Summary: Out of all the Servants she could've chosen, Sherlock Holmes still found himself being taken aback at her choice in him as her Grailed Ruler. But when compared to his dubious origins, her feelings on the matter were probably the most innocent he could find in a simple deduction.


Note: Ever since I summoned Holmes on a ticket rainbow in-game back in 2020, a little after my first family death too, I knew he was going to be important to me. Back then, I was in a slump — trying to get out of all the memories, but still finding myself stuck in them — so the World's Greatest Detective had perfect timing.

Growing up with Case Closed/Detective Conan helped Holmes' case. Pun fully intended.

Spoiler warning for the entirety of Lostbelt 6.5 Traum, especially for Section 21. And content warning for implied drug use, because Holmes. Just have to say that now.

The theme for this chapter is split: (1) key plus words, the second opening to Persona 4 The Animation; (2) Full Moon Full Life, the opening to Persona 3 Reload; (3) the Main Theme from Detective Conan, specifically the version played for the sixth movie that stars Holmes — The Phantom of Baker Street; and (4) the insert song titled Be the Winners from the 2020 version of DIGIMON Adventure.

Here we go.


Day 80: Simple Deduction

"A Holy Grail…" Sherlock Holmes knew just as much as any other Servant in Chaldea's employ how powerful a single Grail was. After all, Goetia had utilized seven just to help bring about the Incineration of Humanity at the start of Chaldea's term of service. And that was not even delving into the massive girth of memories other Servants had of alternate Holy Grail Wars various mages had waged outside of Marisbury Animusphere's war in 2004's Fuyuki City thanks to Chaldea's FATE system allowing memory retention. Hearing of the sheer number of parallel worlds and fierce battles present in those worlds merely made Holmes gain an immense itch to investigate further when he had the time. Nonetheless, Holy Grails were valuable. One was enough to change the tide of any battle. And yet— "Miss Vy."

Instead of making a verbal response, Vy had merely tilted her head at him with a questioning Muu noise, a gesture that had his lips twitch. He could ignore Hokusai elbowing him through her kimono sleeve. Even if she was what the Mages' Association called a "dangerous" Servant due to her Foreigner class, Holmes knew better than anyone how she and "Toto-sama" were fiercely loyal to Vy.

What truly mattered now were the two golden cups nestled in Vy's hands — one chalice per palm — glowing brightly past her gloved fingers as she raised them up to him and Hokusai both. Despite Vy's innocent looking face, the two Holy Grails made up a sight surprising enough he had to force himself to cough. The lump in his throat would most likely appear unsightly to someone like Miss Blavatsky if she were here in the room. And for someone like Miss Blavatsky—

"Get it together, Mr. Siguerson!"

Now that would be something you would say, wouldn't it? Yelena…

"I understand you have already Grailed nine Servants before myself and Miss Oei here in the name of admiration and love," Holmes started gently, glancing at Hokusai before promptly pretending he didn't see her make a chopping motion towards her neck at him with a face. Clearing his throat, he went on with, "But as Novum Chaldea's Administrative Advisor and as a detective, I must ask: are you absolutely sure about using these? As much as Miss Oei can attack multiple enemies at once with her Noble Phantasm, all I can offer you in return are my deductions, baritsu, and knowledge. It is not much of a return service nor a proper payment."

"Oi, Holmes," Hokusai cut in curtly, sounding annoyed/very much exasperated and not taking any "bullshit" as the modern folk would put it, making another (this time more exaggerated) cutting motion at her neck with one hand. "Ya not doubting Master about this, are ya? Or, hell, making some kinda 'calculated deduction' about it? Ya've been with her for 'bout the same time as me, and she doesn't just hand out Grails willy-nilly! And if ya ask me, I'll take the freebie." Once Toto-sama spurts a warning blast of ink Oei's way, though, the young woman dodges, although not without giving Vy an apologetic yet fond grin once she takes one of the Grails being offered from their shared Master's hands. "Which, by the way, thanks for the freebie Grail, Master."

"Aye," Vy says softly. It's not entirely clear whether she's responding to Oei's comments or Holmes' question, but she still smiles at them both through the hesitation starting to surface in her bespectacled brown eyes. "I wanted to Grail you both, so it's okay. Deductions, baritsu, knowledge, and friendship are enough for me, so I'm sure this is not a mistake."

