Summary: Both Achilles and Arturia knew from experience that the tool known as the "Holy Grail" wouldn't grant wishes as it claimed to do. After all, their experiences fighting in wars over the thing proved that such a search was meaningless. Nothing good supposedly came from a Holy Grail that was made by mages. So the last thing they were expecting with their return to the Wandering Sea was for their new Master's actions in giving them Grails, the same smile on her face.

On the other hand, one Tactician faces the same Master and does his best to be there for her in spite of his own disappointment.

Note: This was inspired by the recent happening (well, as of Dec. 21, 2020 when starting this chapter's writing, anyway) of my max leveling Achilles and Arturia to Level 100 in my Chaldea with the onset of Christmas 2020 in FGO NA. The unlimited number of resets on lotto boxes means I can restock on QP and mats even when my common sense looks at the dwindling QP from all the Grail usage with a face.

These two Servants were some of the main factors getting me into Fate as a fan, and this is only part of my ode of dedication to them. I just hope my writing does them justice, because they help make FGO so much more enjoyable for me.

Thank you, Rider, Saber. I don't know where I'd be without you two helping with the frontline attacks.

Oh, and even if they are light, there are references to events post-Lostbelt 3 and Christmas 2020 in NA. For those worried about any spoilers when it comes to this bit.

The song I'll recommend here is Seimeisen by ReoNa, roughly translated to "Lifeline," from the Tsukihime remake trailer. Since I can't unhear it now with the advent of the New Year and patient cases at my clinical lab increasing.

Please enjoy.

Day 10: Redefining a Holy Grail

No one really knew where the Holy Grails in Chaldea went. The last time they were ever used on a Servant, Robin Hood went drinking with Billy the Kid for weeks thanks to being the first to have Grails used on them.

These days, everyone wondered when Vy was going to use one next. Well, it was more a matter of who she would give one to next. Even with four more Lostbelts on the horizon, the supply of Holy Grails in Chaldea's possession simply grew in number, never dwindling from use. Some folk even bet on the possibility of their growing dust from sitting around with nothing to do. After all, every Servant in Chaldea knew that the only way Vy, a normal girl in all but power, could use the Grails was through Palingenesis, but it was costly. QP wasn't exactly in high demand in spite of her many attempts at material and mat farming, and if the number of Servants contracted in her command was any indication, it would take a long time for everyone to be fully ascended. Even if she had made good progress as she did, as the kind Master she always was, Vy was still one human.

One imperfect yet loving human.

Thus, it confused Arturia Pendragon when an announcement through the loudspeakers called for her and the Rider known as Achilles. The Wandering Sea that now made up "Novum Chaldea" was not the same as Chaldea's Observatory in Antarctica. It was, in all honesty, a bit more cramped and the many rooms in the Wandering Sea constantly carried a faint salty under-smell that was telling of the area being under meters of ocean, but it was still familiar with its white halls that called back to the original Chaldea. Thus, the walk to Vy's location in the new Enhancement Center was pleasant, albeit quiet from no one else walking around.

Arturia shook her head once it became obvious her thoughts were about to wander mid-stride, adjusting her mantle. It was obvious that not everyone of the Servants would be summoned back immediately. After all, Vy was still Chaldea's only Master. Even if the Wandering Sea had expected survivors, it was still a lonely existence to ponder being the only humans left alive. Chaldea's staff were already small in number from the explosion in the Command Room that started the Incineration of Humanity, but with their count now down to less than half from the Bleaching too…

Arturia walked faster to where she knew Vy was waiting. She knew that Vy couldn't stay alone forever.

"Fou, fou!"

Achilles turned his head to the side, catching a hint of white fur before he could feel tiny paws start to claw up his armor. Of course he'd still be around. He survived one Incineration already — who said beasts couldn't survive a Bleaching?

"Hey, Primal Beast," Achilles hummed, raising one arm in time for the tiny creature to climb up his arm with a wave of its white fluffy tail. "Are you going to see Master too?"

"Fou!" Fou said succinctly as he scampered up to rub his nose against Achilles' cheek.

Achilles probably understood about 3/4ths of that "Fou" thanks to talking with Xanthos for all the time he was a warrior, before and after becoming a Heroic Spirit. Even then, he still went along with it via a nod of his head, shouldering his spear on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Fou. "What do you think Vy's up to, calling just me and the King of Knights? Any ideas?"

"Fou fou," Fou said in response, tilting his head at Achilles' questioning while wagging his tail. The look in his eyes clearly showed his confusion more than his voice.

