FateBleached Apocrypha part 1 Factions

by TransG1fan

The Holy Grail & Hogyoku: both of these devices created for the purpose of granting wishes. So what happens when the worlds that created them collide? Aizen decides to watch as the Grail war in Trifas unfolds except he's decided to make some modifications: instead of 2 factions how about 6? And Ruler gets help from a certain substitute soul reaper and midget soul reaper.

5. Chapter 5 Ceasefire Day 2

Fate/Bleached Apocrypha

Part 1 Factions

Deepest apologies for the delay. Hopefully the length of this chapter will make up for it. Okay the results are in for the poll I put up a while back and I will reveal the results in the chapter when the squad 4 member is revealed. Only 12 Servants left to be examined along with all the masters. I will still put the indicators at those points so if you want to skip it that's an option.

A few shout outs to non-guest reviews

fabianemmanuel15: I wish to thank you for your review, and I hope I was able to answer all of your questions that you posed in that review.

Wellthatdidn'twork: I wish to thank you for your review and really liked your theory one the connection between Ichigo and Gilgamesh though I won't confirm or deny anything yet.

Finally, I don't own anything from Bleach or the Fate franchises and please support the official releases of both. Now onto the next installment!

Personal thoughts, Servant/Master (also Jeanne and Laeticia internal) communication,Zanpakuto speaking, Inner Hollow/regular Hollow speaking.

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Chapter 5: Ceasefire Day 2

=Soul Society – Seireitei – Toshiro's office – 10am (Tokyo time)

"Captain!" said a voice in a singsong manner followed by the sound of wood sliding on wood.

"Captain?" asked the voice in a confused tone now being recognized as female.

"Captain are you alright?" asked the feminine voice now in a concerned tone. At last, he opened his eyes. He saw an older very mature woman standing over him. Her ice blue eyes looked at him with concern. And her long wavy strawberry blonde hair falling down acting like a curtain.

"Rangiku?" asked Toshiro as he got up. He looked around and realized that he was in his office. Rangiku had moved out of the way. He sighed. "Well if you're here than that means that it's mid-morning or later." he said grumpily.

"Hey! That's not-" Rangiku paused then continued. "Uh well, that's not . . .incorrect." admitted Rangiku reluctantly. She sighed and looked at Toshiro. "But still why are you sleeping here, Captain? I know that you like to nap but that's usually in the afternoon. So, what kept you up all night?" she asked. Toshiro looked pensive.

"I recently got ahold of some information that could either help us or hinder us if we play our cards right concerning Aizen." admitted Toshiro.

"Does it have to do with Rukia being in our jurisdiction?" asked Rangiku. Toshiro gasped and turned to her in surprise the question obvious in his eyes. "Kiyone and Sentaro asked me yesterday after I left work if everything was okay as Rukia hasn't come back to the Soul Society and while their Captain Ukitake assured them that she's not in trouble he did mention that she was assisting us with an issue occurring in our jurisdiction. So they came to me and inquired about it. Since I didn't know, all I told them was that the information was classified and could tell them nothing else." Rangiku reported. Toshiro sighed. "Captain?" she asked.

"The information does pertain to her yes. But right now, we're still gathering information. Once that's done, I'll present the findings to the head captain. After that I don't know what will happen." Toshiro admitted.

"I see. Well then when you're ready to tell me what's going on properly, I'll be here to listen." said Rangiku.

"Thank you, Rangiku." said Toshiro in gratitude. "By the way have you heard anything else concerning Captain Ukitake?" asked Toshiro curiously.

"Only that he was heading to the squad 4 Barracks today but didn't appear to be ill." reported Rangiku. Toshiro nodded.

"I see. Very well then." said Toshiro as he turned back to face his desk and walked towards it. "Then I'll leave it be. I still have to get all these reports done." he said grumpily. Rangiku immediately turned towards the door.

"Well then Captain if there's nothing else, I'm heading out." she said in a more carefree tone. Suddenly, the room temperature dropped. She turned towards her Captain and looked at him nervously. He was glaring at her. His annoyance palpable.

"Just because I got a late start to the day doesn't mean that I'm going to excuse you of your own bad habits. Now help me get these reports done." ordered Toshiro.

"But Captain!" whined Rangiku looking very childish.

"You help me or I'll freeze shut the door and freeze all the sake that I know you have hidden in this office." he threatened. Rangiku looked at him with puppy dog eyes but bowed her head in defeat.

"That's not fair, Captain." she whined but sullenly made her way over to the desk and got her pen out and pulled the first report off the top of the pile. With that the room temperature returned to normal and the two settled into a calm quiet.

=Soul Society – Seireitei – en route to the 4th division – 10:15 am (Tokyo time)

Ukitake flashstepped to the squad 4 barracks. There he was greeted by several members of squad 4 outside of the main building.

"Oh Captain Ukitake, sir. What brings you to our barracks?" asked one of the soul reapers in the barracks.

"You haven't had an episode, have you?" asked another in concern. Ukitake gave them a warm smile.

"No thankfully. But I came here on business. Is Captain Unohana available? I need to speak to her." said Ukitake politely.

"She should be available." said one of the squad 4 soul reapers.

"We'll go get her for you, Captain Ukitake." said another as the two ran off. While watching those two leave, Ukitake sat down in the reception area of the main building and waited. I hope this all goes smoothly. He thought his expression becoming thoughtful and nervous. Then he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He looked towards the hallways leading deeper into the building. There he saw the two soul reapers who left to get Captain Unohana and the said Captain herself following just behind them with her expression serene as ever. Ukitake smiled as she approached. "Captain Unohana. Thank you for coming. Hopefully I wasn't interrupting anything." said Ukitake.

"Not at all. It's nice to see you in a setting that doesn't require you to be in an intensive care unit. So what brings you here?" she asked curiously.

"Is it possible to speak to you in private?" asked Ukitake.

"Of course. Right this way." said Unohana as she turned around and headed down the hall with Ukitake following behind her.

=Soul Society – Seireitei – 4th division – Unohana's office – 10:30 am (Tokyo time)

As the two captains entered her office she sat at her desk while Jushiro sat in the chair on the other side of the desk. "Something to eat or drink, Captain Ukitake?" she asked. Jushiro motioned that he was fine.

"That's alright. I'm fine. But like I said to your subordinates I'm here on business." said Ukitake. Unohana nodded. "I'll get right to the point. I'm in need of one of your seated officers. Lieutenant Rukia Kuchiki has been, by request from Captain Hitsuguya, sent to squad 10's jurisdiction in the world of the Living to help with an issue that has cropped up there. However, it's come to mine and her attention that while she's skilled in Kido, both of us feel that having a skilled member of your division will be needed in the event that the injuries she might sustain might be too much for her to treat while she's there." said Jushiro. Unohana looked thoughtful for a moment before she reached down into the drawer of her desk and pulled out a few sheets of paper with something written on it.

"Would the place she's at under squad 10's jurisdiction happen to be Romania?" she asked with a knowing look though her expression remained neutral. Jushiro was caught off guard by this question. Seeming to understand what he was about to ask, she explained. "One of my co-3rd seats, Hanataro Yamada, who's still stationed in France currently, sent over an interesting report." she admitted. She then proceeded to elaborate on the encounter with a possessed girl with a benevolent spirit who had stated having unfinished business in Romania. And that 40 or so other spirits would be there as well. But she was convinced to head over to Karakura before heading to Romania.

"Have you spoken to anyone else about this?" asked Jushiro cautiously.

"I just finished processing the patrol reports yesterday and after I finished my rounds today, I was going to head over to talk to Captain Hitsuguya to corroborate this anomaly, Captain Ukitake. You simply came to me first and saved me the trouble." she said with a small smile. Captain Ukitake returned the smile. "Normally my first choice would be to send Hanataro Yamada to Romania as he's familiar with Ms. Kuchiki, but he's currently in France still and will be there for another couple of weeks. Captain Ukitake how dangerous are these other spirits that were mentioned in this report?" asked Unohana looking concerned. Jushiro's face became pensive.

"We haven't gotten a complete picture of things yet but for a majority of these spirits, without going into too much detail, we can say that many of them are high seated officer level all the way up to Captain level fighters. There are a few that dip below that but the majority of them fall in that range." confessed Jushiro.

"So 10th seat or higher for most of them. How many would you say are Captain level?" she asked.

"Off the top of my head? Tentatively I would say about 8." answered Jushiro after some thought.

"So almost a quarter of these spirits including the possessed girl." said Unohana as she appeared to be in deep thought. She then looked up at Jushiro. "Is there anyone besides Lieutenant Kuchiki and this possessed girl that is currently in Romania?" she asked.

"Besides Lieutenant Kuchiki, it was decided that the substitute soul reaper Ichigo Kurosaki would accompany the pair along with Yourichi Shihoin and Kisuke Urahara. Though the latter made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't be staying very long. As of right now he might leave and return to Karakura as soon as the day after tomorrow possibly." said Jushiro looking thoughtful.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki is only at an expert level while the latter pair are Masters but given that both were former members of the Stealth force most of their Kido talent would be for offensive and defensive purposes with at best. Why wasn't Ms. Inoue not sent with them given her abilities?" asked Unohana. Jushiro winced.

"Given the nature of her powers and the types of individuals that we've found out are currently residing within Romania and also her nature as a pacifist, we decided that it would be too dangerous to send her and have her potentially used as a hostage." said Jushiro.

"So you are looking for a member of squad 4 with both the skills to heal and can defend themselves and is a high seated officer or higher. You've got a limited pool of candidates to choose from." She paused before she looked at Jushiro again. "Before I give you my answer, I want to know all the information of what's actually going on, Captain Ukitake." said Unohana firmly. Jushiro pulled out a notebook and then snapped his fingers and a Hako barrier appeared in the office. "I see the information is that sensitive." she observed.

"It was discussed briefly between myself, Captain Hitsuguya, and Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai that given some recent discoveries, we will have to start bringing in other Captains and lieutenants into the fold on our discoveries." said Jushiro.

"I'm listening." said Unohana with a neutral expression.

"You might want to get comfortable. This is going to be awhile." said Jushiro with a frown on his face.

Unknown . . .

Blackness was all around him. Yet there was an eerie red light that allowed him to see himself as he made his way forward. His breathing was labored as he walked unsteady. He then saw a sickly green light come into focus. As things came into focus, he could see that they were tanks. Tanks with people in them. He recognized what they were. Homunculi. Homunculi being used as batteries. Then he heard their moans and cries. He raised his hands in desperation as he reached out to them. Then he saw that those pods were drifting away as he tried to force himself to move faster on his unsteady feet. His labored breathing becoming desperate.

"Please don't go!" cried someone.

"Help me!" said another voice.

Then he saw the homunculi disintegrating down to nothing but with their cries echoing in a haunting way. A female homunculus looked at him from her pod. "Save me!" she screamed. Then her body disintegrated to nothing. He looked on in fear, desperation, and helplessness trying to make his way over to the pods. Then what had been solid ground suddenly was no more as he silently fell into the blackness.

/

He then opened his eyes startled. He looked around and saw that he was in a homey and comfortable room. Lying on a very nice soft bed. "Oh. You're awake." said a high squeaky voice. This startled him as he looked around and found no one. "Over here." the voice said again. He looked over to the vanity on his right that was closest to the door. There he saw a stuffed animal. It was a bird wearing a blue hood. "Hello there." it said. Then to his surprise it got up and walked over to the edge of the vanity and hopped onto the bed. "Nice to meet you are you doing alright?" it asked.

"Uh Yeah. Nice . . .to meet. . .you too." he said hesitantly.

"My name is Ririn. What's your name?" the now named Ririn asked. He thought about it for a moment and then looked down sadly.

"I . . .don't have a name." he answered sadly. Then he smelled something that made his mouth water. His stomach seemed to agree as it growled loudly. This made Ririn giggle.

"You must be hungry. Given what Lady Yoruichi told everyone how she found you, I'm pretty sure that you haven't eaten anything yet, have you?" asked Ririn. He shook his head no. "Well. Luckily for you it's morning. You slept though all of yesterday and last night. So, breakfast is being made right now. Do you want me to get you some or do you think you can make it to the kitchen?" she asked curiously. He thought for a moment and then slowly pulled himself up to a seated position. Then he noticed that he was fully dressed in some kind of gray baggy pants and coat. Though his feet remained bare.

"Were the people who live here the ones who dressed me?" he asked curiously.

"Yep. Urahara had some of his clothes here and let you have them though they look a little large on you." Ririn admitted. "They, okay?" she asked.

"Fine, I guess. But if I've been asleep for as long as you say I have then I need to get up and move. By the way where am I? And who's Lady Yoruichi and Urahara?" he asked.

"Oh you're in the safehouse for Ruler and her Allies. In fact, this house belongs to Kisuke Urahara. He and Lady Yoruichi are allies but not Servants to Ruler." Ririn clarified.

"Servants. Ruler. So this is a Holy Grail War." he said putting the pieces together.

"So you know what those are?" asked Ririn. He nodded.