Holmes felt his heart skip a beat before he can stop it. "Miss Vy…"

Vy still smiles, reaching out with both hands to offer him the one Grail left in her grasp. "...Besides. The battles are getting harder with each Lostbelt," she murmured after a beat of silence, in lieu of a direct answer to Holmes calling her name. The hint of sadness and fatigue leaking through their mental bond is enough to make Holmes pause as Hokusai drops her grin. "And because of that, I honestly don't know what the future might bring. Koyanskaya trying to kill us again in her world was shitty enough, so sending her out on an outer-spacial nuke to god knows where was… well, it was something." A barely hidden wince is all Holmes needs to know the recent excursion took more out of Vy than most would want to acknowledge, and he was half tempted to reach out and squeeze her shoulder for reassurance if not for her suddenly shaking her head. From the new gleam that accentuated the bright stars in her eyes, it was as if Vy was trying to shake off her hesitation in favor of showcasing the determination that pulled almost every single Servant in Chaldea's journey to her side. "…So hey. The least I can do in the face of the grand unknown is to give a Grail to two more Servants I trust with my life, right?"

Holmes found himself speechless, even when his arms moved without his permission to take the last Holy Grail from Vy's hands. It was warm at the places where she had touched it, divine mana wafting off the cup's rims when Holmes peered down at it to see a blurry reflection of his own face. His own shocked face.

Even if I do not have all the answers to my own existence…

You would still trust me, Miss Vy?

Hokusai in contrast let out a soft noise caught between a happy coo and a delighted squeal as she leapt past the small floating figure of her father to squish Vy's cheeks between her palms. Her Holy Grail gift fell to the ground once Vy squeaked at the sudden squishing, the loud clank clank noises of metal colliding with hard tile not even deterring Oei as she continued pressing her palms to Vy's face. "Ya're way too sweet, Master! Ya gotta let me paint ya now! I'm sure whatever pose ya take, ya'll be a serious beauty! Maybe make that green Archer of yours melt or something!"

"O-Oei, I don't think I'd be a beauty—!"

"Nonsense, ya are a fine beaut, Master! Almost wasted on Robin, I'd say!"

"HowamIwastedexactly—?!"

Toto-sama lets out what sounds like the closest attempt an octopus can muster for a sigh over both women's heads. But Hokusai's continued cooing over the blushing Vy is enough for Holmes to carefully clean off and make out the reflection of his own face in the Holy Grail in his hands. It takes him a moment too long to realize himself inaudibly gulping at the sudden throb of pulse his heart suddenly makes in his chest at the sight. At seeing himself and his young Master being reflected past the gold, illuminating something bigger than a tall tale mystery.

Even in the face of all the Mystics in the world, there is still only one truth, isn't there?


"Why are you overthinking it?" The Grailed Assassin in Ryougi Shiki is as blunt as ever, the simple act of cleaning her knife scarily threatening despite her slouched shoulders against the wall behind her. For what was supposed to be a bright break room just for Vy's Grailed Servants, Shiki's presence alone makes the air taste cold. "You still took the damn thing, didn't you?"

"It was not like I could refuse Miss Vy with her genuine consideration," and Holmes knew it as another truth, an irrefutable fact of his newfound Chaldean Servant life since Shinjuku onwards. Not even his arch-nemesis in James Moriarty could truly turn down the young woman they all called "Master," and the thought of his "old-man-handkerchief" scowl in reaction to the recent Palingenesis had Holmes smile wryly. Not that he would ever let Moriarty or his young liege see it. Vy was just so innocent about it. Making a big deal out of an already finalized decision could possibly mean adding more stress to her already tiny shoulders. "However, I…" he eventually felt his voice die in his throat.

I do not know why I am here. What I am supposed to be.

Why am I a Ruler class, even when I should've been a Caster class Servant? Why can I not recall the first days of my summoning as a Rogue Servant in London and Camelot, why is anything beyond Miss Vy is just—

Shiki sighed loudly, muttering something like, "Too many cynical jackasses around here," in a long-suffering breath before shaking her head. "...I have no clue what's going on in your head, and honestly, I don't know if I want to. But what matters in the end is our Master." She sheathes her knife in its holder by the time Holmes looks up at her past the unlit end of his pipe, wrinkling her nose at the tobacco in his mouth. "And since you're going to be part of the Grailed she trusts with her life, you gotta drop the drugs, unless you want me to kill that part for you."

Holmes lurched back in his armchair before catching himself, feeling his pipe droop against his bottom lip. "How… how do you plan to kill an addiction, Miss Ryougi?" Because not even Watson succeeded in the end with regards to his morphine use, yet bless his poor physician heart for trying.

"Simple." Just then, Shiki blinks, and Holmes doesn't have to be a Ruler to know her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception have been turned on. Her cleaning cloth from earlier gets suspiciously cut in half too once she tossed it into the air. Did she use her sheathed knife to cut it? Or a single finger? "I can cut gods. Who says I can't cut bad habits?"

It's almost a saving grace to hear the annoying ring ring ring of the one alarm clock in the Grail Lounge that called for the end of Vy's daily nap. And, as if acting on cue, Shiki immediately throws her sheathed knife at the thing, knocking it off the nearby nightstand with an equally loud clatter noise.