"Don't think it's a Grail or training, considering Vy's been on way too many Golden Apples," Achilles continued, walking forward with a toss of his head, getting some strands of green hair out of his face. "But if it is a Grail—"

"Fou!" Fou said.

Achilles allowed himself a single barking laugh. "I wouldn't put it past Vy surprising both of us, right?"

Fou bumped his nose against Achilles' cheek in his way of agreeing. Achilles could take that much, so he kept walking.

"Achilles," Arturia said mildly.

"Arturia," Achilles returned back, giving her a single quirked eyebrow. "What's up?"

"We were both called here by Master's request," Arturia said, not even appearing to want to humor Achilles' joke as her crown glinted gold back at him from the top her head. "I am not sure of what is 'up' until Vy arrives."

Achilles resisted the urge to roll his eyes, shouldering his spear while glancing absently at Fou. The beast merely chirped another "Fou!" at him before jumping off his shoulder and running towards Arturia, and the King of Knights blinked at the creature as he proceeded to paw at her armored legs. "You and me both then." At least this King wasn't insufferable in Achilles' eyes, especially if she wasn't pushing Fou away. Fou was cute. Kinda. For a former Primate Murder, anyway.

"Fou!" Fou said in time with his finally getting a grip on Arturia's dress, climbing up to sit on Arturia's shoulder as a makeshift resting spot. The King of Knights minutely relaxed her posture to let the beast cuddle up to her cheek, and a small smile graced her face by the time she added, "She's coming."

"You mean—" Achilles stopped once he felt a familiar warmth course through their shared mental bond.

Of course. The ticklish feeling made the upcoming arrival clear enough to rival a showing of a normal blue sky back before all this "Saving Humanity" business.

And, sure enough, the only door to the Enhancement Chamber opened with a swish, exposing their petite brown-haired Master puffing for breath in the doorway. It was hard to miss how her long brown hair was flowing out freely again compared to her usual "work" ponytail that she wore for missions and Rayshifts. The only thing that hadn't changed was her wearing the Chaldea Winter Mystic Code since she had received it for the first Lostbelt. "H-Hi, Arturia-san, Achilles!"

"Hello, Master," Arturia said at the same time Achilles added, "Yo, Master!"

Fou said a little after that in his usual tone, "Fou!"

Vy turned a light pink, embarrassment clear through their shared link from the attention as she slowly stood up straight to walk forward. Both Servants automatically focused on how Vy's hands were hidden behind her back, but gave her the space to approach them without judgement. Even if she was concealing something, they knew it wouldn't be dangerous. Hell, even if Achilles and Arturia hadn't known Vy for as long as, say, Archer EMIYA and Marie Antoinette, that didn't mean they weren't able to read their Master's movements. Fighting together had forged something between the three of them, even if Achilles and Arturia weren't put on the same team every waking moment. That was how Vy's journey had been.

Thus, both Servants found themselves shocked silent once Vy reached them and withdrew what she was hiding from behind her back.

Gold, Arturia thought first.

Grail, Achilles finished. What the fuck.

Vy's smile seemed dim in the face of the light emitting from the two "Holy" Vessels sitting in her hands, but even then, she offered the Grails to the Servants with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Um," she started with a small squeak at the end of her sentence, "Merry Christmas?"

"F-Fouuuuu!" Fou said for both Saber and Rider, surprise clear in the cry.

Achilles could've dropped his spear. "M-Master, that's—"

"Vy," Arturia said quietly, interrupting whatever thought Achilles had on the tip of his tongue, "Are you offering to do Palingenesis with us?"

The muted conclusion rang loud enough in the Enhancement Room to make Achilles feel light-headed. Heck, even with Vy nodding her head in response to Arturia's question, Achilles still raised a shaky finger to point between her and the Grails sitting as obvious black sheep in the room. "M-Master, those are powerful! World-ending! You're—"

Low on materials, low on energy—

"I-I want to give them to you two!" Vy blurted out, her eyes sliding shut behind her glasses. I don't care, echoed in the air with the declaration. "After everything, I want you two to be my first Level 100 Servants! I-I have enough QP from Bradamante-san and Samba-Quetz-san to do it!"

Achilles lowered his hand at the same time Arturia stepped forward and rested a gentle gauntleted hand against Vy's shoulder. "…Master, we appreciate the gesture," she began, voice softening from obvious concern as Fou mirrored it with a small bark ("Fou!" was how it went), "but are you going to be pushing yourself to gather Embers for us after this?"

