15

When Shirou showed up at the spot Rin had told him to come to and was immediately met with a woman tied to a chair, he knew it was going to be one of those nights.

"Rin, what the hell is this?" Was all he could ask. The woman huffed in response, struggling against her binds, but her hands were by her sides and her legs tied together as well. At least Rin was good at knots.

"She's a Master, Shirou. I couldn't explain all of it over the phone, and I still have questions, so I brought you here." Rin stepped into view behind the woman, walking around her with slow, deliberately heavy footsteps. "So first things first. Who are you?"

"...Why would I tell you that?" The woman asked, somewhat defiant.

To that, Rin aimed her finger at her. "Because I could easily fire Gandr at you?"

That caused the woman to flinch. "Fine! Fine. My name is Olga Marie Animusphere, the heiress of the lineage of the Animuspheres, and if that means anything to you you'll-" She stopped her tirade as Rin raised her arm again, "-Okay, I'll stop!"

"Animuspheres?" Shirou asked. He'd never heard that name, and it sounded odd to him, even considering it was foreign.

"They're one of the primary families in the Clock Tower." Rin explained, sighing. "Her father is a man named Marisbury Animusphere, one of the Twelve Lords and head of Astromancy."

"Is that… bad?"

"...If he cares about his daughter, yes, but…" Rin leaned in to face Olga Marie, close but not uncomfortably so. "...I've heard rumors he isn't on good terms with her. Is that true?"

Olga Marie shifted in her seat, her gaze averted, and Rin took that as her answer. "So the talks in the Association were right. He disowned you. Even for a magus, that's cold."

"And also highly inappropriate!" Olga Marie suddenly snapped. She leaned forward in her chair, pulling the ropes tight. "I will not accept you slandering my name like this. I demand you release me at once before I have the right mind to obliterate you and your… your lover!"

Rin sighed. "I really don't want you tied to a chair in here, either. But how can I be sure you won't blast us as soon as you get the chance?" Beneath her breath she mumbled, "It's what I'd do…"

"Good faith as a magus?" Olga Marie asked, beginning to rock side to side in an attempt to break free. Shirou, sensing the growing tension, stepped in.

"Both of you are making good points, but stop!"
To his surprise, Olga Marie listened, stopping her thrashing about. She simply listened, but with a clear expression of irritation. "Look, Olga Marie, we have our own questions about this mess we need answers to, and you want to be freed. If you answer us, and honestly, we'll let you go. You have my word. With, uh… Magus honor?"

Olga Marie was silent. Then…

"...Fine. Ask away."

Rin seemed surprised that Shirou was able to defuse the scenario, but took the chance. "Who was that Servant you summoned? And the circumstances?"

That was the million-dollar question. Shirou and Rin both listened with bated breath as Olga Marie spoke, praying for some answers.

"...To be perfectly honest, I hardly have much insight. I was called to a meeting with an old man, head of the Matou bloodline, and he told me he was performing a version of the ritual seen in Fuyuki. I considered it insignificant, but he promised an alliance and a potential reward of power in the Association… So I took it." She seemed slightly guilty at that, lowering her head. It was clear she wanted attention, but maybe hadn't expected the consequences of trying to attain it.

"...I was directed to summon a Servant, and I decided to attempt to use a catalyst. I had no clue, but I owned an antique knife of my father's, so I used it… And I summoned that madman. He calls himself…" She shuddered.

"...Jack The Ripper."

Well, that was unexpected. But given his encounters with the Servant, it made sense. And the murders, too… that was him. He clenched his fists.

"Where is he now? What was the contract like?" Rin asked. Shirou, however, felt something stirring inside him- anger. He stepped closer, his voice low.

"And… What he did. You better explain that."