"If Da Vinci asks," Shiki growled, Mystic Eyes swirling with mana, "that clock fell on its own. No arguments."

Holmes knew he didn't want to argue with the red-jacketed Assassin. Because—

If that clock was my face, then…

Holmes exhaled as steady of a breath he could afford, doing his best to ignore how Shiki almost teleports past him and the rest of the room when walking over just to pick up her fallen knife. His newest conclusion of, Miss Vy seems to have a penchant for attracting the most dangerous of people into her social circle, didn't help his heart much. Especially after his trained ears let him hear Shiki mutter, "There better not be any nicks, I swear."

It's why Holmes does his best to school his voice into something resembling neutrality when eventually saying, "…May I suggest a rain check on cutting my morphine and tobacco habits, Miss Ryougi? For my own sense of mind?"

Shiki's long stare his way promises no such thing, even when she pulls her iconic red jacket off a nearby hanger to slip her arms — kimono sleeves and all — through it. "After Vy looks at it. We can't have you huff through our entire supply of Void's Dust when she works as hard as she does already just gathering it."

How lovely for his newest Grailed Assassin friend to point out the painfully obvious.


"I play a 'Favor' card. Habetrot, do you have a card to spare?"

"Um…" the pink-cat-like faerie pauses over her hand of "Exploding Kittens," blinking at the looming outstretched arm of Morgan sitting right across from her before gingerly picking out one card. "Not sure if this card works for you, Morgan, but it's still something?"

Morgan takes the offered card with the same face she had when making her decision in the ongoing game, staring at the "favor" with a raised brow. "…Yes," she said after a moment of consideration, nodding her head with the tiniest of smiles. Outside of her time with Vy, Holmes couldn't really recall another time the former Winter Queen could make such an expression. Goodness, not even pulling a new card from the central draw pile could take the fondness out of Morgan's face. "It's better than nothing, Habetrot."

"Then, um…" Voyager glances between the two women, the scarf around his neck twitching as he picks out a card from his own hand instead of reaching for the draw pile. "I'll 'change the future.'" Setting down a card of a cat with swirly eyes onto the table, Voyager reached out to the draw pile, taking the first three cards to peek at, then hastily shuffling them back onto the top of the pile. "Then I'll 'skip.' No drawing from me."

"Uh…" One Nemo Marine meekly stared at his cards after Voyager finished his turn, glancing at the draw pile before heaving out a loud sigh. "I really don't wanna draw an Exploding Kitten…" he muttered, reaching out to the deck to take the top card with his eyes closed. "Please don't let it explode, please don't let it explode…"

Walking into such a unique card game had Holmes blink. Did Vy give them the cards herself or something? It certainly wasn't beyond her, considering the Grailed taking to Uno long before Holmes joined them. Shiki, on the other hand, appeared unfazed by the game playing out in front of her, nodding her head towards Morgan first while ignoring Nemo Marine's subsequent scream at turning his new card over. Most likely, the Marine did get an Exploding Kitten, per the game's namesake, and once he depressingly tossed his one green "Defuse" card into the discard pile, the group was chuckling.

Uncharacteristic of his previous habits, Holmes would've been tempted to laugh himself at the whole scene Nemo Marine was making. ("Why did it have to explode?! I didn't want to explode!" Those kinds of colorful expletives could easily be discerned between Voyager's barely hidden giggles.) That is, if not for Shiki specifically asking Morgan not a full beat later, "Hey, Winter Queen, where's Vy?"

All Servant attention immediately turned to the Grailed Assassin, and Morgan — who was just about to draw her next card — paused her hand over the deck. "Our Princess?" The blue lipstick on her lips accentuated the surprising warmth in her next smile as she pointed a thumb behind her. "She's napping in the treehouse I made for her, last I remember, with her beloved May King. Today's Ember and QP gathering efforts seemed to take a lot out of her."

"They're still really cute when hugging each other!" Voyager chirped, glancing at the previously depressed Nemo Marine with a brighter smile. "It's no wonder she needed the rest!"

"I should ask Master for a hug later…" Marine bemoaned quietly to himself. "I don't want to explode again…"

"With that kind of game in bed, I'm amazed Vy hasn't asked me to make a wedding dress yet," Habetrot huffed, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her petite arms over her chest. She didn't seem to want to acknowledge Marine's mumbling at the current moment. "They're literally husband and wife in all but name now."

"...Yeah, that about tracks," Shiki drawled, and she goes on to elbow Holmes in the side to get him to move. "Well, you all can keep going with the kitten bomb game. I'll be going with Ruler to wake her up. Can't let Sleeping Beauty sleep forever."

"Ah," Morgan says, and Holmes suppresses a shiver at the mildly searching look she gives him as he walks past her. "Be sure to send Vy our regards then, Shiki."