Vy turned her head away, her lips already puckered in a pout. "…No."

Achilles could already read the unsaid, Yes.

Arturia made a soft noise in the back of her throat as she rested her other hand on Vy's other shoulder. "I sense doubt."

"Y-You and I both know that I'm going to be pushing myself eventually, Arturia-san," Vy responded, and no one in the room missed the heat in her voice. "We're not… not…"

At that point, yet again, no one needed to fill in the blank Vy left them. The unsaid, We're not with Dr. Roman and the rest of the original Chaldea anymore, was obvious in the air alone.

Achilles breathed it in — the tension, the fear, the worry, all of it — before letting his spear dissipate in favor of walking forward too, reaching over Saber's head to rest a gloved hand of his own on top of Vy's hair. "Are you sure about this, Master? Even if it is Palingenesis, you're still using Grails. You could use them for something else—"

"No!" Vy violently shook her head in time with the shout, gripping the Grails tighter as she restated in a firmer voice, "No. I want you two to be my first Level 100s!"

"Vy…" Arturia said in the same soft tone from before. It was obvious she felt the same way Achilles did.

A mix of fondness and exasperation borne from worry ran through Achilles' veins as he thought, This Master of ours.

Both Servants weren't unfamiliar with Holy Grails being misused. But this—

"You two have been there for me time and time again," Vy elaborated, her ears pink enough to be telling of her hidden cheeks as her brown hair shrouded her face. "Even if you weren't there at the start of everything, you've still protected me. You still looked out for me. You were there when… when Dr. Roman went away." Both Servants present carefully hid their winces. "So, I…" Vy swiped at her eyes with one of black gloves, and thus Achilles pretended to be ignorant of the wet spots that came out of the gesture on Vy's person. "I-I wanted to give something back. And after everything in the Lostbelts so far, Grails was all I could think of."

The feeling that poured through their shared link at that point conveyed nothing but one word.

Love.

For once, the Holy Grails in Vy's hands were representing love. It wasn't romantic, it wasn't even sexual — amazing considering how some things in Mage culture were plain weird when it came to mana transfer — but it was comfortable.

Achilles felt his breath catch in his throat once Vy looked up to glance between Arturia and him, a shy smile on her face. "Um," she said again, her brown eyes wavering slightly behind her glasses. "Th-That is, if you two are willing to take the Grails?"

"…"

Arturia moved first, bowing her head enough to make her gold crown tilt a bit downwards on top of her hair as she lowered her hands enough to cup Vy's shaking ones, taking one of the Grails in the process. "How could I refuse, Princess?" she stated fondly. "A gift from you is one I will always accept."

Achilles took a deep breath through his nose. How cheesy. He reached over and grabbed the last of the two Holy Grails in Vy's hands, therefore ignoring Arturia's half-glance of displeasure as he gave a show of looking the vessel over.

It was gold, it definitely overflowed with magical energy, but…

Achilles tossed it over his head.

"H-Huh?" was all Vy had to say before Achilles grinned, and he took immediate delight in how light she was once she was in his arms and resting her hands on his shoulders. "A-Achilles?!"

There's something here that's worth more than a Grail.

Before, when he and ane-san were still under that priest, Achilles wished to be a Hero again. With this girl—

Arturia murmured a soft, "Rider?" as his smile widened. In the back of his mind, Achilles vaguely registered the loud crash that was the Holy Grail colliding with the floor of the Enhancement Center, but he couldn't find an ounce in his Spirit Origin to give a fuck.

Fou had scurried off to someplace unknown at that point, not even hanging around Arturia then, but Achilles couldn't really give even a damn once he had a proper grip on Humanity's last Master in a warm carry-hug. Hell, he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud and spinning her around via his prized feet as fast as he could, causing some swirls to show up in Vy's eyes past her glasses along the way. "Merry Christmas to you too, Master!" he shouted mid-spin, catching Vy's attention as she swayed in his arms. "Love you more!"

Thank you for deciding to make us the first Level 100's.

It wasn't a love that would corrupt the world. Achilles knew (along with Arturia) that this love Vy had for them was one that would save the world.

After all, they both still remembered how Mash looked when Vy took her hand and prepared herself to die in that aflame Command Room of the original Chaldea before Singularity F in Fuyuki City. Even at the brink, both girls did their best to be at peace with each other, holding hands until the Rayshift that started everything brought them together in combat. Even in passing dreams, the recollection was vivid enough for all Servants to taste the kindness and relief.