Olga Marie seemed to sense his ire, and quickly spoke. "...I had no control over him from the moment he was summoned! It took a Command Seal to stop him killing everyone close to him in the Association where I was at the time, and then another to get him to come here. I swear, I wasn't in control!-"
"He was a MURDERER!" Shirou snapped, storming closer until Rin stopped him with a hand to his chest. "Shirou, calm down! Listen to her, please." Her tone was soothing, and it managed to calm him down enough. Still, memories of that raspy laugh, of the mutilated corpse he'd left in the alleys to rot were flooding his mind. He gestured for Olga Marie to continue.

"...I was basically a prisoner to him. I didn't have the Seals left to order him not to do anything, or else he'd have free reign to kill me… And he threatened to! Multiple times… The things he said he'd do…" She shivered.

"Shirou, she had no choice." Rin said, and at last he was calm. He began to feel apologetic- it was clear Olga Marie was basically held at knifepoint- perhaps literally- by her own Servant, forced to watch as he committed acts she seemed to not want to do. And he also considered magus logic, as well- why bother acting so conspicuous? He took a deep breath, steadying his heart.

"I… I'm sorry. But he's gone now, right?" Shirou stepped back, giving the woman her space.

"...Yes. I ordered him to wound himself. Our pact is gone, meaning he needs mana. But as a Berserker…"

"...He drains it like a sponge." Rin finished. "He'll need to seek out sources of mana, like other Masters, if he wants to sustain himself. He's on a doomsday clock, so to speak."

Olga Marie nodded in response. "See? So I told you… I told you what you need to know. Now untie me."
Rin shook her head. "I have one more question." She leaned in, observing Olga Marie.

"What?"

"Why did Zouken Matou ask for you? And what do you know about that?"

Olga Marie shrugged. "All I know is that I wasn't the only mage he contacted. He said he had others as contacts, calling them over and such from other families, but I don't have names!"

Rin was silent… and then she undid the ropes. Olga Marie squirmed free, quickly standing up. "Finally!..." She said, about to leave when Shirou blocked her path.

"Olga Marie." He spoke in a measured tone, not wanting to irritate her any more. "Look, you're not involved in this anymore, and we both don't want to harm each other. Why not join us? We want all this to end, and I think you might too."

"I came here to win the war, not end it." Olga Marie huffed, folding her arms. "Why should I try and destroy my chance at success?"

"...Because it'll get you recognized?"

That made her pause. Recognition… She seemed to think it over, filling the air with a tense silence. Then…

"...You have a point, but… Not right now. It's too rash of a decision, especially since you tied me to a chair as your way of greeting me. I'll be in a hotel- this place is too unsafe now. If I feel like pursuing your offer, I'll contact you. I'll seek you out."

And with that, Olga Marie stepped through the door, and left Rin and Shirou. Rin gestured for him to follow her as they soon left as well.

Another Berserker Servant. And so the mystery deepened. Shirou and Rin walked home in silence, before each of them went their separate ways. Shirou was walking home, as the skies became cloudy outside, when he heard a voice.

"Hey, kid. Long time no see, eh?"

From the alleyway came the voice, familiar yet foreign. Shirou turned his head and saw someone he was not expecting.

"Lancer? Again?" Indeed, standing there, leaning against the wall, was the Servant, that grin still on his face. He gestured for Shirou to follow him. "Come."

Shirou looked around, at first skeptical, but eventually he followed him into the alleyway. "What are you doing here, Lancer?" Was his first question.

"Well, I'm on recon at the moment." Lancer walked with his hands behind his head, not a care in the world, it seemed. "My Master wants me on the lookout for everything going wrong here, and I have orders to mark the locations of any Servants I find."

"Your Master? Not Kirei this time?" Shirou remembered Lancer being Kirei's Servant- but the priest was dead now. He'd wondered how Lancer was still around for a while now.

"...Nope. They're… well, improvement's a bit of an understatement. At least she bothers to drink alcohol." He chuckled at the statement, and then looked back to see Shirou looking confused. "I guess you and my Master never met, huh? Well… I know a lot about you… and I do know about your Servant."