"Got it."

Holmes was half-tempted to ask the former Lostbelt Queen why she didn't address him, but once Shiki was tugging on his coattails, he had to follow. He could ignore the piercing, searching gaze boring into his back once the others picked up their game again.

Because coming from Morgan, a woman who had pushed through insurmountable odds to rule over Faerie Britain with an iron fist for more than a thousand years, her stare alone could mean anything.

And when Holmes didn't have the biggest question to his own existence answered, it felt like she would probe it out of him if nothing else. Especially if it was for protecting their shared Master.


The new treehouse that made up one of the many places to find Vy for her daily nap was remarkably… well, mundane compared to the giant Camelot castle Morgan ruled over in Faerie Britain. With the exception of the characteristic light blue vines of mana climbing up the treehouse walls even through the simulated forest environment (reflecting its outwardly icy cold creator), everything from the wood furnishings to even the oak-made door screamed "humble." It must have been either Vy or Robin's request, considering how both had taken to the house like fish to water once Morgan had completed its construction.

Shiki glanced at her wrist just as Holmes turned to her, the tiny face of a watch exposing itself to the world before she whistled softly. "Alright then," she muttered, rotating her wrist to stretch it as she bobbed her head back and forth, a tiny crack echoing in the air from stretching her neck. "Time to wake up the lovebirds."

"Pardon my asking, Miss Shiki, but why plural use—?" Holmes couldn't finish his train of thought once Shiki pulled at his arm, nearly making him stumble in following her lead as she pushed the treehouse door open.

…Oh.

Inside the house, past the threshold of the one doorway, was an interior that called back to the Grail Lounge Sion had made in a "not-apology" to the other Grailed. At the same time, the treehouse seemed to be its own… well, "home" of its own, for lack of better words. There was another smaller kotatsu, various bean bag chairs instead of the recliners from the Lounge, a drink cooler, and even a ping-pong table to contrast the Lounge's well-established pool table.

And the main definite difference?

Unlike the Grail Lounge's main partition that separated the break bed from the rest of the room, this treehouse from Queen Morgan had a modest periwinkle-colored hammock spread, held up by tight cords tied to pillars that supported the roof of the house itself. Alongside the soft green pillows and blankets, the rather humble dressings helped the overall image of the hammock as the treehouse's centermost piece considering the two very specific people sleeping in it.

"Muu…"

Shiki let out a quiet sigh not long after hearing that, but all Holmes could do was smile softly when approaching. Because he couldn't help it.

Because right there, covered up in the No Face May King and cutely nestled close to Robin's side in the hammock, Vy — their shared Master, their princess — shifted once Shiki poked her cheek, hugging the dozing Archer tighter to the point of snuggling him. Her long brown hair, for once not tied down into a ponytail or braid, flowed past her shoulders to tangle up with the pillow and hammock sheets underneath her with her movement. A quieter grumble on her part even made Robin stir (mumbling something along the lines of "five more minutes") and turn over onto his side just to hug her back.

They really do look like a married couple from this angle. Just like Watson and—

"…C'mon, Vy," Apparently not realizing she broke Holmes' trail of thought, Shiki poked Vy's cheek again, albeit a bit gentler this time compared to her first attempt once another pointed Muu echoed in the air. "Your nap's gone into overtime already. It's time to wake up."

A pause follows. Then there's another Muu. "Over… time?" To what Holmes was realizing was his own growing relief, Vy slowly shifts again, one of her hands clutching at the No Face May King as she sits up and opens her eyes. Her free hand — her left hand with all three of her lotus-shaped Command Seals, in fact — rubs at the corners of her lashes, brushing dust and what looked like tear remnants out as a yawn involuntarily left her lips. "What's this about… about overtime? Wasn't I supposed to get up sooner…?"

"...Did you have to phrase it that way, Shiki?" Another voice grumbles, and Holmes does his best to hold down a laugh at the sight of Robin reaching out towards the sitting-up Vy just to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her back to the hammock again. "What happened to resting after work?" He nuzzles the side of Vy's neck once she squeaks in his arms, giving Shiki the stink eye past their shared Master's hair. "I was having a great dream too…"

"Perv," Shiki shoots at him. "Get a bed already."

"Says the married woman."

"Leave Mikiya out of this."

"Big Robin, Shiki-san is still right in how I have to get up…" Vy blushes just as her Archer stubbornly holds onto her in her subsequent attempts to squirm away, but the stars emerging in her eyes are bright and happy once she turns to Holmes with a slightly apologetic look. "Excuse me for this, Holmes…"

Holmes felt himself smile back before realizing it. "It is no problem, Miss Vy."