"All homunculi know basic knowledge of the Holy Grail and what it entails. As well as the War surrounding it. I was one of over a hundred that were meant to act as batteries for the Servants of the Black and Gold factions for this war." he recited robotically.

"Yeah, that matches up with what was discussed while you were unconscious. Well, why don't you try walking? Then we can try to get you to the kitchen." suggested Ririn.

"Okay." He said as he turned to the side of the bed and had his bare feet touch the wood floor. While the pants were rolled up, they still touched the floor effectively covering his feet. He stood unsteadily and took a few tentative steps towards the wall. Once there he leaned on it for support and began to make his way towards the vanity that Ririn jumped back onto.

"You're doing really good. Now try to make it to the door." Ririn encouraged. He grabbed the chair next to the vanity to steady himself pausing as he looked to the door. His stomach growled again. This spurred him on to head to the door. Ririn hopped onto his shoulder. He reached for the door and turned the handle. Then pulled the door open easily. He leaned onto the side of the open-door frame and paused.

"You okay?" asked Ririn worried. By now he was breathing a little heavier but not as bad as when he was in the pod chamber when he was desperate to escape.

"I'm fine. Just needed to catch my breath for a moment." he assured her then he stepped outside of the room.

=Romania – Ruler's base – hallway – morning

He managed to hold onto the wall next to the door and slowly but surely make his way down the hall. By now the scent of food wafted through the air and his stomach growled loudly again. He then heard voices up ahead where the smell was coming from but he couldn't hear what they were saying. But then he stepped on the hem of the rolled up pants and then he tripped and found himself falling forward. "AHHHH!" He shouted as the floor came rushing up to meet him.

"Careful!" shouted Ririn as she leapt off his shoulder and landed on the floor. He landed on the floor with a grunt and a loud thud. "Oh no. Are you okay?" she asked sounding worried. He then heard the sound of more thuds in front of him. He then looked up to see that several figures were standing before him. They were five figures in total. Three women and two men. One was a European woman with lilac eyes and was very tall and statuesque with her long blonde hair tied in a long thick braid. She was wearing a purple knee length short-sleeved dress and blue flats. One was a slender yet athletically fit and well-endowed woman of average height. She had dark skin, golden irises, and black hair. Her hair was waist-length and kept in a ponytail with chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face. Her attire consisted of a black, backless, sleeveless undershirt, an orange over-shirt with two white straps on each shoulder, a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants with a pair of lightweight brown shoes. The final woman looked to be Asian Short and petite, she had light skin and purple eyes. Her hair was black, reaching her shoulders, with several strands of hair always hanging between her eyes. Her attire looked to be a white sundress with sunflowers on the hem. As for the two men, both were of Asian descent one was older looking than the other. The older one was a tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair was messy and light-blond (almost pale), with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes, and he had chin stubble. He wore what looked to be a dark green casual shirt and shorts but looked like they were meant to be one outfit. Over this, he wore a black coat, which sported a white diamond pattern along its bottom half. He wore what looked to be wooden sandals and a striped dark green and white bucket hat on top of his head. Then the final male looked a bit younger. His most distinguishing feature was his spiky orange hair. He was a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. His attire consisted of a fitted black three quarter sleeve shirt with a collar and a red 15 on the front and slim fitting blue jeans and white socks on his feet. All looked shocked to see him. He found himself frozen with fear. "Look he's awake." said Ririn. This seemed to break whatever spell everyone was under. As they then swarmed him and he found himself being gently lifted from the ground by the orange haired young man and were all talking at once.

"Are you alright?" asked one of the girls.

"Did you hurt yourself?" asked the other girls.

"What are you doing up?" asked the young man as he stood him back up. Immediately the older man clapped his hands together.

"Alright everyone. Settle down. Let's get him on his feet. So why are you out of the bedroom? He asked.

"Oh he wanted to get something to eat." said Ririn. He nodded.

"Well, you're in luck. We were just about finished with making breakfast." said the dark-skinned woman with a small smirk.

"Can you make it to the kitchen?" asked the dark haired girl.

"I'm not sure." he answered tentatively. The fact that he spoke at all to them seemed to be a good thing as they were all now giving him encouraging smiles. Then the young man held onto his right hand but stepped away letting him to continue to walk.

"Why don't you see if you can make it to the table." the young man suggested. He nodded. Slowly he made his way to the table. Several minutes later, he made it to the chair. He was breathing heavily again.

"You doing alright?" asked the young man as he and the others sat at the table.

"Yeah. Just need a few minutes." he said. Then he saw the food on the table. It consisted of several different styles of eggs and bread and jams and butter. His stomach growled loudly once again. Everyone seemed to chuckle at the reaction causing him to be embarrassed. The dark-haired girl then took a piece of bread and spread some jam on it.

"Here. Try something simple and will work up to something more complex." she said. He nodded and took the bread and bit into it and unconsciously moaned in delight causing everyone to chuckle again.

"Good?" asked the older man. Embarrassed, he merely nodded and continued to eat. "So what's your name?" he asked. "My name is Kisuke Urahara, this is my wife Yoruichi Shihoin." he introduced.

"Hey." greeted Yoruichi.

"These two are Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki." said Urahara pointing to the younger two.

"Nice to meet you." said Rukia.

"Yo." said Ichigo casually.

"And my name is Ruler." said the now named European girl.

"Ruler. So, you're a Servant then. The Arbiter of the Holy Grail War." he said with certainty. Ruler seemed to be unfazed by his knowledge. She nodded. "To answer your question, I don't have a name. Homunculi are not given names as we are nothing more than tools for mages." he said as a matter of factly. He took another piece of bread and copied Rukia's motions to butter it before he ate it.

"Well, that won't do. We need to call you something other than homunculus. We need to give you a name." said Rukia. Ichigo nodded.

"The thing is that we only know Japanese names. Japan uses kanji or symbols that have multiple meanings in them and when put together, they form different words compared to when they're by themselves." said Ichigo. "You okay with that?" Ichigo asked him. He nodded.

"How about Muryo. It means free and your escape means freedom to make a new life for yourself." suggested Yoruichi. He thought about it but he shook his head no.

"Maybe Seikatsu. It means life in our language. And you now have a chance for a new life." suggested Kisuke. He thought about it but didn't seem quite right. So again, he shook his head no.

"Why not Mizuumi. It means sea of water. And according to scientific theory, it's believed that life came from water or the sea. Or if you want another name for sea is ocean then maybe just Umi." suggested Ichigo. He perked up at that.

"I like the idea of my name meaning ocean, since I was born in a liquid filled tube to serve as a battery, but I don't know if I want the name Umi." he said. Rukia seemed thoughtful before she spoke up.

"My mentor who passed away awhile back had the name Kaien and he had the kanji for Ocean and swallow which is a bird. So why not Kaien. Ocean or water is where life comes from and you confirmed that you're in fact a homunculus born in a liquid tube. And swallow as a bird that flies freely showing freedom which is what your escape was. A flight for freedom. So how about Kaien?" she asked.

"Is it alright if I took your deceased mentor's name?" he asked.

"It's been a while since his death, and I have accepted it. So, letting you have his name is not an issue." Rukia reassured him. He grew thoughtful.

"Kaien. Kaien." he said as if tasting the name. "I like it." he said. "I hope to live up to your mentor's name and prove to be worthy of it." said the now named Kaien.

"Then Kaien it is." said Kisuke Urahara. With that everyone dug into the meal. "Alright while we're eating, I think we need to discuss what the plan for day is going to be." he said.

"I thought we had already made plans during the meeting last night." Jeanne pointed out.

"Yes, but that was not when our now named Kaien was awake and now that he is we need to adjust things with him in mind." said Kisuke.

"I don't want to be a burden." said Kaien worried as he was finishing his third buttered bread slice. Ichigo handed him a spoon and fork.

"You aren't. Don't ever think that you are. Now do you want to try some eggs, and do you know how to use these utensils?" asked Ichigo. Kaien looked at them for a moment and then nodded.

"Homunculi are all programmed to understand basic things in order to do tasks to assist mages with whatever they need them to. So even though this is the first time I've held these utensils I already know how to use them as if I've been using them for a long time." explained Kaien. "And yes, I would like to try some eggs. Though I don't know what kind I would like." he added.

"Let's start with scrambled eggs and if you want, we'll try other variations later." suggested Rukia with an encouraging smile. She then gave him some scrambled eggs which he started eating carefully.

"Getting back to the subject at hand. If you still want to head to the mountains to see the White Faction, then we need to decide who's going to accompany you and who is going to stay with Kaien." said Kisuke.

"Why is this an issue, Hat n' Clogs?" asked Ichigo.

"Cause I think that either I'm going or Yoruichi's going to head over to the Silver Faction and see if I can get a picture of Berserker of Silver today." answered Kisuke.

"I thought we were going to wait til the last day of the ceasefire before going to get pictures of those that were left." Jeanne pointed out.

"While you all were sleeping, Kisuke and I discussed matters while he was making modifications to the bracelets which we will get into shortly. As we established last night, we only need 1 Servant from Silver and 2 from Gold to make a full set for both Factions. And today and tomorrow will be spent informing the White and Red Factions respectively about the goings on for this war. Since Kisuke talked to Kariya yesterday and told him to inform his Faction of what was going on and Ichigo talked to members of the Silver Faction as to what was going on yesterday. The problem that we both ran into last night is the fact that both the White and Red Factions have Servants that can tell if we're being truthful or not. Lancer of White and Archer of Red. Neither of which we want to anger." pointed out Yoruichi.

"Then there's the fact that we don't know Aizen's location, and the mountains seem to be the most likely place. Currently everyone here hasn't been exposed to his hypnosis ability. But we want to keep it that way for as long as we can. And keep in mind that Lancer of White knew something about us even when we were playing the role of Servants. What exactly that was I can't be certain yet but the fact that he kept addressing us as Ruler's companions and not Servants means that he's at least aware that we aren't Servants at all. And that his Master informed him of that. How they got that information I don't know. But it means that we have to approach the situation differently, at least with the White Faction. So, the cover stories will have to be out as we don't want to antagonize the White Faction to go against us by being caught in lies." explained Kisuke.

"Then what is your solution?" asked Rukia. After a pause Kisuke answered.

"We've come to the decision that since Kaien is awake that Ichigo and Rukia will stay at the safehouse with him and Ririn for the time being. Noba, using Rukia's gigai, will accompany both Jeanne and Yoruichi who will be in her true form, as her speed and his portals will be useful when going to the mountains to visit the White Faction. Together both will provide the perfect getaway and defense if you three run into trouble." answered Kisuke.

"And what about you, Hat n' clogs? Didn't you say you had a lot of side projects that needed to be worked on?" asked Ichigo.

"Nearly all are done on this end save for the senkaiodan gate which I will get to as I need it to smuggle Kaien here back to Karakura." said Kisuke. This startled Kaien.

"Why?" he asked.

"So, we can see if there is a way to extend your lifespan longer than the 3 years you currently have." said Kisuke offhandedly. This left Kaien speechless. "So, I think that in order to help I need to do my own reconnaissance and get at least the Berserker of Silver so Yoruichi can focus on the two Gold Casters and whoever else is left tomorrow as I'll be accompanying Ruler when she goes to the Red Faction." Kisuke explained. This surprised Rukia and Ichigo.

"You're going tomorrow?" they asked in surprise.

"Yep. The reason that is going to be the case is because I can talk circles around people quite easily. And we need to make sure that they don't find out about the afterlife or soul reapers. We don't need the mages to decide that kidnapping us will give them the shortcut they need to reach the root or cycle of reincarnation just to gain some power to climb up their own social ladders. This way we can still get the factions informed of the new developments, hopefully get the identities of as many Servants as possible and keep our secrets to ourselves." explained Kisuke. Yoruichi nodded.

"So, the plan is to go there, just keep them informed of the Hollows, keep attention off the idea of Soul reapers and the afterlife, while being as truthful as possible, gather as much info on the Servants as possible, but then leave without any trouble. If things go pear shape then I and Noba will grab Jeanne and make a run for it back to the safehouse." she said. Everyone nodded on this.

"So how are we going to get to the mountains?" asked Jeanne.

"I think it might be better to simply use the Shihoin cloak to fly there. Noba can use his portal to travel. And I can use flashstep and Reishi platforms to travel." suggested Yoruichi.

"And I'll be using the cloak I gave to Ichigo as he's staying here. The barriers will conceal his spiritual pressure and if a Hollow does appear both myself and Rukia will be the ones to take care of them. Once I get back, I'll switch out with Ichigo and get finished making the senkaiodan gate and taking care of Kaien." said Kisuke.

"Okay then the only thing left to talk about is what kind of modifications did you make to the bracelets? I see that now both sets of bracelets have small strings with these little charm-like things attached to the overall bracelets." Ichigo pointed out holding up the two bracelets both of which now had 3 colored glass square charms hanging off them via strings. Rukia's showed the same thing.

"With my lab not being here, I had to improvise to make these modifications. So, these charms are actually made from glass from the wine bottles we have here, and I made sure that they won't cut you should they come in contact with your skin. Anyway, these charms are meant to cover the poison angle that we now know is a possibility with some of these Servants." said Kisuke.

