While I am heartened by the number of people who enjoyed Res Nullius so far, I am also annoyed at the people insisting that this be continued as a Harry Potter crossover. I have already written two chapters of the new version, a pure Fate/Zero fic. Once at least three or four chapters have been written, I will consider posting it. The new version will have Illya shipped with Waver. I have used a lot of copied and suitably edited text from what I have written of Res Nullius, and the basic plot remains the same. It may not be published for a while, though.
In the meantime, feel free to enjoy this, the last whole chapter written of Res Nullius to date. It's in this chapter, actually, that I realised how overly complicated I had made things, and how much more simpler it'd be as a pure Fate/Zero fic rather than a crossover with Harry Potter, a crossover where Harry is, unfortunately, relatively superfluous to the story.
RES NULLIUS
CHAPTER 2:
PREPARATIONS
Hours later, Harry was staring at the wedge of metal. It was beautiful, a work of art, gold and blue, with inscriptions in an eldritch tongue on it. It even seemed to glow, ever so faintly, with its own inner light.
They had taken a Portkey to Cornwall, taking the time to disguise themselves, just in case, before heading to an archaeological dig. Harry was rather annoyed that they had to steal the item in question and Obliviate every archaeologist present, carefully modifying the memories to avoid rousing the suspicion of wizarding or Magi authorities, but Illya needed to get this item before her family could. While it meant putting her father at a disadvantage, the Magus Killer was a devious opponent, devious enough to be able to overcome any deficiencies.
Harry ran a hand over the wedge of metal. It was a scabbard, a scabbard of a very famous sword. Avalon, the scabbard of the legendary sword Excalibur, the signature weapon of King Arthur.
Except…King Arthur was actually a woman. Illya had met her a couple of times before her father left for the Fourth Holy Grail War, and had encountered her a number of times during the Fifth Holy Grail War, when her stepbrother Shirou had summoned her. Arthur's real name was Arturia Pendragon. And in Illya's memories, she appeared to be a young woman about their age, or perhaps a little younger, in her late teens, oddly petite, but no slouch when it came to combat.
They had used the living room of 12 Grimmauld Place as their planning room, and Illya was currently writing on a whiteboard she had purchased. "Acht made me study what was known about the Masters of the Fourth Holy Grail War. He had some files left over from my daddy's computer. And my mother showed me her memories of the Grail War, as well as the Servants who died. We don't know much about the Master of Caster of this Grail War, only that he was a serial killer later identified as Ryuunosuke Uryu. He was the last of the Masters to summon a Servant, and Acht believed he did so purely by accident. His Servant was Gilles de Rais, and I think one of us should summon a Caster to prevent him from summoning someone, or else make sure my father does so."
"So, we've got your father, the infamous Magus Killer," Harry said. "If we're stealing Arturia from him, who will he summon?"
"I don't know. Anyway, the other two families had their own representatives. Tokiomi Tohsaka was the one who summoned Gilgamesh, the Archer who killed me in the future," Illya said. "The Matou representative was Kariya, but I don't know much about him, save that he was the white sheep of the family. Something drove him to go back, and his Berserker was Lancelot of the Lake. And as you know, Kayneth Archibald intends to fight. My family later received information that he initially had a relic as a catalyst that had once belonged to Alexander the Great, but that was stolen by Waver Velvet. Kayneth used a relic from Diarmuid of the Love Spot as a Lancer, while Waver summoned Alexander the Great or Iskandar as a Rider. My mother showed me her memories of his most devastating weapon: a Reality Marble."
Harry frowned. Zelretch had told him about such things, a sort of mental world that could be summoned to temporarily override reality. "What was the Reality Marble?"
"His army from ancient times. He used them to attack Assassin, who was, if what my mother told me was correct, the Servant of Kirei Kotomine. Kirei became fixated on my father. What's more, he's the son of the Overseer in this Grail War, and they were in cahoots with the Tohsakas. It wasn't against the rules for the son of the Overseer to be a Master."
"Can we prevent your father from participating in the Grail War?" Harry asked.