Because to see the three of them like this — Shiki and Robin's stare off notwithstanding — it was honestly comforting in the face of what else could come in the future.


"Do you believe in there really being only a single truth to every case, Miss Vy?"

The Decisive Battle uniform and lotus ribbon clip in her braid don't take away from the honest surprise highlighting Vy's eyes past her glasses as she turns to him. Her characteristic honesty, even past the scars and fatigue, was still there, it seemed. She should've been tired from just extending a contract to the former Seton-now-revealed Charlemagne a few hours ago in the name of keeping him anchored to the physical plane, but she didn't look like it. (If Holmes blinked, he could have sworn he could still hear the Franks King yell, "I'm a big mana eater, Vy, so if you're going to support me too, you gotta get some rest!", in the back of his mind.) The moonlight of the Traum Singularity's night sky even accentuates the look of innocence behind Vy's growing confusion too as she tugs at the collar of the No Face May King replica draping her shoulders, her voice coming out in a matching soft tone of, "What do you mean by that, Holmes?"

"You did mention growing up with other detectives aside from me," Holmes elaborates, the smile on his own face coming along slightly easier than previous attempts as he ignored the urge to reach into his pockets for his pipe. Even if he was Grailed now, he could already imagine the scolding looks he'd receive from the others if he attempted smoking around their shared Master. The Grailed leader in Robin especially would be the most cross with him, considering his newfound mint chewing for Vy's sake. It's why his next sentence comes out slightly tinged with amusement and bemusement all at once. "One being a tiny Sir Edogawa Conan?"

"...Ah," Vy said, and her answering giggle came out sounding like a mix of surprise and shyness. "I wasn't expecting you to remember that."

"The Phantom of Baker Street was an interesting story, Miss Vy, even if the liberties taken with me, Professor Moriarty, and Jack were rather odd considering our legends." The mere act of watching that movie with her and the others back in Novum Chaldea before the whole Singularity was found was a novelty in itself, after all. When looking back, Holmes would've thought he was used to being put on a pedestal with Miss Kyrielight's admiration, but to find a shrunken-down high school detective who tried to live by his principles of deduction when hunting down the culprits who stole his potential future away with the girl he loved? Well. For the protagonist of such a long-lived comic book, Edogawa Conan — no, Kudo Shinichi — had certainly made a strong first impression. "Nonetheless…"

Trying to save everyone, finding the truth, and making sure justice is served…

Can I truly serve justice as well as he says I can?

Even when facing an alternate version of Jack the Ripper that was corrupted by his nemesis, Shinichi had come to the right answer even after the love of his life sacrificed herself for the greater good. And the entire time, from the other side of the screen, Vy had smiled with tears in her eyes, the faith reflected in her stars past her glasses all the more unmistakable. It was why Holmes said in a softer tone, "Not every truth can be found in a single investigation. Yet can you still believe in them?"

Can you still believe in me?

He wanted to ask more, to investigate more, into the person he knew as "Master," the young woman known as "Vy Duong" who had Grailed him beyond any expectations that could show to the contrary, but the words weren't leaving his lips. All he could do was look into the stars of her eyes and wonder what she would say next.

Wonder what she could say next.

It almost felt like he was laying himself bare to her when he had everything to lose in exchange, even when just staring into those bright stars of hers, and it was an odd sensation. Prickling needles at his fingertips and toes and all.

Those stars had saved people before. But Holmes knew just as much as all of the other Servants, Grailed and not, how much those stars could spell an enemy's doom if pushed too far.

So what would you do with me if I was—

"It… it depends, honestly." After meeting his gaze for what felt like a long time, Vy turns away to look up at the night sky. The moonlight fades at that moment from incoming clouds to let her be shrouded in darkness instead. "Because to me, Holmes, the truth can be ugly sometimes. Sinister, cruel, and cold to anyone unprepared to hear it. Even painful too." The stars in her bespectacled eyes then took on a tinge of the same dark night sky around her as she blinked, her next exhale coming out heavy and upset. Her knees curl up into her chest as she says, "Not even Kudo Shinichi could tell his love the full truth about what happened to him if it meant hurting her more. And for him to tell her a lie like, 'I'll be back soon after solving this case!'… well. Sometimes a pretty lie is easier to take than a cold truth."

Holmes inhaled slowly to hide his shock. Did she know what I was thinking? "I… I see," he said instead, turning his gaze back to the sky too. All things considered, it was a very "Vy"-like thing to say. Emotionally thoughtful, with plenty of consideration and room to grow. "But does that make the 'truth' useless in the end, Miss Vy?"

What would you make of me, who can't even deduce which parts of my Spirit Origin are a lie?