"Wait. So we're now completely immune to poison?!" asked Rukia in shock.

"Not exactly. These charms perform 2 combat functions that are related to poison. One of the functions is that if either of you enter an area with poisoned gas, water, etc. Or either of you are in a position forcing you to inhale poison through the mouth or nose, then the charms will boost you to have immunity to poison but only for about 15 minutes. Each of the pieces will break and burst at 5-minute intervals. The idea is to buy you both time to get out of the area. Once out, if you do so before the 15 minutes are up, the remaining pieces will analyze and neutralize the poison in your systems. But if either of you stay in that area for more than 15 minutes, than the 2nd function will kick in. With the last charm broken it will activate an emergency Kido that will put your bodies into stasis and transport you back to the safehouse while spiritually pinging both myself and Yoruichi to have us come and heal you of the poison. And the Kido barrier will remain active until either of us undo it." explained Kisuke.

"What if we ingest poison in the form of food or drink or are touched by that one Assassin or hit with weapons that have poison in them. Traditional or projectiles?" asked Rukia.

"For food or drink, if the amount isn't too much, then the charms will work the same way as if you leave an area that was poisoned. Same for a shallow cut regardless of the weapon in question. But if the amount is substantial, that one Assassin does touch you, or if the wound is deeper than a shallow cut then the Kido will activate." answered Kisuke.

"And this was made from just a few pieces of glass and string and your expertise in Kido and in a single night? That's amazing!" said Jeanne in surprise and in awe. Yoruichi smiled proudly.

"Well, this is why he's regarded as a genius by everyone, including Aizen." she said proudly. "But it's now almost 9:30 and we still have to get on with our assignments. Ichigo, you and Rukia will have to handle explanations to Kaien while we are all out." she said as Rukia swallowed Noba's pill. Kaien looked back and forth between the now two Rukias.

"Yeah. I got it." said Ichigo as he swallowed Ririn's pill and then once in soul form handed his coat over to Kisuke. And then pulled out his badge and pushed Ririn out of his body and got back in. Kaien watched everything in awe. Rukia quickly informed Noba what the plan was, and he nodded in understanding. Jeanne then changed to her Servant attire with the Shihoin cloak. With that she, Yoruichi, and Noba, in Rukia's gigai exited the house. "Good luck." said Ichigo. Jeanne turned to face him and smiled warmly.

"Thank you. Hopefully we'll be as successful as we were yesterday." she said. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Fly!" she commanded. Then she flew up into the sky with the cloak billowing in the wind and Yoruichi flashsteped to get up to her level and then pointed her in the direction that she needed to go and Noba, in Rukia's gigai, opened a portal of a black hole with a red rim before stepping into it and the portal closing behind him.

"Alright. Before I go, is there anything that you guys want? I'm asking because I may as well get groceries since I'm going out?" asked Kisuke now wearing the reiatsu concealing coat as he stood at the door.

"We wouldn't know what food is available so how about you just get what you think would be best." said Rukia. Kisuke shrugged

"Okay then. I'm heading out." said Kisuke and then he flashstepped away heading to Trifas.

"Uh excuse me. What's going on?" asked Kaien getting confused. This caused the two remaining Reapers and Ririn, now back in her plushie form, to smile at him.

"Better get comfortable cause this is going to take a while to explain." said Ichigo with a sigh.

=Romania – forests outside of Trifas – Tohsaka's base of operation – office area – same time (9:30 am)

Tokiomi sat at the desk in deep thought. His Servant materialized, walked over to him, and bowed politely.

"Master. I wanted to inform you that I've finished setting up the defenses for the property. If you want, you can inspect them for yourself." said Paracelsus. Tokiomi looked to him and as he listened. Once he finished Tokiomi didn't answer at first. Paracelsus looked at him concerned but didn't say anything. Finally, Tokiomi spoke.

"What are your thoughts concerning the information provided by Kariya, Caster?" he asked.

"You mean the explanations concerning these Hollow creatures?" asked Paracelsus. Tokiomi nodded. Paracelsus paused as he frowned thoughtfully. "Honestly. I think that he's being honest. Afterall the person he got this information from is his teacher who you fought the familiar of several years earlier and he was able to best you pretty handily using just that according to you. So, you know that this Kisuke Urahara is not someone who's to be taken lightly. And when Kariya returned from the grocery run yesterday and told you about the information he received from Ruler that Kisuke Urahara was posing as Mad Hatter to troll everyone and his home is her base of operation, I think all of that is also true. For one Ruler is the one who told him that information, so the mediator has no reason to be deceitful as getting the other Masters and Servants to work with her requires her to be honest otherwise it would be problematic and bring her trustworthiness into question since she's supposed to be impartial. Kariya I'm not as certain of but his care for Sakura and the other children I can tell is genuine. So when he immediately told us on how to defeat these Hollows and that he informed the others of the same thing I think that was the truth as well." admitted Paracelsus.

"And what about the Hollows themselves?" asked Tokiomi.

"I must confess I'm not sure what to make of them. But it's fascinating. Corrupted human souls. Those with the ability to exorcise them and send them to the afterlife. It's definitely something worth exploring." answered Paracelsus. Tokiomi frowned.

"The afterlife doesn't exist. There's proof in the mage world that spirits can linger when they die as many often are utilized for mages defenses in bounded fields. I can even accept the idea of spirits deteriorating and become corrupted over time and even these Kido users who can exorcise them with their abilities as the Church does a similar function, but the idea of an afterlife is nothing more than a fabrication made to make regular humans feel better. All mages know the truth, when we die, we return to the Root and from the Root we come from. And we are reduced to nothing more than energy so that the things that make us who we are, are stripped away. Making things like our humanity, virtually worthless and therefore things we must throw away in order to achieve our goals to reach the Root to further the prestige of our legacies." said Tokiomi acting as though this was an absolute truth. Paracelsus said nothing but he frowned clearly not agreeing with this sentiment.

"Still regardless of our thoughts on the afterlife, I do think that when it comes to dealing with these Hollows due to the fact that they are a complete unknown, that unless we are directly targeted that we should leave their dealings with Ruler and her group." admitted Paracelsus.

"At least we can agree on that. But still this will make things far more difficult as to enacting our plan for when the ceasefire comes to an end." said Tokiomi as he got up from his chair. He then started heading towards the door to exit the study. Paracelsus wasn't far behind him.

"Is that about what you plan to do for the Grail?" asked Paracelsus. Tokiomi nodded. "I wouldn't stress over it too much. We still have to see what the other factions are going to do." he reassured.

"Let us go and inspect the defenses you've set up, Caster. Still, we did get some important information concerning the Silver Faction. We now know that Kiritsugu Emiya is the leader of his Faction and has his family also serving as the main members." said Tokiomi more definitively.

"Do you think that there are more members than what Kariya reported?" asked Paracelsus.

"According to the description that Kariya gave of the two women, they are most likely Einzbern homunculi that he stole from them. Why else would the Einzberns place a high bounty on his head that he has had to remain on the run for nearly 10 years? So most likely those two are supporting two Servants a piece. If that boy Kariya described is with them, either he's been given the two weakest Servants of Assassin and Caster or he's only got one and another is operating in the shadows." said Tokiomi. Master of Caster. Apologies for interrupting whatever you were doing. But my master and I found some traps that have been laid just short of the perimeter that was set up by our Caster Assassin of Blue's voice could be heard over the link. Are you and your Master currently disabling them? Asked Tokiomi over the Faction link. Yes. I'm locating them while my Master is disabling them. They appear to be snares and some have poison. Given my specialty with them I can tell that this poison comes from the Yew tree. Reported Assassin. Yew tree? Interesting. We're on our way. Continue as you are. Said Tokiomi over the Link. Understood, Master of Caster. Said Assassin of Blue cutting off the link.

=Romania – forests outside of Trifas – Tohsaka's base of operation – outside of the base – same time (9:45 am)

Kirei was just finishing up disabling the current trap that Serenity found on the outer perimeter of the property. "Your teacher is on his way out to inspect both the traps and the defenses that our Caster has set up." reported Serenity. Kirei seemed to be deep in thought. "Master? Is there anything else you want me to do?" asked Serenity. This seemed to bring him out of his thoughts. "Hm? Assassin I wanted to ask you something while we look around for more of these traps." he paused. "I wanted to know how did you find meaning in your life despite the existence that you led?" he asked as they walked along the perimeter. This caused Serenity to look at him in surprise. "I don't know whether you were born the way you were or whether you chose to become what you are but was there a drive to do what you accomplished or how you lived your life?" he asked. Serenity removed her mask to reveal her surprised face. After a moment, she answered.

"I suppose what drove any of us of the Hashashin to stive to become the next Hassan was our faith in Allah, or rather our sect interpretation of him. As we view all others as Heretics and wanting to show which of us had the most zealous faith and how far or elaborately, we would go to assassinate someone who was viewed as a Heretic." she answered.

"And what of you personally, Assassin? Was that your only reason for striving to become a Hassan?" Kirei asked.

"If I'm being completely honest, no. I had a more selfish ulterior motive for striving to become a Hassan and that was to prove that the title of Hassan could be given to a woman as well as a man." confessed Serenity.

"And you proved that in spades, it seems." pointed out Kirei. Serenity's face became solemn.

"Perhaps but it came at great personal cost due to my method of Assassination and how it was applied. Though I didn't realize it until near the end of my life." said Serenity. She observed how her Master looked interested. Huh. That's the first time he's shown anything in terms of emotion other than apathy since my summoning. She noted privately. "That personal cost was that I could never interact with people again without killing them. At first, I successfully distracted myself with my duties as being Hassan of the Hashashin and could pretend that everything was fine. But as time went on, the loneliness became more pronounced until at the end it became unbearable so much so that I failed to Assassinate my final target and then was granted a merciful death at the hands of the specter of our beloved founder the 1st Hassan." revealed Serenity. Kirei quirked an eyebrow at this but said nothing on the last statement. Probably nothing more than the musings of one who was so desperate for human contact that they imagined the image of their executioner to be the face of someone familiar at the moment of death. He thought privately to himself in disdain.

"So, it was by unwitting choice or ignorance that you became a hollow existence." concluded Kirei.

"Master there's a trap over to your right." informed Serenity pointing towards the barrier's perimeter. Kirei nodded and went to inspect it. "Speaking of Hollows what do you think of the creatures that Master of Berserker brought up last night?" asked Serenity, her tone curious. This caused Kirei to pause.

"I can't deny that the fact that these spirits, the result of humans being corrupted and losing their humanity to become these monsters obsessed with finding fulfillment though through unethical consumption, strike a chord with me that few other things have." admitted Kirei.

"Like a kinship perhaps?" suggested Serenity. Kirei looked at her apathetically but before he could answer he looked to see Tokiomi and Caster of Blue approaching.

"Ah Kirei. Were you able to find all of these traps?" asked Tokiomi approaching them. Serenity slipped her mask back on and stood off to the side.

"We've found another and I want you to inspect it to see what you think of it." said Kirei. Tokiomi nodded and knelt down to inspect it. Assassin isn't wrong. I do feel a kinship with these so-called Hollows. I've never known passion, I don't believe in anything, I don't even have a wish that I want granted. I am an empty man with a twisted heart. While these Hollows have lost theirs' according to Kariya. By all rights I am an evil existence, but I am also a miserable existence without meaning or purpose. About the only thing that derives even a small amount of pleasure seems to be from others' despair. And yet I was chosen to be a participant in this Holy Grail War. I want to understand why this occurred. And I want to know more about these Kido users. Why do they have this mission to exorcise these Hollows? How, When, and What gives them this purpose? And it seems that this Kisuke Urahara and Ruler's Servants would be the best place to start finding these answers. Kirei thought to himself. He then put his focus back on his teacher as he heard him speak again.

=Romania – outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – outside the bounded field perimeter – 10am

He heard a branch snap on the ground beneath the tree he'd been perched on which grabbed his attention. Finally some action. After leaving those traps at the Blue Faction's headquarters and then being told to continue a vigil on the Silver Faction, I was beginning to think that I would spend this whole cease-fire just sitting on my hands doing nothing.

Robin thought eager to escape from the boredom that had set in after he arrived. He sat up from the lounging position he'd assumed on his branch and looked around. Then he spotted a figure wearing a black coat, a haori according to the information provided by the grail and was wearing a green and white striped bucket hat, green knee length shorts, and was wearing wooden sandals on his feet. He was carrying a small wooden cane though Robin doubted he needed it to help him walk. This caused Robin to tilt his head in curiosity. Who's that? Wait. Is that the same guy that Karna said managed to hurt him despite the fact that our Master said he wasn't a Servant!? Then what's he doing here? Robin thought in surprise.

The person turned around revealing himself to be a man and Robin flinched. He quickly checked to make sure his hood was up, which it was and stayed perfectly still as he continued to observe the man. After a few minutes and seeming to not notice anything amiss he turned around back to the bounded field. Then Robin watched in surprise as he pulled the top portion of his cane up and revealed it hid a blade in it.

