I had ever had before. I didn't take anything more than a single serving of food so the others could have more, but I was coming to regret that as I tried to savor the last remnants of my meal. Truly, they were gifted chefs.
"Archer." I called out, staring into his gray eyes as he turned. "The instant everything here gets resolved I'm hiring you as a personal chef." I stated, pointing my spoon at him. He raised an eyebrow while Rin frowned from her seat next to him.
"And what makes you believe I'll let him go?" She asked pompously. I gave her a wry grin.
"Because he doesn't answer to you unless he wants to, and you already have the 'lovable idiot'-" I gestured to Shirou. "Who would be willing to help you with anything and everything you could possibly ask for without a second thought. Including cooking."
"Will there be a good kitchen?" Archer asked, looking consideringly at me.
"You name exactly what you want in it and I'll buy it or build it for you. That goes for ingredients too, make a list and I'll find the best places to get it from. I know you're not exactly the real you, only a copy, but since your memory goes back to the throne once you die, wouldn't several thousand years of good cooking and other stuff help break up the rest of the memories?" I asked. Archer actually gave it some thought.
"You really think you'll be able to keep me around long enough to make a dent in them?"
I shrugged. "We're functionally immortal, and I don't plan on dying for a long, long time yet. Possibly ever. Worth a shot, wouldn't you say?"
He tilted his head. "We'll see, provided we can survive through all of this." That was good enough for me.
A/N: Huzzah! A quick update! If I didn't already have 80% of this chapter written already it would take a lot longer, but I hope this is a satisfactory start to the F/SN challenge!
As you can tell, Jeanne is flipping the war on its head with ease! It's surprising what can be accomplished when things line up just right. But it doesn't mean everything will be easy street. Challenges will lie ahead, for how else could it be called a challenge token? Stay tuned for more!