"…Nah!" To his surprise, Vy slowly turns to him and smiles. "I wouldn't exactly say that either. It's just knowing a time and place for sharing those kinds of things." The clouds in the sky part at that moment, exposing the moon and allowing the light to shine down and highlight the growing stars of her brown eyes. They had a brilliant blue shade from the new moonlight angle. Like a promise. "And just because the truth can be cold, doesn't mean it should be ignored either. Pretty lies fall eventually, just as much as the ugly ones. And there's still worth in knowledge, so long as it's coming from the right place. An unbiased, raw place." She giggles then, a quiet tinkly kind of sound, as the light in her eyes grew brighter from her resting her chin against the crook of her arms over her knees. Too bright to ignore, in fact — to the point of being blinding, even. "I'd just take it one word at a time!"

"…Is that so." It was such a Vy thing to say, with that sincerity and lack of armor. During any kind of social situation — world-saving or not — a mask was a necessity. An actual resource that could decide whether a conversation could go in one's favor. Yet for this Master, she could so much as look at a situation and immediately decide whether to retreat into the shadows like no one was there or reveal her passions like that of a brilliant sun. And when staring into those eyes — just maybe…

Maybe. Just this once, he could try to reveal himself. Before whatever end could await him and his choices.

He might not get another chance like this one — spending time with her and her alone in peace — ever again.

"...Then, Miss Vy, may I propose a hypothetical situation to you?"

Vy blinks, the collar of the No Face May King replica fluttering around her neck to match a few strands of hair falling out of her braid to frame her face. The stars in her eyes barely dim as she eventually hums a soft, "Mm?" for permission.

Holmes leaned in on one hand, slowly closing the distance between them until some of his hair could brush her forehead. It wasn't close enough for a kiss — he could never do such a thing when he knew the pecking order — but still not too far for him to whisper, "If I were to give you an incomplete manuscript with my name on it, what would you do with it?"

It was the best he could muster. Past his grievances, past his concerns, past his fear.

Because those missing memories could mean anything. Ruler Moriarty proved as much, despite the narrow victory that Chaldea had achieved against him in their first meeting. The power of multiple Grailed Servants meant a Foreign Apostle such as a younger version of his arch-nemesis couldn't do so much as stand in one place. Still—

Even if I am incomplete with these faulty memories of mine, even if I am withholding information from you that could be a matter of your life or death, what would you do with me?

Holmes could've closed his eyes to expect the worst, but all he inevitably found when blinking the darkness away was the gentle blue light of her stars in those big brown eyes. Vy's starry big brown eyes. Her forehead even touches his, bumping them together and rustling the strands that fell out of his scalp. "...If I ever received a manuscript like that," Vy whispers back, the lens edges of her glasses glistening in the moonlight, "I'll carefully bind it together like I would a library book and treasure it for as long as I live. Because it's from you, Holmes. Incomplete or not, holding onto memories is the least I can do."

Because I love you, Sherlock Holmes. I always have, and always will.

The glittering starlight of her eyes made it clear that it wasn't a lie. Both her spoken word, and the words that flooded the back of his mind through their mental bond. She never meant to lie to him, and he knew she wouldn't ever start now. Even with the accumulated blood drying underneath her feet and crusting the edges of her fingernails from all the felled Lostbelts. The wind could've blown them away, the enemy in the other Realms could've attacked too, but Holmes couldn't see anything else.

With the moonlight shining down on her, with her loose braid, lotus ribbon clip, and Mystic Codes, Vy Duong was nothing but radiant.

And as her Grailed Ruler, all Sherlock Holmes could do was look at her with the eyes of what the modern folk would've called "a fan."

"…That's just like you, my dear," he eventually chokes out, pulling back and gently resting his head against her shoulder. The replica Noble Phantasm that is his new perch smells of forest musk and mint — a clear signature of the man that had already taken this girl's heart — but Holmes merely closed his eyes and leaned into her warmth. Vy's warmth. "Thank you."

There's a quiet Muu over his head as a tiny hand reaches out past her replica green mantle to brush the stray strands of hair out of his face and past his brow. "For what?"

"Just being you. It's an elementary deduction to come to." Holmes closed his eyes, the warmth in the back of his mind and against his forehead welcoming for once, even to his darkest thoughts.

With that kind of radiance, it is no wonder so many came to love you. Why they all want to protect you.

With someone like you…

"You didn't… uh, really deduce anything, though? No offense intended, by the way. I'm just me. Nobody else…" Vy makes another confused noise (something along the lines of a contemplative Hm-muu), most likely mulling over his words, but she doesn't push him off her shoulder either, a soft cheek proceeding to bump the top of his head. "Did you just want to stay a bit, Holmes?"

"For a moment. And no offense taken. Just…" Before what might be the end… "May I stay with you, dear?"

Another giggle answers him as she leans her weight back to rest against him too. The faint scent of flowers tickles his nose as she hums, "Okay, dad. Just a bit longer then." Her fingers gently stroke his forehead. "Just a bit."