"Awaken, Benihime." said the man. Crimson Princess? Wonder what that's about? Robin thought in curiosity. Then he watched as the hidden blade became enveloped in a red light and transform before his astonished eyes. The once thin blade now took the form of a sleek, medium-sized sword. The hilt's grip, which had a gentle black-decorative wrapping, bent forward at the end, with a pommel shaped overlap three times, and a crimson tassel dangling from its base. Instead of a tsuba, there was a U-shape guard covering three inches of the blade, with a flower petal design. At the base of the guard was a red string wrapped thrice around the hilt, with a three-loop bow on the back side and a folded paper decoration on the front side. The blades' hamon was straight, colored black with a silver edge, and was somewhat thicker than the hidden cane blade form. It remained straight and slim with a somewhat short size, with the tip ending in a slanted razor-like edge instead of tapering to a point.

What the hell just happened? Robin thought. Is that some kind of mystic code? But I've never seen any that transform their shape. Unless that's all it does. He watched as the man then carefully placed the tip of the blade on the bounded field and then watched as he carefully sliced open a hole that he then slipped through though he left the hole open. What's this guy up to? Robin thought.

=Romania – outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – Master study room – 10:05am

Kiritsugu was typing away on his laptop as he was in deep thought. He paused in his typing. After our encounter with that Hollow creature Rider, Caster, and I finished preparing the defenses for our base which took the rest of the day. And yet the fact that Ruler's Servant was willing to give us his True Name without so much as a second thought still bothers me. I know that he's working with the Arbiter, and this situation is already complicated due to the sheer volume of participants. But still wouldn't it be more prudent to take advantage of this situation and keep their True Name a secret? I wonder. . . Then Kiritsugu resumed typing on his computer for a few minutes. Then he paused in shock as he looked at the results. I don't believe it! Advisor. I need you here immediately. It appears we have an intruder and I think your input would be useful. Said Rider over the faction link. Kiritsugu closed his laptop and left the room in a dead sprint.

=Romania - outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – outside of the building – 10:10am

Kisuke Urahara stood inside the bounded field as he looked around curiously. As he looked to the sky, he kept his senses sharp. So, it seems that the bounded field was meant to be only an early warning with some kind of surveillance intertwined with it. So, I probably will have someone or something coming to either meet me or kill me. Now the question is who is the presence that I sensed as I was making my way here on the perimeter? Perhaps one of the other members of the Silver Faction or another Faction altogether? He was cut from his thoughts as he heard a loud roar cut through the air. Urahara looked to his right and saw a tall figure that was armored in only a pleated skirt. His armament was some kind of stone sword or club like thing. He was rushing at Urahara at top speed. "Well this is going to be interesting." he said aloud brining his sword up into a guard position.

=Romania - outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – living room – same time

The rest of the Silver Faction were watching what was going on outside via scrying orb that was projecting an image on the far wall allowing everyone to watch what was happening inside the bounded field without cramming around the orb itself. "Kiritsugu. Are you sure that this is a good idea? According to both Lancer and Archer this man is one of Ruler's Servants." asked Iri looking a bit nervous.

"Yes and according to both of them he was able to fight Lancer of White pretty effectively. Granted neither were fighting too seriously and had been interrupted before they could get serious but the fact that had their bout continued Lancer would actually be fighting this man in earnest is enough to convince me that sending Berserker after him may be the best way to gauge his skills." said Kiritsugu.

"But what if we get in trouble, daddy? What if the mediator decides to punish us in some way?" asked Illya fearfully.

"Plausible deniability is a good friend to have." replied Kiritsugu. At the confused looks of his children, Kiritsugu elaborated. "We gave Berserker standing orders that anyone who attempts to enter our bounded fields without announcing themselves is to be eliminated. We are merely defending our territory. So, it's not our fault if whoever enters that boldly ends up running into Berserker. If he dies, we can claim that he merely had to announce himself and we would've called Berserker off. And if the Arbiter complains we can point out that he came to us despite the fact that we had been following the ceasefire to the letter, and the question is whether he came on her orders or of his own volition. Either way if he dies then she won't know that we were able to observe the fight to be able to call off Berserker and if he doesn't, we can always claim that we had no idea what was happening."

"So we're going to pretend that even though we can watch the fight if anyone asks we didn't see anything and we don't know what happened when Berserker was loosed on our territory and any lives lost in said territory is not against the rules so it's not on us, right?" asked Shirou E.

"That's right, sweetie." said Iri.

"I'm curious though, Advisor, why do you want to let Berserker loose on this individual since he's allied with the mediator?" asked Ozymandias.

"As I said earlier, I want to at least get a glimpse of this person's abilities. Because if the information I just stumbled across is anything to go on, then this might be the first step towards the formation of a strategy to how we can achieve our goal of defeating the Einzberns and live as a proper family." said Kiritsugu.

"What information was that, Dear?" asked Iri as everyone looked at him curiously.

"I'll tell you after this fight is over." said Kiritsugu keeping his eyes fixed on the far wall. Realizing that he wouldn't elaborate, everyone decided to focus back on the image as well as the fight appeared to be getting underway.

=Romania - outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – outside of the building – 10:15am

Urahara quickly flashstepped out of the way as Berserker tried to bring his club/stone sword down on him in one move to end the fight there. When he charged and tried the same tactic again Urahara merely did the same again.

I'll give him props, he's fast despite his size. But his speed is nowhere near Yoruichi's or Byakuya's level. I could do this all day without breaking a sweat. Urahara thought.

Don't get cocky, Kisuke. He may be a brute that's along the lines of the current Kenpachi but he isn't Kenpachi Zaraki. He's still a living legend in his own right. And it would behoove you to treat this fight seriously. And don't forget what your objective here is. His zanpakuto Benihime reprimanded over their bond. Urahara quickly dodged yet another would-be fatal strike.

Don't worry, Benihime. I haven't forgotten. I'm just trying to gauge his skill set to see what he's capable of and then I'll get the objective accomplished. He dodged yet another strike. And so far, I find myself a bit disappointed as he's just using the same strategy over and over again. Then again they say that using the same strategy over and over again and expecting a different outcome is the first sign of insanity which given what he is makes sense for him. Urahara chuckled a little as his little pun.

He then flashstepped in front of Berserker who looked at him directly in the face. Acting quickly Urahara then pulled out his iPhone and took a picture. He then thrusted he blade forward with the intent of stabbing him and this is when things got bizarre for Kisuke.

Berserker immediately leaned back ducking out of the way of the blade. But instead of simply falling on his back, he immediately brought his arms back to catch himself then shifted his weight to effectively backflip and right himself. He did this with such efficiency and fluidity that this all happened in less than a few seconds and suddenly he was back on his feet and was charging at Urahara. Urahara's eyes widened in surprise. He quickly recovered and flashstepped out of the way but this time he then flashstepped behind and quickly stabbed Berserker in the back this time having it connect. However, he was surprised by the results. First his blade didn't seem to have any effect as it didn't even leave the slightest scratch on his skin where he cut Berserker. Second all this seemed to do was piss off Berserker even more than he had been already. Finally, and most importantly, Urahara noticed that his blade had been chipped at the tip where it had made contact with Berserker.

Again he flashstepped out of the way as Berserker quickly turned around and attempted to hit him. Huh. That was unexpected. Are you doing alright, Benihime. He thought asking his zanpakuto over their bond.

I'll recover. But now that we've gotten what we've came here for it would be best to leave a parting gift and make sure to snap a photo of the figure who has been acting as a spectator before we head back to the safe house. And don't worry I have enough resilience and strength for whatever you have cooked up. Replied Benihime over their bond.

"Alright then. Here goes." said Urahara aloud. Berserker then charged at him at a dead sprint and Kisuke held his blade in front of him. Berserker then brought his arm back to wind up for a haymaker. And then brought his fist forward to deliver a punch. "Tsuppane, Benihime" said Urahara. He drew a circle of energy with the edge of Benihime at the correct time when Berserker's hand contacted that circle, it caused the energy to cancel out Berserker's attack at the point of contact.

I was only able to analyze the muscle movements since it's difficult to analyze the reishi composition of a Servant. But it looks like that it was at least enough to physically stop him. Thought Kisuke. He then took advantage of the momentary pause caused by the cessation of Berserker's attack. He drew his blade behind his back. "Shibari, Benihime." he said. He then swung his blade and launched condensed energy into the form of a tangible blood red net, generated from the blade length and thrown over Berserker. The net further bound and restricted Berserker's movements by constricting to his form.

Berserker roared in outrage at what was happening, but Urahara wasn't finished just yet. Urahara stabbed the net with the tip of Benihime. "Hiasobi, Benihime, Juzutsunagi." he said calmly. As soon as he finished speaking, orbs of fire started appearing along the outside length of the net, which exploded like linked land-mines in a domino formation leading toward Berserker bound under the net. When the orbs came into direct contact with Berserker, it created a large explosion.

=Romania – outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – outside the bounded field perimeter – 10:30 am

Robin watched in astonishment as he observed the entire fight. When the explosion happened, he felt he hood blow off his head making him visible again. He found himself in shock. What kind of abilities were those? I'll admit that some mystic codes are powerful but they don't have the versatility that I just saw. And noble phantasms are either the same way or they are very versatile but not very powerful. So what the hell was that!? Thought Robin, his mind was racing. Suddenly the blonde man that he'd been observing disappeared after the explosion and then reappeared right in front of him. Before he could even react, he saw the blonde man then held up what the grail told him was an iPhone. Then he heard what sounded like a clicking noise and then the man gave a cheeky grin.

"Bye." said the blonde man. And then he was gone. It took Robin a few moments to realize what just happen. Then he heard the roar of Berserker of Silver. He quickly pulled up his hood and decided to leave the premises.

Master I've got to leave the premise of the Silver Faction. Reported Robin over the Master/Servant link. What happened, Robin? Were you seen by the Silver Faction? Asked Manaka. Not by them, but by one of the Mediator's companions. Specifically, the one that fought Karna. He just went toe to toe to Berserker of Silver and was able to score a hit on him though the fact that Berserker sounds pissed off rather than wounded, it sounds like he wasn't successful in hurting him. And deciding to not end up paste at a pissed off Berserker, I decided to vacate the area. Robin reported as he made his way deeper into the woods. For a few minutes there was no response but then he heard Manaka over the link. I see. Then revert to spirit form and make your way back to base. Said Manaka over the link. Understood. Replied Robin. With that he disappeared in a shower of blue particles.

=Romania – outskirts of Trifas – Emiya's base of operation – living room – same time

Kiritsugu turned to Illya. "How's Berserker, Illya." he asked.

"Berserker is fine, Daddy. But he admits that he did lose one life in that attack. Guess it's a good thing that we have one more day of the ceasefire as that should restore Berserker to his full strength." reported Illya looking at her father disappointed.

"What are your thoughts, Advisor?" asked Ozymandias looking at him in curiosity. After a moment of thought, Kiritsugu spoke.

"When Ichigo told us his True Name, I was curious about it as while the name Ichigo isn't uncommon there aren't many legends about someone with that name. But the name Kurosaki is at least known in mage circles. The last known head of the family disappeared along with their heir almost 30 years ago." said Kiritsugu.

"Perhaps he's a counter guardian and an ancestor to that family. It's not unheard of for those to be people with no legend to their name." suggested Ozymandias.

"That was my original assumption, but I thought I'd take a look on the internet and see if there was any mention of an Ichigo Kurosaki in anything." said Kiritsugu.

"And did you find anything?" asked Shirou E.

"The very first result was a social media profile, and it showed a picture of the very same person, but it showed that he's a 16-year-old kid whose alive and currently residing in Karakura, Japan." revealed Kiritsugu. This shocked everyone.

"WHAT!?" they all shouted.

"You mean he's a mage?" asked Iri in shock.

"Aside from myself and the kids, Iri, do you know of too many other mages that even know how to use modern tech let alone how to use social media?" asked Kiritsugu. At the puzzled looks of everyone present, Kiritsugu elaborated. "In a gross oversimplification of the concept, Social Media is essentially a method that allows people from all over the world to have instant communication and parasocial interactions over the internet. This fulfills the need to socially interact with people while maintaining a level of anonymity. Maiya and I sometimes use this as a means to relay information that we know isn't going to be tracked by the Association since, aside from a very small number of new linages, most mages barely know how to work a landline phone. However given his last name I can't fully rule that out as a possibility."

"But even so, mages can barely face off against some of the physically weaker Servants like Caster and Assassin and even then, it's a struggle for a first-class mage in that kind of a fight. Are you saying that, if what you found out is true that he's a living being of the current era, not only is this Ichigo Kurosaki not a mage but was able to hold his own in swordplay against Berserker of White despite that?" asked Iri, still reeling from this revelation.

"Well keep in mind, Master of Rider and Caster that half of our forces still don't know what this Ichigo looks like as when we were apparently saved from that thing he called a Hollow only your husband, son and their Servants could see the beast in the first place." Archer of Silver pointed out.