"No. Some Masters gain Command Seals years in advance, like he did, or Kirei Kotomine. No, we can target either Kayneth or Waver."
"Waver's a good kid, but he'd be out of his depth in the Grail War," Harry said. "We can steal his catalyst for ourselves, or else make sure it finds its way to your father. As much as I don't want to face him…"
Illya nodded. "He may be our best ally, if we can persuade him. But we can't do it while he's with the von Einzberns. But I don't know when Kayneth has his relic delivered, and when Waver steals it. My father told my mother that Kayneth had a very dangerous Mystic Code called the Volumen Hydragyrum, a sort of programmable, animated blob of mercury."
"Well, either Waver or Kayneth will be our targets," Harry said. "What do you reckon?"
Illya pursed her lips. After a moment, she said, "My father wouldn't get along well with Iskandar. He wouldn't get along with many Servants, but Diarmuid would be able to be professional about it. If we can get Waver on board, Iskandar can be a big asset to our cause. Let's see if we can find a way to get Kayneth out of the Grail War."
"Okay, though I don't like the idea of Waver getting caught up in this," Harry said.
"I'd rather he go through it. Apparently, it was a learning experience for him," Illya said. "He became one of Clock Tower's most respected lecturers and researchers. And I don't want to change the future that much."
"Fair enough, though I'm going to keep an eye on him." Harry sighed. "So, are we going to summon Arturia?"
"Yes. I've decided. I will summon Arturia, while I have you summon a Caster. I can modify the incantation to guarantee the class. It's still a few months out from the Grail Wars, but the Grail should be able to allow you to summon it."
"I would have thought you would have preferred to summon Heracles as Berserker again," Harry remarked.
Illya smiled sadly. "As much as I'd love to, the Berserker class is not without its own problems. I want to take Caster out of the running to prevent Ryuunosuke from summoning one. Hopefully, all the Servants will be summoned before Ryuunosuke can summon one. Then we'll deal with him…"
12 Grimmauld Place had its own ritual room, and it was here that Illya began drawing out the circle, having sent Kreacher to get some animal blood to draw it out with. "For the origin, silver and steel. For the cornerstone, gem and the Archduke of Contracts. For the ancestor, my great master Schweinorg," she said quietly. "The alighted wind becomes a wall. Close the gates in the four directions. From the crown, come forth. Trace the three-forked road leading to the kingdom. Fill, fill, fill, fill, fill. Repeat fivefold, and when each is filled, destroy it(1)."
"Is that it? You told me a lot about magecraft rituals before you regained all of your memories, and this seems pretty simple," Harry said.
"The reason is that the Grail itself does most of the work in summoning the Heroic Spirit from the Throne of Heroes and providing a body," Illya said. "I just have to supply the mana. That's why I'm summoning Arturia: I have an excess of Magic Circuits doubling as Command Seals, which means I can summon her at her strongest, and supply enough energy for her to use her trump cards more often…if we have to. Avalon will act as the catalyst." She looked at Harry, and smiled. "Now, sit back and watch this."
As Harry backed away slightly, Illya thrust out a hand. As the circle began to glow, along with the Magic Circuits in her body, she called out, "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning! I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world! Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of the Scales!"
The circle dissolved into a flare of actinic light, and a blast of air assaulted them. As Harry blinked away the afterimage, he saw who was standing in the centre of the circle, proudly and regally. And he smiled, as did Illya.
The woman was seemingly dressed in a blue dress with a wide skirt, and armour plated areas. Clutched in one hand was the vague outline of a sword that wavered and shimmered, almost entirely invisible. Her face was beautiful, if a little androgynous, her blonde hair done up in a severe bun, her green eyes so much like his own as they gazed at them both. She seemed to be a little younger than them, perhaps in her late teens at most. "Servant Saber has answered your summons. I ask of you, are you my Master?"
"Saber, King Arthur, Arturia Pendragon, I am your Master for this Grail War," Illya said, smiling. "I am Illyasviel Potter. This is my husband, and soon to be fellow Master, Harry Potter."
Arturia nodded. "Well met. The pact is sealed."