"…Thank you, my dear."

From Da Vinci Lily, the nickname was awkward. But from Vy—

For once, Holmes didn't mind.


"If I were assured of your eventual destruction, I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept my own."

It was a quote no one could forget from reading his books. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote that first line at the start of everything, and even now, not even Holmes could forget it. Professor Moriarty was an enemy he just couldn't forgive, younger or not, and—

"...I know who my original Master was."

Even if it betrayed everything Chaldea stood for. Even if it made his initial summoning that of one that betrayed Proper Human History.

A one-on-one duel with the Ruler version of his archnemesis at a replica of the Reichenbach Falls was a foolhardy decision in hindsight. He wanted to believe he could solve everything, gamble on the slim chance that he could find his answers and prevent his Master from crying again. Perhaps it was the number of miracles Chaldea had accomplished before that fueled his misplaced self-confidence. Or the Grails that were permanently embedded into his Spirit Origin. Nonetheless.

It all came down to protecting his Master. His dear Vy.

But even the power of five Holy Grails couldn't stop Ruler Moriarty from smirking in his place atop the Reichenbach Falls, drawing out the truth that Holmes had been looking away from the entire time since his first manifestation in London. With one wave of his protractor-baton too. That was all it took.

Perhaps it was a curse that the truth he was looking for was one even Kudo Shinichi would frown upon. A truth that said high-school detective might've not wanted to pry, even from the Black Organization that shrunk him down to be Edogawa Conan.

"I… I was the first Disciple of the Foreign God. The first Servant she summoned. And my arch-nemesis has the power of the Norns gods at his side to defy fate. But that won't be a problem anymore."

Before the whole battle started, Vy had tugged on the coattails of his clothes, the unshed tears in her eyes making it obvious she didn't want him to leave. She had already seen so many disappear before, and here he was, hoping he wouldn't be another name in her memorial notebook back at the one shrine held in the Wandering Sea. But the memories were strong, his right arm was gone, and he knew what he had to do.

Even with blood trailing down his cheek from one eye, he did his best to smile. Because it was the least he could do for his Master. His dear. "…The crimson thread of murder has always been mixed into the bundle of the colorless threads of life. Isn't disentangling that bundle what we do as the living, Miss Vy?"

Even if it isn't all of the "me" you met in London, Camelot, and Shinjuku. But for the "me" you believed in…

I'll still come back to you. My dear Miss Vy.

"Holmes…!" It was obvious that Miss Vy, his dear, wanted to run towards him, her Command Seals glowing like she wanted to heal him, but Charlemagne, Robin, Achilles, Arturia, and Charles-Henri were all holding her back. She couldn't overpower five Servants, four of which were her own Grailed. That was enough. They were all good people. His dear deserved them. Still, she screamed, "What are you—?!"

"Merely correcting a mistake. Do not worry, dear. It's so elementary, really, I might as well skip the deduction altogether. Foreign God Disciple or not, I will not turn against my home." His Spirit Core was shrieking, warring with his newfound soul made by Grails and pure love, that it took all of Holmes' self-control to make eye contact with the leader of the Grailed staying close to Vy's side. Because of course Robin Hood would know. Outside of Miss Kyrielight who held the honor of being Miss Vy's first Servant, his Master's first love would at least understand. "Hold her for me, Archer, won't you?"

"…You don't have to tell me twice," Robin said dully, hugging Vy close just as she extended one hand in Holmes' direction. "Damn detective."

…I suppose I deserve that. Still, Holmes smiled just as his back hit the railing behind him, and he leaned backwards. "Excuse my sudden parting, then."

"HOLMES—!"

Ruler tipped his weight back and over the railing long before Vy could break out of the others' hold.

Goodbye, everyone. Allow me to take one last gamble. Even if it risks my dear's tears.

Because I can't betray the truth anymore.

The last thing Holmes could see once his head fell back to be covered by cascading seawater behind him were bright pink lotus petals drifting onto the railing he pushed himself over.

Still… one Holy Grail is enough for a miracle, so what will five warrant me?


"HOLMES!"

"H-How could this be…? I should've won, so why—?"

"Win, my big fucking ass! Screw you, Moriarty, you wannabe villain, your older Archer self was more badass than you! Plus a detective's assistant never lets anyone die on her watch, so she's not gonna let that start now!"

"Wannabe villain?! Wait, wh-what are you—?!"

"Fuck it and everything you stand for! We're not done here, so come back to me right now, Ruler, you horribly insensitive sleuth! I still need you!"