"As I told you all yesterday, he explained that this is caused by an ability called spiritual awareness. The ability to see spiritual entities. And how he explained it is that it can be achieved through a few methods." said Kiritsugu.

"Yes, we know that one is spiritually aware by having a strong connection to the spirit world but not having very many if any magic circuits. This connection can be established through being born in an area with high supernatural activity or through lineage of strong spiritually aware families. Which sounds similar to mages oddly enough." pointed out Iri.

"True. But the most common method of becoming spiritually aware is through experiencing either near death or traumatic experiences. This causes the soul to stress and reflexively strengthen and develop a hyperawareness that will allow the individual to identify a spiritual entity along with a similar fight or flight response. The more traumatic the experience the more spiritually aware one becomes. This ability extends to Servants. Even though they are technically spirits themselves, if they are contracted with a non-spiritually aware Master then they can't see other spiritual entities. By contrast the Servants with them can see these entities just fine. Should the non-spiritually aware Masters start to experience trauma or near-death experiences than they will eventually gain spirit awareness along with their Servants." reminded Kiritsugu.

"You've already told us this yesterday, Daddy. So, what does that have to do with what we just saw now?" asked Illya, getting impatient. Kiritsugu smiled fondly at his daughter but continued.

"I say this and ask what if spiritual awareness does more than just allow you to see spiritual beings? What if it grants one abilities to fight them?" asked Kiritsugu. This caught everyone off guard. He continued. "By constantly fighting these Hollows you already gain battle experience that most mages simply lack overall. If Ichigo is 16 as his social media page says he is and he was trained from a young age, say as young as Shirou when we adopted him, that means that he has more battle experience than all the mages save for those that act as mercenaries for the Association. In other words, aside from myself and whoever the Red Faction has on their team, he's probably the most battle harden non-Servant participant in this War. His questionable mage lineage non-withstanding." he concluded.

"You can't seriously be suggesting, Master of saber, that not only is this Ichigo a living being and possibly a mage but perhaps that he's strong enough to fight Servants on his own?" asked Caster flabbergasted.

"He was able to fight Berserker of white as an equal in terms of swordplay." Lancer of Silver pointed out. "But what of her two other companions, the ones called Caster and Mad Hatter? Are you suggesting that they are the same as Ichigo?" he asked.

"While I admit to not yet looking up anything on the girl as I don't yet know her name, the one known as Mad Hatter, I know I've seen before." he said at his families and their Servants surprised looks he elaborated. "6 years ago, I took up an assignment to head to Karakura, Japan at the request of Lord El-Melloi II. You all remember when I had to leave you all for a week." Said Kiritsugu. His family nodded remembering that week. "That town is the same place that Ichigo claims to live. I was to both investigate a barrier that was spanning the entire area of the town. And to see about locating any mage families that might be living in Japan outside of Fuyuki. While others had done so at other places throughout Japan Karakura was the one place where every mercenary that went there either wound up dead or had no memories of what happened after they entered the town before reporting back their findings to Lord El-Melloi II." Explained Kiritsugu.

"Why did the Lord want to find all these mage families?" asked Shirou curious.

"Because Lord El-Melloi II wants to bring magecraft into the modern era but as long as the traditionalists are in power, the neutrals will remain that way while the visionary faction will have very little sway over the policies of the Mage's Association. So Lord El-Melloi II wants to find allies with families with moderate lineages that hopefully share in his beliefs. If he finds enough, then the neutral faction will throw their lot in with him and they can take power from the traditionalists. It's for this that he asked me to go to Karakura as it was the last place that hadn't been investigated by mages yet that could give a full report back on their findings. Though none of that was relayed to me in full until after I left Karakura. The initial job pitch was just to go there and see if the Kurosaki family was there and what their state was and if possible get names and then report back and leave after a week. Upon arriving and examining the barrier, I found that there was no hinderance to regular commuting in and out of the city so I used that to enter the barrier. That's the last thing I can remember with certainty. After that everything gets fuzzy. Before I only knew that after I wound up in Tokyo I called Lord El-Melloi II and asked him what had happened. He told me that I had completed the mission and that payment would be wired to my account promptly. I had confirmed the continued existence of the Kurosaki family with Masaki as the current head though I had only caught glimpses of her husband and children but was out of earshot to hear any names of the other family members and we both assumed that the barrier was their doing as a sign to tell other mages to keep out of the town as it was their territory and that they wish to not be bothered. Then he told me the reason for the mission that I relayed earlier. The only memories that recently became clear for me upon seeing this man in this fight is the fact I met the Mad Hatter during that time and learned his name is actually Kisuke Urahara and he owns a candy and grocery shop in Karakura." revealed Kiritsugu.

"He certainly seems quite skilled in the combat arts for a mere shopkeeper." commented Ozymandias with a challenging grin. "What else do you remember from your encounter with this Kisuke Urahara?" he asked.

"Wouldn't you know it, after that meeting and learning his name the rest of my time in Karakura is all fuzzy outside what Lord El-Melloi II told me over the phone. The next concrete memory of that time was when I found myself in an alleyway in Tokyo though nothing on my person was missing. But I did realize that I had an instinctual feeling to stay away from Karakura for the duration of my time spent in Japan." admitted Kiritsugu.

"So, what do you think we should do, Master?" asked Saber of Silver, speaking up for the first time. After a few minutes of thought Kiritsugu turned to Lancer of Silver.

"During either encounter you've had so far, did you ever hear anything that might even remotely be the True name of the one they're calling 'Caster'?" asked Kiritsugu.

"There are two things that I recall from both encounters. The first time we met them the one called Caster drew her sword and said 'Dance, Sode no Shirayuki' which if the information that the Grail provided is correct that translates to Sleeves of White Snow and an ice mound appeared and stopped one of Archer of Red's swords he fired as a projectile. And when Ichigo was talking to someone on that cell phone like device during our last encounter, he mentioned the name Rukia. Since Ruler revealed her True Name to be Jeanne D'arc unless there's another female companion that we don't know about, it's very likely that Caster's name or at least part of it could be Rukia." suggested Lancer of Silver. Shirou E. looked at his father, curious.

"Dad?" he asked.

"Speak, Advisor. Let us hear what is on your mind." commanded Ozymandias looking intrigued.

"Honestly, I want to see just how capable Ruler's 'Servants' truly are. I'll observe them when the fighting once again gets underway. Which should be tomorrow evening. After that, I'll make my decision."

"And what decision is that Master of Saber?" asked Archer of Silver.

"If they impress me enough, then I will see if we can arrange to have my family be moved to Ruler's safehouse and perhaps make further arrangements to move to Karakura if I can convince Kisuke Urahara and the Kurosakis to permit it. If they don't impress me enough, then nothing changes. We'll stay here and work out our plans to deal with the Einzberns." said Kiritsugu.

"But we still have to wait til tomorrow evening before the fighting gets going. So, what do we do til then?" asked Illya impatiently. Iri smiled at her daughter's antics.

"Have Berserker come back to the houses and go into spirit form so he can recover his life. As for the two of you, why don't you both go get your magecraft materials in your rooms and come back and start practicing your magecraft again? We need to keep our skills sharp after all." suggested Iri. This seemed to appease the two kids as they got off the table and ran to their rooms.

"Can I have a snack?" asked Jackie innocently. All the adults smiled at the children's antics. Saber got up from the couch. "Come to the kitchen with me. I'll make you something." he said with a smile. And the two headed there.

=Romania – King's Mountain – cave – 10:50am

Manaka looked at her scrying mirror with a frown on her face. "You seem troubled, Master." said Atalanta who was watching behind her along with Rider.

"I just received an interesting report from Assassin." said Manaka. She then told the two what happened.

"I see. So even against a Berserker, Ruler's companions are a force to be reckoned with." said Rider.

"Not necessarily. Just the one who called himself Mad Hatter. While the one going under Saber did keep pace with our Berserker, that was only in sword play. So, all we've found is that these outsiders are true wild cards and whose true strength is still unknown to us." Manaka pointed out. Then caster of white manifested into the room.

"Master, I have some news." he announced. As she looked at him, he continued. "My golem familiars spotted Ruler and her companions, and they seemed to be heading towards our base." he reported. Manaka eyes widened and she then turned to her mirror and had it scan the immediate area. As she expanded the search, she finally spotted a cloak figure flying through the air. Accompanying her was the one that Manaka identified as Caster. She was the female companion of ruler. She wore a white sun dress with some kind of flower hem and some white flats. She also carried no sword. And she was traveling via black and red rimmed portals that got her from place to place though she seemed to be using them to travel short distances. But the other companion surprised her completely. She was a dark-skinned woman with dark purple hair done up in a ponytail and dressed in both an orange sweatshirt and black pants and brown shoes. Even more surprising was that her method of transportation was just disappearing and reappearing over short distances in the air though how she was staying in the air was a mystery to Manaka.

"Caster, is Berserker secured?" she asked.

"Yes. I've encased him in some of my golems per your instructions. Am I to release him?" he asked. Manaka shook her head.

"No, the mediator should have no reason to come here unless she's here to question why I sent Lancer and Berserker to go after her and her companions. In which case I have some questions of my own specifically why she's brought outsiders into this Holy Grail War. As of right now she only knows the identities of Berserker and Lancer. So she's in the dark about the other 4. I'll contact Assassin and tell him to remain away from the base. I want you to return to your workshop and continue to both keep an eye on Berserker and continue constructing your golems and your noble phantasm. If Ruler wants to learn the identities of the White Faction, she'll have to earn it. Archer, Lancer is out on patrol along with Caster's golems. I want you to go to him and assess the situation. Your identity will be a token of goodwill. With Lancer's ability to detect deception you should be able to find out what they are here for. If they are here for good reason or at least one that interests me, then both of you are to escort them to our base while Caster's golems continue patrolling the area. If they are here for either a boring reason or simply to pick a fight, you both are to either chase them off or eliminate them. Though I highly doubt that will be necessary. Rider, you are to remain by my side. If Ruler and her group come here to talk and they are honest in their dealings with us, then and only then will I allow Ruler to know you're True Name but until then keep your mask on as that noble phantasm should protect your identity from her True Name discernment skill." instructed Manaka.

"Understood, Master." replied Rider obediently.

"From what I can tell in my mirror, they should be approaching Lancer's location in the next 15 minutes. So, you all have your orders. Carry them out. I will inform Lancer and Assassin of the plan proper." ordered Manaka. And with that Caster and Archer both disappeared in a shower of blue particles.

=Romania – several miles from King's Mountain – in the air – same time.

Jeanne, Yoruichi, and Noba continued traveling through their own methods and while Jeanne tried to keep her focus on flying properly, after getting used to flying in one direction for so long she found herself enjoying the flight. She looked down and was amazed by the view. But she wasn't completely alone with her thoughts. Laeticia had taken the opportunity to speak to her through their link. Oh wow. It's so different flying under your own ability rather than relying on the power of a plane to fly. It feels far better. Said Laeticia over their link sounding very joyful. Jeanne smiled at her enthusiasm. I wanted to ask you something, Ms. Jeanne. I noticed that during the discussions over the last couple of nights that while you told the soul reapers about the primary method for granting a true second life to Servants you didn't mention the second method to do that. Laeticia pointed out. Jeanne's face grew pensive. Are you talking about the method that is meant to be used on strictly female Servants? Jeanne asked over their link. Yes. Replied Laeticia. After a few moments of thought Jeanne replied to Laeticia. It seems very suspicious to me. The fact that it's meant only to be used on strictly female Servants and only from Ichigo is sounding very contrived to me. Personally, I felt like, considering the Grail's core is made up of a homunculus woman, the Grail is simply trying to play matchmaker out of boredom and wants to see who Ichigo would choose among the female Servants to be his personal Servant. After a few moments Laeticia replied. Still I think that you should at least tell Rukia and Ichigo in private about this 2nd method as they deserve to know this information regardless of suspicions and let them decide what to do about it. Laeticia voiced her thoughts. Jeanne responded immediately. Very well. That might be the best way to go about this.

Before the mental conversation could continue, she saw a figure rising up from the tree line to meet them. It was Lancer of White, and he was using his thruster trick to fly and propel himself up to them. "Stop." ordered Jeanne and she found herself stopped but hovering in midair. Yoruichi landed on a reishi platform next to her and Noba in Rukia's gigai. Soon he was eye level with the trio his gaze flickered over to Yoruichi, and he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Lancer of White. Are you here to bare your fangs at me once again?" asked Jeanne readying her flag.

"Peace, Ruler. The last time I encountered you was merely a case of my following my Master's orders. Now I'm doing so again. However the orders are to simply question you. My Master wishes to know why you've come all the way out here?" asked Lancer of White. Jeanne looked over to the other two who nodded.

"I'm here to speak to your Master as I have some information that needs to be relayed to them regarding the War and I have some questions of my own to ask them." replied Jeanne. After a few minutes no one said anything else until Lancer nodded.

"And what might this information be about?" he asked.

"There are creatures that are roaming around and could pose a threat to the War and its participants. I have information to assist the Factions in how to deal with them." replied Jeanne. After another pause Lancer spoke.