Shirou suddenly went cold. Was he going to tell his Master about Saber? "Lancer, please-"

"-HA!" Suddenly Lancer laughed, a jolly laugh as if he was in the midst of a party. "...Don't worry, Shirou. Your secret's safe with me, at least until I'm told to go looking for Saber. The lady, well… She fights well, and she fights fair. That's enough to warrant a bit of loyalty in my book. Besides, we were allies at some point, no?"

Shirou remembered that as well. Lancer's help during the Holy Grail War had been invaluable in taking the Church back from Caster and rescuing Rin from Archer. But the cost… "Look, about what happened at the castle…"

Shirou got cut off. "Kid, that was just me doing my job. The little lady needed my help, that damned priest needed to be sent off to hell, and I did both of those things. Doesn't matter that I died for it."

Shirou didn't really know what to say. Lancer really was one of the most chill people he'd met. "...Thank you." He said after a while.

Lancer waved his hand. "Don't worry about it." He then turned to look back at Shirou, stopping in the middle of the alley, now out of sight from the public. "And by the way, did you achieve what you were wanting to? And did you beat Archer for me?"
"...I did. And, well…" He sighed. "...I beat Archer metaphorically, I guess. Surpassed him."

Lancer seemed to guess the complexity of the statement, simply nodding. "I see. Well, that's a victory all the same. Can't say I ever really liked him that much. But he was fun to fight!..."

Shirou nodded. "So we're technically allies still?"

Lancer nodded. "Still allies."

There was a moment of silence. Suddenly Shirou remembered Lancer's earlier statement- the remark about recon. "Hey, have you found any other Servants here yet?"

"That should be on a need-to-know basis…" Lancer seemed to think on it. "...Because I like you, I'll let you in on something. The Rider Servant- we encountered em'. Real piece of work, too. Ran away without a proper confrontation."
"Really?" Shirou recalled his meeting with Rider several days ago. She didn't seem that on edge, so it seemed she'd encountered Lancer between their talk and now. "Did you kill them?" He asked, a bit worried at the answer.

"No." Lancer shrugged. "My Master didn't want me running into a presumed trap, and besides, the goal was recon, not outright murder."

"Is that all you know about them?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Lancer sighed. "I'm really starting to doubt my abilities when my spear's only drawn the blood from a raving madman with a few knives, but oh well." He smiled, his voice friendly again. "It was nice talking to you, Emiya. You got guts. See you around." And then he was gone, leaping off to the roofs once again and out of sight.

Shirou was both a bit happy to have met Lancer once again and confirmed their allegiances, but also apprehensive about Rider. She'd encountered Lancer? Why be out in the open around the city like that?
Was it possible Shinji had an attack planned?

He decided it was time to pursue a new trail. Dealing to Shinji, if there was anything malicious in the works, was to become his new priority, second only to eliminating the Berserker, Jack the Ripper of all people. But after that, Shinji and whatever he was up to?

That was on the top of his damn list.

NOTES

Chapter 15! Wow. I published this one early in a flash of inspiration this evening. And the fifteenth chapter marks the introduction of Olga Marie Animusphere and a new Servant- Berserker-class Jack The Ripper!

I chose Olga Marie as a character due to liking her character in Grand Order. I have a thing for small-time characters, and so getting a chance to flesh out Chaldea's suffering, stubborn director was something I really wanted to pursue.

And that comes with her Servant, Jack the Ripper. I'd like to clarify that this Berserker is different from Strange Fake's version. Their version utilizes the anonymity of the serial killer to make him a faceless entity capable of disguise and discretion. This version takes the unknown aspect in the form of his 'image'- how he is perceived by the media. This means he is moreso an amalgam of the image of a serial killer, his motives, personality and mindset all constantly shifting like the interpretations of him as a character.

Lastly, Lancer is back! Lancer is one of my favourite Servants because he's such a bro character, a guy who likes to fight, drink, fish and have a good time. And now he's back, and with a (somewhat) mysterious new Master to boot!

I'd like to give a huge shout-out to my followers, favourites, and fans! Remember to leave reviews for your ideas and critique, so long as its well-worded and not just pure slurs or insults.
Thank you all and have a great day,
Jason