Before he knew it, Holmes could suddenly breathe again. Lotus petals were gracing the edges of his vision, his coat was lighter from bright blue mana highlighting the insides of the cloth, clean black gloves were on his hands, and—

The memories weren't assaulting him anymore. He couldn't feel the composite Divine Spirits fragmenting his summoning nor his previous allegiance to the Foreign God either. Instead, his Spirit Core felt solid, human, alive, and firmly rooted to reality from one Master's mana alone.

Not even a meter or so away, that Master — Vy, his dear — was hanging onto one of his sleeves, her knuckles turning white to contrast the bright red glow of her lotus Command Seals and the jet black cloth of his new coat. His Final Ascension coat. When did she get the chance to tug at him? Where were the others? No, none of that was the right response.

In the face of Chaldea's newest miracle, nothing else mattered. He had a new life now from the Holy Grails throbbing throughout his Spirit Origin, and—

It seems I really did choose the right Master this time.

Holmes put on his best smile, ignoring the gaping Ruler Moriarty standing a few meters away in favor of taking his tiny liege's hand for a comforting squeeze. A cold mask was the last thing to wear on his mind when taking in Vy's teary brown eyes. Her starry brown eyes. "…Hello again, my dear Miss Vy," he says softly, taking what joy he could in the brilliant blue starlight re-emerging in her gaze past her glasses. "Acting in your best interests, your Grailed Ruler has answered your summons and as of now, has officially returned to your side to stay."

"G-Good…" Vy sniffles, swiping at the edges of her eyes and jostling her glasses in her subsequent attempt to smile back. "…Y-You worried me. Freaking, jerky, reckless detective."

Unable to ignore the tightening of his chest, Holmes squeezes her hand again. "…I'm sorry. It was a calculated risk."

"T-To purge U-Olga from your Spirit Origin? Y-Yeah, no shit, Sherlock." Vy laughs past a stray tear trickling down her cheek, and it registers to Holmes that it's the first time she's ever used his first name to call out for him. While mixing in the modern saying that came with it, cursing and all. "Sir Conan Doyle would be rolling in his grave by now if he saw you coming back a second time."

"You were the one to provide me the Grails to defy fate in the first place, my dear," Holmes humors her, slowly materializing his cane in his free hand while turning back to their shared enemy. "The least I could do was answer your summons when you called for me again." Because there is more than just mysteries surrounding this world.

The proud and happy blue stars he briefly glimpsed from the side of his eye proved it.

Because you are here, Miss Vy, and you are still alive.

Vy slowly extends her bo staff just as Charlemagne whistles appreciatively, and from afar, Ruler Moriarty glowered at their entire group. Because even with his threads of fate cut from Holmes' previous fall, he wasn't down for the count. That meant one last thing.

"So, Mister." Moriarty clicks his tongue, looking as though someone had deprived him of a delicious meal with the pinched look on his face. He could've even resembled his older Archer self from Shinjuku if not for his voice cracking. "You cut off the Foreign God with a forced suicide, only to come back to life for a weakling Master like Vy? Really?"

"Coming from an enemy who has yet to see where his fate has been sealed, I find it odd you mean to question my allegiances." Holmes glances to his other side, and already he can see the other Grailed slowly taking up arms. Achilles with his spear; Skadi with her wand; Arturia, Charles-Henri, and Shiki with their swords; and Robin with his crossbow. Add in how their shared Master was slowly taking a stance with her bo staff, yet never letting go of Holmes' hand, and Ruler smiled. For once, he could put in everything, and yet lose nothing. It was such a miracle, it could've been a fairy tale, but for the start of his new life, he would gladly take it. "Even before I sealed my memories, I was always on the side of justice."

"And for a detective of justice," Vy slowly growled, more and more lotus petals starting to swirl around her feet, "a loyal assistant can never leave them alone. So Sir Moriarty." The mana was condensing in the air, leaving a nearby Kadoc to choke just as Miss Kyrielight flew down from the Storm Border up above the Singularity to join the battle, Ortinax shield in hand. (Director Goredolf and Da Vinci Lily must've done it. Good on them.) Holmes could taste the sweetness of those flowers that made up his dear standing at his side, and he smiled wider just as Miss Kyrielight let out her own battle cry to match Vy's low pitch of a final declaration preceding the end of the Traum Singularity.

"For being such a weakling Master like myself, you're the absolute worst person to me."

Jumping up in the air in time with his Master was more than worth the effort it took to take in the shock on Ruler Moriarty's face, just as the soles of Vy's boot and Holmes' own loafer made direct contact with his nose.

Because who said justice couldn't be found in love? It was such a simple thing, the Foreign God just kept overlooking it. Because even if the Heroic Spirit Sherlock Holmes couldn't love a woman romantically, he could still look at his comrades and his friends — all of Chaldea, Yelena, the other Grailed, Vy — and decide to love in his own way.

His dear Master would most certainly hold his hand when leading him back home.