"Very well. I can tell you are being truthful for the moment, so I and Archer of White will escort you and your companions to our base. There our Master will talk with the three of you. Does that sound reasonable to you?" he asked. All three nodded. "Very well. Archer will follow us on the ground and we will make our way through the air." said Lancer of White. He turned around toward the mountain in the distance. "Let us go then." he said and then he took off. The trio followed closely behind him.

=Romania – Yggdmillenia fortress – Medea's workshop – 11am

Medea, with her hood and cloak off, was in the middle of preparing another one of her elixirs in her workshop when she heard a knock at her door. She paused in her work and looked at it with a quirked eyebrow. The knock was heard once again. "It's opened." she said.

The door opened and her eyes widened in surprise as to who had stepped into her workshop. It was none other than her fellow Black Faction member, Archer of Black Chiron. Even more surprising was what he had with him. She saw that while he was alone, he was carrying a plate and on it was a stack of fluffy pancakes and pieces of fruit surrounding it. He came in with a gentle smile on his face. "Hello, Medea. I thought maybe you'd like something to eat. You've been working nonstop for the last couple of days." He set the plate down in front of her.

"You remembered that I like raspberries and strawberries on my pancakes." she said in amazement. Chiron chuckled good-naturedly.

"I should hope that I still remember such a detail. Afterall you used to eat them like that when you lived with me after my wife Chariclo died and after you left Jason." he said with a smile. She looked at him curiously.

"Where is your Master?" she asked.

"She's sleeping as the medicine I made for the pain in her legs makes her drowsy as a side effect. Yours?" he asked also curiously.

"He's probably off in his own workshop either creating more of his golems or carrying out the assignments I gave him." she said distractedly as she began to dig into the pancakes he brought. He seemed content to just let her. "You can sit down if you want unless you have to be somewhere." she said as she took another bite of her pancakes. He quietly brought over a chair and sat down next to her.

"Tell me, how have things been for you for this summoning?" he asked. She paused in her eating as she thought about his question.

"I really have nothing to complain about or be unhappy with. My Master being a child makes it very easy for us to get along. It's actually quite surprising to have him call me teacher. Usually that's your title." she admitted. She took another bite moaning in delight at the taste.

"Surprising but welcomed?" he asked.

"Yes. But did you just come down here to make small talk?" she asked suspiciously. Chiron sighed.

"Your suspicions are understandable, but I really did just come down to see you and talk to you. You are one of the few people that I can reminisce with on a personal level." said Chiron.

"Even though once the Servants have dwindled down to just one Servant per class and if we make it that far, we might end up being enemies?" she pointed out.

"We have no idea what might happen and I'd rather the two of us remain on friendly terms and if it does come down to us needing to face off then I can't think of many other Servants that I would lose to happily." Chiron admitted with a smile. This seemed to upset Medea as she glared at him.

"You idiot! You shouldn't say things like that so readily." she said. Chiron merely smiled mischievously at her unrepentant of his words. "If you view your wish so lowly, I wonder why you even answered the summons." she said flippantly.

"Don't misunderstand, Medea. I will fight with everything I have for my wish for regaining my immortality. But if it came down to that or you for your desire to simply live a life without the god's interference, I feel considering everything you had to go through, you are the more deserving to have their wish granted of the two of us." Chiron stated firmly losing his smile for the first time since his visit.

"Have you considered maybe instead of fighting each other we could just simply make my wish, our wish." she suggested

"Medea." Chiron cautioned. But Medea pushed forward with her thoughts.

"Chiron. We've both lost our respective spouses and we've even lived together as if we were married in the past just before Heracles killed you accidentally. Now here we are summoned to the same war and for the same faction as allies. And of all the combatants, you are the one that I wish to fight the least. Besides you technically are immortal upon being summoned as a Servant. So the last step would just be incarnation via the Grail which it can grant. It would be nice to live in this new world without having to keep secrets from others especially if they already are in a similar predicament." Medea suggested giving a sly smile. Chiron sighed.

"Sounds like you're settling." Said Chiron with a quirked eyebrow. "Look there's no point in making long term plans when the War hasn't even started properly yet. Given the nature of how these things go it might be best to simply enjoy the now and let things fall where they may. Though knowing you, you'll certainly do what you can to tip the odds in your favor." He said with a good-natured smile. She gave a hard glare that would've been scary had she not also been pouting.

"If anyone else besides you had said that, let alone to my face, I would've made them suffer." She said though her voice holding no true heat to it. This caused Chiron to chuckle.

"Leaving that topic of discussion alone for a moment, I wanted to ask how have things been working with the other Casters?" he asked.

"Guinevere is about the only tolerable one of the trio from the Gold Faction. She's actually hoping to learn how to mix healing potions from me." Medea explained as she sat back down and continued to eat her pancakes before they became soggy. "Merlin is a shameless pervert but his skills can't be denied and is probably the only one who could match me in a fight of magic. As for the final Caster of gold . . . . Let's just say that the less that is said of that creep the better." She summarized as she took yet another bite of her pancakes. Chiron looked at her in surprise.

"Are you talking about Gilles de Rais?" he asked.

=Romania – Yggdmillenia fortress – grail chamber – same time

The four knights of the round kept their vigil as they remained in the Grail chamber of the fortress. Suddenly they saw an oily black mist appear and out stepped one they knew as their fellow Gold Servant: Gilles de Rais. All of the knights were immediately on edge with his presence. "Sir Gilles. What brings you here to this chamber?" asked Galahad curiously but cautiously. Gilles simply held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.

"Worry not, my fellow faction members. I'm only here to give the grail my utmost thanks and praise and will not tarry long here." He said in a cheerful tone and was smiling in a way that was meant to be friendly but just came off as creepy. This statement caught the group off guard.

"Why would you want to give the grail praise?" asked Sir Kay.

"Simple. It has granted me my wish of bringing my beloved Jeanne back to life and from what I've been able to gather from my scrying abilities, I now know where she is." He said with a creepy smile. He then pulled up an orb and then showed it to the knights. They watched as an image of a blonde haired woman with her hair tied back in a rough ponytail with green eyes and wearing a red jacket, black tube top, daisy duke shorts and black combat boots, came into view. The knights eyes widened in surprised.

"Sir Mordred!? Sir Mordred is here?" exclaimed Gawain. This caught Gilles off guard as he looked at him confused.

"What? No. No. This is my Beloved Jeanne." Insisted Gilles. Now all the knights were really confused.

"Pardon?" asked Bedivere. Gilles sighed and spoke slower.

"The image you see before you in this scrying orb is none other than my Holy Maiden, Jeanne D'Arc. Thanks to the Grail she has been brought back to life as per my wish." He explained. The knights were exchanging worried looks at the statements Gilles made. "You don't believe me, do you?" he said as a matter-of-factly.

"It's not that. We actually do know that Jeanne D'arc has indeed been summoned for the War here in Romania. She's actually the Ruler of this War. She's the one that ordered the three-day ceasefire that we are currently under." Said Gawain. Gilles looked surprised to hear this.

"Did our Masters inform you of this information?" asked Gilles.

"No. See as of yesterday Ruler or Jeanne D'arc came to the fortress and explained some anomalies that were happening for this Grail War and today is the second day of the ceasefire as she has probably gone to inform the other factions of these anomalies for today and tomorrow, but the War will commence properly come tomorrow evening." explained Sir Kay. This seemed to put Gilles in deep thought for a moment before he nodded.

"I see. Very well I thank you for letting me know this. I shall take my leave." Said Gilles with a bow. With that he turned around and left in the same inky black smoke he appeared in. This didn't solve the feeling of unease that the knights all felt.

"He's most likely going after Sir Mordred. Should we let things be?" asked Gawain.

"If we leave things as is, and he's discovered outside the fortress our Masters will be furious for either not stopping him or not informing them of this development." Said Bedivere.

"In that case I'll inform our Masters of this development and let them decide what they wish for us to do." Said Galahad. The knights all nodded.

"I guess then we four remain here and wait for any further orders." Said Sir Kay looking a little disappointed. With that the group returned to their posts.

=Romania - cave of King's Mountain – cave entrance – 11:15 am

By now Karna had led Jeanne, Noba, in Rukia's gigai, and Yoruichi to the entrance of a cave. Behind them Atalanta brought up the rear. Jeanne turned to see her as she felt her skill kick in. "Now that we've arrived, I will take you to have a meeting with my Master. But I warn you I will be present as well and should I detect any deception from any of you, I will fight you until either you fall or I fall." Karna warned. Everyone nodded in understanding. With that the three guests and two Servants walked into the cave.

After minutes of traversing into the cave they came across what looked to be a living space. It was a bit bizarre to see what looked to be comfortable western style furniture with a skylight as the only source of natural light against natural cave formations. Stranger still was a young girl who looked to be about the same age as Ichigo's younger sisters with short blonde hair and blue eyes and a blue western style dress with ruffles all over it. She was barefoot. She looked at them with curiosity, seemingly like a picture of innocence as she sat up straight on a recliner couch.

Jeanne looked surprised due to who it was that was the White Faction Master of all the Servants. A quick check of her companions showed that they too were just as surprised as to who they were meeting. Jeanne then saw that aside from Karna and Atalanta, the latter remained near them and was eyeing them neutrally, there was one other figure in the room with them all. He was covered in a cloak and was wearing a mask. Jeanne realized that her skill couldn't ID the Servant though she knew that the other figure was in fact the Rider of White but that was all she could discern. Then the child spoke getting everyone's attention.

"Greetings. My name is Manaka Sajyou, the sole Master of the White Faction. Lancer of white tells me that you wish to give me some information regarding some anomalies that are occurring with this war." Said Manaka acting with the dignity of a queen as she sat on her couch. Jeanne stood a little straighter.

"Yes. That's correct. But first I want to ask you a question: Have you ever heard of a creature called a Hollow." Asked Jeanne. The lack of surprise on everyone's faces made Jeanne suspicious but still she started with the explanations.

=Romania – border of Trifas city limits – graveyard – catacombs – same time

Kairi was using a traditional lantern to illuminate the dark area of the catacombs they, meaning he, Saber of red, Lancer of Red, and Gray, were in and inspecting. Gray was assisting the illumination with her own light spells and Kairi had to admit, the girl had talent. But while the Masters were inspecting the area, their Servants were lounging around. Or rather his Servant Saber was. Lancer seemed to be sitting in a meditation position with his eyes closed. Saber groaned in annoyance.

"Hey Master? Remind me why we're here in these filthy catacombs again?" asked Saber of Red. Kairi sighed as he could tell that Saber was bored. However, before he could respond Gray spoke up.

"We're here Saber because Mr. Shishigou and I want to make sure that this place is suitable for us and our Faction for a back-up base should our hotel room be compromised somehow. And if and when it is, we need to start laying down the necessary protections to prepare this place for our eventual arrival." Answered Gray.

"And since today and tomorrow are still a ceasefire, now seems as good of a time as any to come here and make those preparations." Added Kairi. He then looked at Gray. "Alright. This area seems fine so what should we do? Do you want to set up the necessary bounded fields and I explore these catacombs further or the other way around?" he asked. After a moment of thought Gray answered.

"I'll head outside and start putting up the bounded fields. Any preferences?" she asked.

"The main ones will be to keep non mages and non-Servants away from here for the duration of the War and to alert us when other combatants have entered our territory." Suggested Kairi.

"In that case why don't I set up two alert systems for the latter? One will alert us of visitors the second one will alert us if they come with hostile intent." Suggested Gray.

"You should also set up some kind of magical traps as since Caster is with that priest, we won't have any ability to watch the battlefield, outside of either another Servants abilities or your own and we might not get out there to meet the potential threat before they spring a trap on us." Piped up a cubed artifact. Saber glared at the cube in annoyance.

"Of all of Father's knights why did you have to have his personality?" asked Saber of Red clearly annoyed. The cube turned to her and spoke.

"Blame your mother for my personality, she's the one who picked it out when she made me." He snarked. Saber growled in annoyance.

"Respectfully, Saber, setting up all the necessary protections will take the rest of today so if you want to go outside and explore for a bit, it's no trouble." Suggested Gray trying to keep a fight from breaking out. Saber rolled onto her back and rolled back in forth in frustration. By now Lancer had opened his eyes and was watching Saber with a slight smirk on his face at her display.

"But it's boring if I go outside by myself!" whined Saber. Lancer chuckled.

"You know if you want, I can come with you as while I can set up some bounded field traps, I really can't do anything else at the moment." Suggested Lancer speaking for the first time for the conversation. Saber rolled over to look at him.

"Shouldn't one of us stay behind and look after our Masters?" asked Saber pointed out eyeing him with suspicion. Lancer shrugged.

"Like your Master said, we're under a ceasefire. Anyone who tries anything will have to deal with the mediator and her allies. And given how that one we now know as Kisuke Urahara was able to go toe to toe with a Servant and didn't seem to be really trying according to Rider of Red, I think that's deterred enough participants to not try anything until the War gets underway." Lancer of Red countered. "Besides I'd like to get a chance to explore the town for a bit." He admitted with a more genuine smile. Saber now sporting a confused look, looked to her Master.