Even with that in mind, Vy flushed a dark red in response to Achilles' sudden declaration, her features resembling a small tomato at that point. She could've been a regular schoolgirl with that blush, contrasting the memory both Servants present were inwardly reminiscing, but she was suddenly smiling and giggling too, wrapping her arms around his neck as he continued twirling her. "Th-Think so?"

"I know so!" Achilles gloated, putting her back down in the same interval it took to bump foreheads with the petite girl, the same grin on his face. "Don't think you can love more than the Hero of Greece, Princess!"

Vy's brown eyes were shining with something wet past her glasses, but she was still smiling as she applied the smallest amount of force to his forehead back. "M-Maybe," she said shakily. "Maybe."

I wouldn't give the Grails to you two if I didn't care about you.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Rider," Arturia interjected, wrapping an arm around both him and Vy at that point, her crown nearly toppling off her head as she joined the forehead bump with a nudge of her own. "I believe as the former King of Knights, I have you evenly matched in care for the Master."

Yep. Even Achilles could sense the smallest bit of battlelust in Arturia's voice. He politely ignored the shared thought of, I love you too, Vy, in the air.

"A-Arturia-san?" Vy squeaked in surprise, glancing between the two of them with a growing look of dread. "Th-This isn't a competition—"

"Oh, really?" Achilles knew he was getting high on the shared tension, they probably had to pick up the Grails from the floor since he definitely didn't see Arturia carrying hers anymore, but he still cheekily said in a sing-song voice, "I'll race you on it."

"I have the Riding Skill as well, Achilles, I don't think it will be a competition when I won't lose." To Vy, Arturia said in a kinder voice, "Do not worry, Princess, we will still be at your side no matter what."

"Th-That isn't exactly the problem…" Vy demurred, but all three still laughed.

I love you two so much. Thankie.

No one knew when the first observer burst into the scene. But by the time both Servants present in the Enhancement Center heard Astolfo's loud cry of, "MASTER USED A GRAIL!", both Arturia and Achilles knew they were found out. The pouring in of old comrades from every single Alignment possible — Achilles could've sworn he even saw grouchy old Hektor put away a stone in a corner of the room once the cheering started — showed that Fou must've got them to come. Mash was definitely crying out of shared joy if her glasses-less self was any indication as Holmes gave her and Da Vinci tissues.

Even then, with all the attention present and the privacy gone, Achilles and Arturia knew they wouldn't trade Vy's smile for anything. In spite of the tears close to falling from her eyes, in the middle of that forehead bump they shared, she looked all the more like the girl they first met all over again. Kind, warm, and so, so happy.

Just as how it should've been.

With the party in full swing, everyone was focused on the two new Level 100 Servants. Achilles was certainly laughing if his drinking contest with Robin Hood and Spartacus was any indication, and considering Arturia's quiet seat near Archer EMIYA, Bedivere, and Saber Lancelot, both were enjoying themselves.

All the hubbub was enough for Vy to gently slip out of the Novum Chaldea Dining Hall and sit down in the nearby hallway to the discretion of no one but Mash.

Waver didn't really acknowledge her outside of a curt nod once she arrived, instead leaning against the wall as he sat with his legs crossed. It was hard to really tell what was going on in his head, even with his taking on his younger form no thanks to his Servant disposition, but he didn't seem to object to Vy's presence if the matching silence was any indication. It was a glaring contrast, the silence, to the loud chatter still going on inside the new dining hall.

Once Vy settled near his right side, she pulled her knees up to her chest as she murmured, "I'm sorry, Waver," in the quietest voice she made for the day.

Waver didn't do so much as twitch, simply moving his hand so that it gently rested against the floor of the hallway. If anyone was watching, they would've noticed how he left his hand in reaching range of Vy's in case she felt like it. "Why are you apologizing?"

Vy curled up into herself a little more while tilting her head in his direction, her eyes focused on the top of her knees. "I wasn't able to summon your King during New Year's," she confessed, a little crack in the normally high-pitched voice. "And I know you've been waiting for him."

Waver sighed to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose in the moment it took for Vy to get the courage to look up at him. "Master, you shouldn't feel bad about it. The FATE summoning system is honestly crap when it comes to the bigger names in the Throne of Heroes. For you to have so many famous figures by your side after two years is an honest godsend." He could still vaguely remember the scene of Caesar reuniting with his beloved Cleopatra in that Summoning Chamber, after all. It would've been something out of a fairytale, with two old lovers reuniting at the stroke of midnight. But with Waver… "Don't take it all on yourself."