As Arturia stepped off the circle, Illya scurried over and took Avalon off the altar they had it on, acting as a catalyst. Arturia noticed it. "Avalon?" she asked.
"Yes," Illya said. "We'll talk later. We have much to talk about, Arturia, things which you may find hard to believe. But we need your help."
The blonde-haired knight nodded, and went over to Illya's side. Harry moved forward, took a deep breath, and then thrust out his own hand, pumping magic into the circle, which once more began to glow. "Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny. If you heed the Grail's call, and obey my will and reason, then answer my summoning! I hereby swear that I shall be all the good in the world, that I shall defeat all evil in the world!" Then, he began using the modified chant.
Apparently, one could modify the chant slightly to guarantee a certain class, assuming it hadn't already been summoned. The Berserker chant addition, for example, went along the lines of Then let thine eyes be clouded with the fog of turmoil and chaos, thou who are trapped in a cage of madness, and I, the summoner, who holds thy chains! But they wanted a Caster, so Harry remembered what Illya coached him to speak.
"Let thy ways be the hidden and mystic ways of sorcery supreme, of magic and mystery! Magus unto Magus, I call thee, peer, to answer me! Seventh Heaven clad, and the great words of power, come forth from the circle of bindings, Guardian of the Scales!"
Once again, the circle dissolved into a flare of light, and Harry felt a brief stab of pain in his hand. He felt like he had just run a marathon. As the afterimage faded, he found himself facing a robed, hooded figure he recognised from Illya's memory.
It was the figure of a woman, dressed in rather elegant robes, a hood concealing her head and most of her face, save for her nose and lips, and part of her blue hair. The figure could have been sinister, and yet…despite Harry knowing what she did from Illya's memories, mostly due to this one ending up in the Grail…he nonetheless actually felt sorry for her.
"Harry, isn't this…?" Illya said, before the Servant interrupted her.
"Servant Caster has answered your summons," the robed woman said. "I ask of you, are you my Master?"
Harry held up his hand, showing the Command Seals. "Of course."
"Then the pact is sealed," Caster said with a smile. "Are we in alliance with these two?"
"Yes, that's my wife Illya, and her Servant, Saber. Or rather, well, since we're allies, let's introduce you two. Arturia Pendragon, meet Princess Medea of Colchis. Princess Medea of Colchis, this is Arturia Pendragon."
"…How did you know my name?" Medea asked, a little bemused, understandably.
"It's a long story. Very long story," Illya said. "And complicated. You probably wouldn't believe me unless I showed you my memories via Pensieve. Just know that there is something very wrong with the Holy Grail."
Arturia shared a look with Medea, before she returned her gaze to Illya and Harry. "I think you both have some substantial explaining to do ere we continue any further."
"Would a drink help?" Harry asked. "I can raid the Firewhiskey cabinet."
"I would prefer a strong wine of a good vintage, if you don't mind," Medea said. "I just hope the impending headache is from the explanation, and not from a retroactive hangover."
You and me both, Harry thought to himself. You and me both…
CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:
So, we've got Arturia and Medea as the Servants of Illya and Harry. Yeah, I know, I've brought in Medea as a Caster again (having done so in Perils of Magical Investigative Journalism, and Light the Blue Touch Paper and Run Like Hell), but I love to see her as a protagonist rather than an antagonist. It was either going to be her as a Caster for Harry, or EMIYA as a Caster for Illya (which EMIYA can be summoned as).
Anyway, we'll sort out the mess this has made of the lineup of Masters in the Grail War later. Kiritsugu will be getting Diarmuid as Lancer, while Kayneth and Ryuunosuke will not be participating.
Incidentally, I made up the Caster-specific summoning chant inspired by the Berserker-specific summoning chant, which Kariya uses in Fate/Zero. It got me thinking, there may be specific chants for each class for those who don't already have Command Seals, and who aren't trying pot luck, so I made this one up for Casters. I hope I got it right.
1. I used this version of the preparation incantation in Gorgon and Thanatos. I used a mixture of the ritual from the manga, as well as Third Fang's From Fake Dreams. The final incantation is from the English dub of Fate/Zero.