"If you want to go outside, it's fine by me. Just don't start any fights with other Servants or get into trouble." Said Kairi. With that a flash of blue light later and Lancer of Red was already in civilian clothes like Saber who was in civilian clothing already. Lancer clothes consisted of black jeans and black runner shoes. And his top half consisted of a red three-quarter sleeve shirt and a leather studded jacket similar to Kairi's. Kairi eyed him oddly.

"I still don't know why you picked that jacket to wear with your civilian clothes. People are going to think that you and I are part of some kind of Biker gang if we go outside together." Said Kairi with a sigh. Lancer fingered his jacket with a smirk.

"I was curious about this. We never had these kinds of fabrics back in the time I was alive. So I figured I'd try them on while I'm here. And besides I think I look pretty stylish with this jacket. Leather right?" asked Lancer. Kairi nodded. Lancer then turned to Saber. "So you ready to go, Saber of Red?" he asked with an eager smile. She got to her feet with a stretch.

"Fine let's go." She said now trying to sound unenthused, but the quick pace betrayed her own eagerness to head outside. Once their Servants were gone and out of earshot Kairi looked to Gray.

"Do you think that those two will be able to go on a simple outing and not either kill each other or not run into trouble?" he asked. Gray looked and at where the Servants departed and then back at Kairi and shrugged. Kairi sighed. "In that case let's get this done and over with as soon as possible." He said. Gray nodded and headed outside to start setting up the bounded fields and Kairi walked deeper into the catacombs.

=Romania – border of Trifas city limits – graveyard – topside – 11:30 am

As the two Servants of Red exited the catacombs Saber looked over to her unlikely traveling companion as they walked to the Graveyard's exit. "So . . ." she started.

"Anything in particular that you want to see?" asked Lancer not making eye contact with her as they walked.

"Not really. I didn't think much beyond just wanting to get out of those catacombs. By the way, how were you not bothered by the idea of staying there?" asked Saber of Red looking at Lancer of Red curiously.

"Considering my Master was born and raised in a graveyard or rather in the ground's keeper's house in a graveyard, I really have no real reason to complain. Plus despite being born a prince I spent a good portion of my early childhood sleeping out in the woods or in a cave with my Teacher. So sleeping in dark places isn't knew for me though the human skulls on the walls are a bit of a macabre touch." He answered nonchalantly. Saber of Red stopped short of the gate of the graveyard.

"Wait. You're royalty, too!?" she asked in surprise. He looked at her and gave her a confident smirk as he stopped outside of the graveyard gates.

"Yep. In fact I think that it's safe to say that all the Servants that are in our group not allied with the priest are either royalty or at the very least nobility. Including you, Knight of Rebellion." He said eyeing her. Mordred then widened her eyes in surprise before she tried to shift into a battle stance, but Lancer of Red turned back to the city and kept on walking.

"Relax. I won't say your True Name out loud since you just confirmed it to me." He reassured her. Mordred looked put out by this and decided to simply follow him, her hands in the pockets of her coats.

"How did you figure it out?" she demanded though she kept her tone low. Lancer of Red chuckled.

"Well I can't say it was all me. My Master told me about Add and which Knight of the Round's personality he was based on and who created him. Then there's the fact that you mentioned 'Father's Knights' and Add reminding you who made him as 'your mother' so it really wasn't all that hard to figure out who you were. But I see no reason to reveal or say your True Name out loud without your permission. Afterall, for the time being we're allies so no need to cause hostilities especially when our Masters are all getting along quite well aside from the priest." Reasoned Lancer of Red. Saber became thoughtful for a few moments then spoke.

"So you were a prince. Did you ever become a king in your legends since you've yet to tell me your True Name?" asked Saber.

"Technically I pieced together yours and you inadvertently confirmed it and we're entering enemy territory so might not be the best idea for me to be giving you my True Name here." Lancer pointed out. Saber glared at him. He sighed. "But to answer your question no. I died before I could become King of my father's kingdom. While keeping the details vague, my father took an oath before I was born to commit himself and his armies to aid his fellow kings and nobleman in a coalition force should it become necessary. Years later after the death of 6 other children, including an older twin of mine, my mother was told that I would die if the call to war ever came so she did everything she could think of to prevent it to save the life of her only surviving child. It didn't work and when the call came my father was too old to go to war and many were worried that if he did, he would die. I, being the idiotic youth I was, insisted on going in his place as I saw it as a chance for adventure like those that were told to me in stories and a chance to gain glory and true immortality in the form of my name echoing through the ages. I did indeed get both, but my death brought my parents grief, and my son was left without anyone to help him learn to be a king. And while he fathered heirs, to my knowledge his reign was short lived. About the only true consolation is that allegedly he fathered a royal lineage that lasted up til a certain member of our Faction died. Though mind you the connection is based on legends and there's no real way to prove that connection." Said Lancer of Red.

"Let me guess you won't say who that faction member is since their may be others watching or listening." Said Saber. Lancer nodded. Saber sighed. "Fine. I get it. But I wanted to ask you something else. How was your relationship with your father and your son?" asked Saber of Red. After a moment Lancer answered.

"My father, while I respect him as a hero in his own right and he told me all kinds of stories when we were together, we were at best good acquaintances. I honestly think we spent a grand total of a year's time together over the course of my lifetime and after that I was sent elsewhere either of my own volition or at the behest of others. As for my son, I can say with pride that we spent more time together and that I was there for the first few years of his life but sadly I never saw my son alive again after I went off to war. But I'm grateful for what time we had together nonetheless." Answered Lancer.

He looked to Saber who was looking glum. "Given who you are I'm assuming that the same can't be said for you and your father's relationship." He said. Her silence was an answer in and of itself. Lancer opened his mouth to speak when the two looked ahead of them and saw an inky black fog appear in front of them. The two got into battle stances and waited to see what was about to appear. Then a man with billowing robes and bulging eyes appeared and looked at the pair.

"At long last. I've come for you my holy virgin." He said with gusto and seemed to be crying. Looking a bit pathetic. At the surprised and repulsed looks the strange man looked at Saber in particular. "But why do you wear the face of one who does not know me? Surely you recognize my face." Said the man getting more surprised by the turn of events.

"What the hell are you on about? I've never seen you before today and frankly given you're appearance the less I know about you the better off I'll be." Snapped Saber of red.

"But my dear Jeanne, it's me. Gilles de Rais. We fought together as allies against the English pigs. Ever since I was summoned into the gold Faction my greatest desire was your resurrection so that we may be reunited once again." Waxed Gilles.

"Okay First off. I'm English myself so I really don't appreciate being called a pig. Second my name is not Jeanne and I'm not the Jeanne you're blabbering about. And third you're creepy as hell." Yelled Saber in anger.

"Jeanne as in Jeanne D'arc?" asked Lancer looking more curious. This got the now named Gilles to perk up as he smiled albeit creepily.

"Yes. My holy virgin maiden who liberated France. She stands beside you now." He answered, looking at Saber once again.

"That's not my name. Jeanne is the name of the mediator of this war. I'm the Saber of Red Faction. I'm the son of King Arthur. Mordred Pendragon." said Saber materializing her sword in growing frustration hoping that the declaration and the sight of her weapon would get him to realize his blunder and get him to leave. Instead it seemed to have the opposite effect.

This caused Gilles to wail in sorrow. "Oh tragedy. Could you really have forgotten your past life? No this isn't simple amnesia. It's madness. How much more must she endure before you're sated, God?" He exclaimed. He began to wail in sorrow very pathetically for several minutes. Then Mordred's foot connected with his face and sent him flying several feet.

"SHUT UP, ASSHOLE!" she shouted. Then suddenly two other Servants appeared in a flurry of flower petals and Mordred's eyes widened in recognition. "MERLIN!? GUINEVERE!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!?" she exclaimed pointing at the two other Servants who arrived.

"Oh! Mordred? How nice to see you. Don't mind us we're just here to retrieve one of our fellow Servant allies." Said Merlin nervously.

"Wait this guy is with you?" asked Lancer in surprise.

"He's an ally to us." Piped up Guinevere.

"Your mind is locked away so tightly, Jeanne. I swear to you that I will free your soul from the wretched curse of God. Clearly drastic measures are called for." Said Gilles getting to his feet. He reached into his robes to grab something but before he could even finish that move another figure appeared right in front of him. The red Faction members and Merlin's eyes widened in surprise and recognition as the person was revealed as none other than Kisuke Urahara. Gilles and Guinevere looked at him in confusion. "Who-" he started only for Kisuke to snap his fingers. Then Gilles watched in horror as his arms and legs went limp and he fell to his knees. "WHAT IS THIS!?" he screamed in shock.

"Kido." Answered Kisuke simply. Then he reached into the folds of his robes and pulled out his iPhone.

"Demon Arts? Are you a demon!?" asked Gilles in shock. Only to blink in surprise when Kisuke held up his iPhone and heard an odd click from it. Kisuke then shifted the phone to the remaining Servants of the Gold and Red Faction and the same click noise was heard another four times. Once he did that, he quickly slipped the iPhone back into his robes and he turned back to Gilles then held up his hand with an outstretched palm. "What-" started Gilles. As Kisuke held the palm of his hand over Gilles's face, a white light emanated from his hand, disorientating Gilles and knocking him unconscious. He slumped forward. Guinevere caught him.

"Fascinating. I guess Guinevere's noble phantasm was unnecessary to subdue him. Now I feel bad for dragging you here with me. My deepest apologies, Lady Guinevere." Apologized Merlin looking at the woman in question when he said this.

"It's fine, Merlin." She answered looking uncomfortable as she continued to hold the unconscious Gilles. Merlin turned to look at Kisuke.

"That's two spells that I heard no spoken incantation or even a name and yet you rendered a Servant completely unconscious." He said eyeing Kisuke with interest. "Are you by any little chance Kisuke Urahara?" he asked. Kisuke then pulled out his fan from his sleeve and opened it to cover his face.

"Why yes. Nice to meet you and considering that all three of you are Casters is it safe to assume that you're all from the Gold Faction?" asked Kisuke. Mordred and Lancer of red's eyes widened in surprise. As did the other two Casters of Gold.

"Well, I'm afraid that we have to be going. Thank you for the assistance. Bye." Said Merlin as he slammed his staff onto the ground. In a flurry of flower petals, the trio of Casters disappeared. Kisuke looked a bit disappointed. He snapped his fan shut and put his fan away and turned to the two remaining two Servants. Now holding his cane in one hand. Said cane had been hanging on his arm up til now. "Well since you already heard my name, nice to meet you." He said.

"So, you're the creepy shopkeeper that the priest told us about." Said Mordred. Kisuke gave a surprised look.

"I'm a little surprised that someone knows about me without my knowledge of them in return. May I ask who this priest is and how he came to know of my existence? You see I try to keep a low profile so the fact that information of me is known without my permission is a bit disconcerting." Kisuke pointed out. The two red Servants shared a look and shrugged.

"The priest's name is Shirou Kotomine. He's supposed to be the Church's representative for the War. According to him a few contacts of his were doing research on Ruler and her companions once you guys disembarked from the plane at the airport." Lancer explained. He then proceeded to tell Kisuke everything that they knew about Shirou Kotomine and what info he shared with the faction on what he found out about Kisuke. Needless to say, that Kisuke was completely caught off guard by this.

"Do you know if he's found anything out about Ruler's two bodyguards? And for that matter why are you so eager to share this information with me?" asked Kisuke, eyeing the pair with suspicion.

"The latter question is pretty simple. The priest has already proven to us at least that he's not trustworthy due to the fact that two other Masters of our faction never appeared and, according to him at least, they for whatever reason dropped out of the war but still are maintaining Berserker and Caster of Red while the priest has their command seals. But our Masters can't get in contact with either of the AWOL Masters one was a mercenary, I think it was something Rum and the other was an instructor, I think he was something Sembrem or something, to confirm any of this information with them. So, we only have the priest's word to go on. Then there's the fact that his Servant Assassin reminds me too much of my mother, who I know from hard learned experience, is not the type to be trusted at all. So, neither of us have any loyalty to that priest. Then you work for the mediator who's supposed to be a neutral faction so anyone who works with her is also following that same neutrality. Is that a safe assumption or are we mistaken?" asked Mordred in a suspicions tone.

"I have no loyalties to any faction and am helping Ruler out as I find this whole concept with a Grail War fascinating. Though there are other ulterior motives for my assistance. If you'll be patient a while longer, Ruler and I will be coming to your first base in Bucharest, which she knows thanks to her connection with the Grail, as soon as possible tomorrow as we have information that needs to be relayed to all the factions and your faction is the last one, we need to inform simply due to distance from the safe house. During that relaying of information I'll reveal my ulterior motives then and there." Explained Kisuke. "And my former question?" he asked.

"If he's found out anything with those two, he's not told our specific Masters yet. But last I checked he knew next to nothing on them." Admitted Lancer of Red. "Oh and while knowing their names won't mean anything until Ruler meets them face to face, the True Names of the Berserker, Assassin, and Caster of Red are Eric Bloodaxe, Semiramis, and William Shakespeare, respectivly." He revealed.