Vy opened her mouth with a small, "But—"

Waver reached over with his pointer finger and thumb pressed together.

As expected, the forehead flick landed. "OW!"

Before Vy could fully recoil back, Waver took the chance to take his mantle off and drape it over the top of her head, making for a sloppy kind of hood that concealed her now struck forehead. Vy blinked up at him, the red mark left from his flick now hidden by the golden fur of the mantle. "W-Waver?"

"Stop that, Master."

"S-Stop what?"

"Pushing yourself," Waver sighed again, vaguely remembering a similar gray-haired girl in his brain before reaching over to press his hand to the top of Vy's head through the mantle. "I can wait longer. And you've done enough for Chaldea these past two years. This should be a time of quiet and celebration for you right now." Even if the smile on his face felt somewhat forced, Waver knew he couldn't entirely fake it in front of this girl. "You should go back to the party and be with all the people and Servants that love you. Like Rider and Saber."

In any other situation, if he wasn't a Servant and if she was a true, albeit small Mage, he might've been her teacher. It was a nice thought.

It was another thought to think about how his Rider would've felt, seeing that little girl of a Saber and motherfucking Achilles of all Servants being raised to Level 100. Maybe he would've boasted about his own merits over a beer mug to try getting Vy's attention in the unsaid Grail competition. Or he would've just laughed and taken the results as is. Waver wouldn't know.

Iskandar wasn't…

Vy still looked up at him with those big brown eyes through her glasses, blinking incredulously before ducking her head and pulling the mantle closer around her. "…Still," she said softly, "I was worried about you. Parties can only last for so long."

Waver exhaled through his nose, patting Vy's head again. "I'll be fine, Master. My King is still here, just in his younger form. And with your luck, I know you'll get the true King of Conquerors eventually." The smile on his face felt all the more genuine as he admitted, "After all, you raised me well, didn't you?"

"Aye…" Even with that little affirmation, Vy didn't sound convinced as she cloaked herself in the red and gold-trimmed mantle. Instead, she relaxed her legs and proceeded to gently rest her head on his shoulder through the cloak, the touch hesitant and unsure. "Just, can I stay with you for a little while? The hubbub from the party is a bit…"

Waver allowed himself one last and final sigh. He could already fill in the blank Vy had left for him simply from how her voice was barely audible anymore. "As you wish, Master. But you will have to eat something later. Humans can't overwork themselves forever."

"Wh-When EMIYA comes by with a proper dinner, then I will." Vy still relaxed against Waver's side thanks to the permission given, her breathing coming out in small steady puffs. Waver didn't have to turn his head to know her eyes were closing, but—

"Happy New Year, Waver…"

He still felt himself freeze up at Vy's honesty. Before he could question the saying, he could already sense through their mental bond that she had fallen asleep, most likely from the social interaction of being with all the Servants in the party back in the Dining Hall.

"You buffoon," he murmured quietly, tucking the girl into his mantle via a gentle arm around her shoulders. "Do me a favor and speak up sooner if large gatherings take so much out of you." Into the top of her head covered by the mantle, he couldn't deny the smile on his face. Instead, he found himself whispering, even when he knew she couldn't hear him anymore, "Happy New Year to you too, Vy…"

Until the King of Knights and the great Hero of Greece would eventually come to check in on their Master, Waver would bide his time and enjoy the silence in the hallway for what it was. The warmth of another person at his side was a small reconciliation prize in the face of everything else.

A few days later, Robin Hood didn't even flinch when a few knocks came to his door. He merely waved his hand to the motion sensor so that the hinges of the entrance would slide open, and once Arturia Pendragon and Achilles made their way in, he grinned and raised a bottle of wine.

"Here's to the new Grailed Servants! Welcome to our exclusive lounge!"

Author's Note: The part on Waver was inspired by how I pulled Cleopatra instead of Iskandar during the GSSR rate-up. Ah well. I hope he'll come soon.

Still, I think I want the next chapters to be on Beni-Enma and the Prilya trio, since I did pull them in this past month. (My Rank EX luck apparently continues in other aspects. Dunno.) Considering my full-time job and online Hematology class, though, we'll see.

Happy 2021, everyone, and I hope you're all staying safe. I'll see you whenever something comes up next.