"I'm sorry. What?" asked Kisuke caught completely off guard.

"I just revealed the True Names of all the Red Servants serving that priest." Said Lancer of Red.

"No I realize that. Just who some of the Servants are, just caught me off guard." Said Kisuke. After a moment of thought he bowed to the two Servants politely. "Thank you for telling me this. I appreciate it."

"You better show us the same courtesy when you see us tomorrow. Or there's gonna be hell to pay." Threatened Mordred.

"Calm down, Saber. Save that energy for tomorrow night. That's when the fighting will begin in earnest." Reminded Lancer.

"Oh yeah that's right. I almost forgot all the Grail War fighting takes place at night so it would make sense that tomorrow night would be the start of actual fighting." Said Kisuke thinking aloud.

"Hey. Out of curiosity how did you know that a fight was breaking out and come to quell it before the ceasefire was finished? Did Ruler send you over?" asked Mordred genuinely curious. Instead of answering her, Kisuke walked over to the bushes opposite the graveyard gates and pulled out two brown paper bags that looked to be filled with food items. This left the two Servants surprised.

"Would you believe me if I said that I was passing by the graveyard after finishing up my grocery shopping and then after hearing you two leave I hid them and myself in the bushes to see what information I could get and then when the one known as Gilles de Rais showed up I made my grand entrance." asked Kisuke. The two Servants were stunned speechless. "I see. Well in that case I better get going as I need to get these home and speak with Ruler about what I found out. Thanks for the info and the talk. Greatly appreciate it." Said Kisuke and with that he flashstepped away as the Servants seemed to come out of their stunned stupor. Mordred growled in frustration as she headed further into town.

"Hey where are you going? Shouldn't we report back to our Masters about this information?" asked Lancer.

"No! It's almost noon and after hearing that, I need something stiff to drink! We'll tell them when we get back! Otherwise, you can go back and tell them!" she shouted as she walked away from him. In the end Lancer of Red shrugged and followed after her. No one noticed that a few doves were perched on tree branches watching the whole exchange and now flew off to report back to their Master.

=Romania - cave of King's Mountain – White Faction's home base – living quarters – noon

Manaka listened for the last half hour as all the information that Ruler, Yoruichi, and Noba had concerning Hollows, gigais, and gikongans, Kido and even demonstrated all of them which she and the Servants found fascinating. They even informed them of the existence of an interloper and what he might cause for the Grail War as a whole was relayed to her. Most of this was information I already knew about before though the information of gigais and gikons are fascinating. I wonder if I could give one to Caster and see what he could do with it. Thankfully Lancer of white's warning at least seems to have stuck as he's reported that nothing they've said hasn't been the truth. Now I just need to push them to see if and where they'll try to lie to me. Manaka saw that the one who she was introduced as Yoruichi was finished speaking so she got up from her chair, stood before the trio of guests and spoke.

"Alright I think I now understand the situation with all these anomalies, but there is one thing that is still bothering me. Ruler why did you decide to bring in outsiders to this Holy Grail War? And I'm including your bodyguards as well in that question." Asked Manaka. This seemed to catch everyone off guard. Ruler spoke then.

"May I ask why you would phrase it like that?" she asked. Manaka gave a small smile. Good. She's not trying to cover things up with lies yet. Let's see where this goes. She thought. Then Manaka spoke.

"Since you've been honest with me, I'll extend you the same courtesy. My abilities allow me to commune albeit weakly with the Grail that is currently residing with the Black and Gold Factions. I am able to, through that connection, discern that the ones calling themselves your bodyguards aren't Servants as they don't have any connection to the Grail. I wish to know are they like you and the one who called himself the Mad Hatter and fought my Lancer, Yoruichi Shihoin?" asked Manaka, eying Yoruichi with a placid smile. Yoruichi was stunned by this. How the hell did this little kid get that powerful and to be able to discern that!? What to do. If I don't choose my words carefully, she might do something that will result in us getting into a tight spot.

"Very interesting that you come to that conclusion, Ms. Sajyou. The two of them are like us in that they have the same powers as us and they are victims of the machinations of an interloper that we mentioned earlier named Sosuke Aizen. We've obtained information that he's responsible for the sheer number of Servants that have been summoned for this war." She stated calmly. This seemed to catch Manaka's attention and interest.

"Oh. Is that right? Do you know how he was able to do this?" asked Manaka. Yoruichi gave a pensive look then spoke.

"In order for me to explain that, some background knowledge is needed to understand some of the terms that I'll be using." Said Yoruichi. She then proceeded to explain Sosuke Aizen and his machinations from his experiments with hollowfication on innocent people, to the creation of the Visoreds, high ranking members of the 13 Court Guard Squads that were put through hollowfication against their will, Kisuke, who was the Mad Hatter's real name and her husband, being framed for the crime which led to their collective exile and the standing order to kill on sight, to his creation of the Hogyoku which was the spiritual equivalent to the grail and in fact it's believed that Aizen witnessed a Grail War and used the Grail as a basis for the Hogyoku. Rukia being sentenced to death by the 13 Court Guard Squads when Aizen discovered that she unwittingly possessed Kisuke's own Hogyoku and how Aizen manipulated the entire military organization almost to the point of civil war just to get his hands on the Hogyoku that Rukia possessed unwittingly, and Ichigo's very existence being the result of Aizen experimenting with humans and hollows and creating a hybrid creature of the two, Aizen's betrayal along with two others and their defection from the 13 Court Guard Squads and the War that followed and now Aizen using the Hogyoku to utilize the Grail for his own means which resulted in the summoning of far more Servants than was typical. Though she admits what he wishes to do for this War she's uncertain. While Yoruichi made sure that every word was the truth, she also made sure to not give specific dates and times and hope that Manaka would just make assumptions and let it slide.

"And how long ago was this War with Aizen?" asked Manaka.

"About 3 months ago." Answered Yoruichi as a matter-of -factly, hiding her relief that Manaka asked for the most recent date and hoped the girl would extrapolate from there.

"And what is the goal that you and yours plan to do for this war?" asked Manaka with a neutral look.

"We want to figure out where Aizen is hiding and discover what his plans are for the Grail itself or the Grail War as a whole and hopefully thwart him somehow." Yoruichi answered truthfully. Manaka narrowed her eyes at her statement.

"You sound uncertain that you can even do that." Noted Manaka. Yoruichi shrugged and answered.

"Aizen's not only a master manipulator not just by knowing how to get to people either through his actions or words but his specialty is that of illusions though he calls it perfect hypnosis. To quote him 'It controls the five senses to the point where it can make the target misinterpret another person's form, shape, mass, feel, and smell to be an enemy's.' The initiation condition for the hypnosis illusion ritual is for the enemy to look at his sword at the exact moment it is released, which is the sound of glass shattering. After seeing it just once, this person will completely succumb to the hypnosis every time it is released, regardless of how long ago they saw it, as the Visoreds remain affected by it to this day even after several years ago and only being exposed to this ability once. And only when Aizen turns off the illusions by force of his will, the image shown will either melt away or shatter. Aizen's illusions, according to him at least, are absolutely flawless; even if the target is aware of being under the hypnosis, they cannot resist its influence. The hypnotic illusions make them a highly useful tool in combat, for Aizen can create simple or complex illusions to deceive his opponents. For example, by creating a decoy of himself, or other illusions to distract his opponents, Aizen can hide his own movements and attack with impunity. His opponent will remain focused on the illusion until it is too late to react. As far as I'm aware the only flaw is that only those who either can't see or those who haven't been exposed to the hypnosis ritual are the only ones that can fight him with any real effectiveness." Explained Yoruichi. The widened eyes of those present that weren't already in the know was enough for Yoruichi to realize that her point was made.

"And are you one of those that aren't under this hypnosis ritual?" asked Atalanta, regaining her composure. Yoruichi shrugged again.

"I really don't know. As far as I'm aware I've never seen his sword but for all I know I could very well be under its influence. And what makes it worse is I could be under it's influence and don't know if and when he would have me looking at illusions and when he has me looking at something real and back again." She answered honestly. She eyed the group before her. "So now do you understand why we want to make sure that he doesn't get his hands on the Grail and use it for his own ends?" she asked.

"And what are his goals?" asked Manaka now very curious.

"If my understanding is correct, he wishes to become a God and create a new world order. And while I'm fairly confident in that interpretation, I'm open to the idea that I could be off base." Admitted Yoruichi.

"You're point has been made. But what about me or the other Masters or Servants who could get their wishes granted? Will you eliminate us?" asked Manaka.

"Only if your wishes are a threat to the world, you decide to join or work with Aizen, or if you endanger civilians to achieve your goals. In other words, no different than Ruler's goals." Answered Yoruichi.

"Now do you see why I brought outsiders to this war, Master of White? Between the Hollows, this Aizen person, and the sheer number of Servants, the former two I have no idea on how to deal with them, I knew that I couldn't handle this War without assistance and worried that summoning a Servant for myself would make things worse. So when I was offered assistance from outsiders who after careful talks and agreements only wanted to observe the war and performing their duties pertaining to their organization, I took the opportunity and so far it has worked out nicely." Answered Jeanne. Manaka looked thoughtful. She glanced over to Lancer of White, and they shared a look. After that she spoke.

"Rider. I'm satisfied with my questions. Now it's time to show our gratitude by having you reveal your identity since they were honest with us." Ordered Manaka.

"As you wish, Master." Said Rider of white. He quickly removed his mask and Ruler looked at him dead on with his mask off. She nodded satisfied. Rider replaced his mask once again. Manaka sat down on her lounge couch.

"Let me make this clear. This is only done as a means of compensation since you all went through so much effort just to come here and bring us up to speed on what's happening for this War and now, we can adjust strategies going forward. But if you want to find out the rest of the identities of the White Faction that isn't currently present, you'll have to get creative." Manaka challenged with a game smile. "Now is there anything else I should be aware of?" she asked.

"Only a request that you keep your information about my bodyguards and their lack of a connection to the Grail a secret." Ruler admitted.

"And if I don't?" asked Manaka placidly. Ruler shrugged.

"Even if you use that information as a bargaining chip with other Factions it won't matter too much other than the fact that information will reach the other Factions sooner than we wanted it to. But ultimately, we will share this revelation with whoever is left at a later point." Admitted Ruler. "But I warn you not to take my bodyguards lightly." Ruler warned. After a pause, she asked. "By the by, I'm curious as to what your goals are for this War, Master of White?" asked Ruler. Manaka shrugged and answered.

"Simply that I wish to be reunited with 'My Prince.'" Said Manaka with a slightly dreamy look in her eyes. This confused the trio.

"Your Prince?" asked Noba speaking for the first time since their arrival. She looked at the trio with a happy smile.

"Oh yes. You see King Arthur, the male version mind you, was my Servant in the last Grail War I participated in. And I want him by my side once again. Hence why I never summoned a Saber for my Faction. King Arthur is and will always be my only Saber." She said getting caught up in her own little fantasy. This made the trio a bit uneasy but decided not to dig too deeply into that. "So if you won't get in the way of my reuniting with my prince then I will not get in the way of your goals." She finished. "Now is there anything else that you need to tell me?" she asked.

"No I think that's everything." Said Jeanne. Manaka nodded.

"Very well. I'm going to freshen up. Atalanta will escort you out and then have you be on your way. Farewell." She said getting up and turning towards another smaller cave and heading towards it. This abrupt dismissal was a bit unexpected but upon Atalanta approaching them made them realize that their time was up and that they needed to leave. Several minutes later at the entrance of the cave Atalanta turned to them.

"Thank you for coming all the way to tell us of these things. I know we haven't said anything, but we are grateful for all this information." she said with a slight bow. Seeing that there was nothing else for them to do, Yoruichi, Jeanne, and Noba left using their respective motives of travel. Atalanta's ears twitched. And she then sighed, closing her eyes. "Understood Master. I'll go get something for you to eat." She said aloud. Then she lept off the cliffside heading to the forest.

=Romania – several miles from King's Mountain – in the air – 12:30 pm

"Well. That actually went better than I expected." Said Jeanne hopefully.

"I agree but while we didn't find Aizen, the kid just rubbed me the wrong way. Especially when she spoke about King Arthur. She's obviously obsessed with him. But the thing that really set me off was her lack of a reaction to the things that were said about Aizen's deeds. The only time she reacted was when we went into detail about how strong Aizen's illusionary abilities were." Noted Yoruichi. Then her phone went off causing the trio to stop and Jeanne holding Noba so he won't fall to his death. "Hello?" she said.

"Yoruichi. It's me Kisuke. Am I on speaker?" asked Kisuke. This alarmed Yoruichi as he was being serious right off the bat. No jokes, no silliness. Just business.

"No." she answered cautiously causing the other two to look at her in concern.

"Good. Keep it that way. I have some information I need to give you. So this info gathering has turned out better than expected. I did get photos of the last Servants for the gold and Silver Factions and at least two Servants from the red faction. I also got a picture of an Assassin Servant. And since we know that Gold doesn't have an Assassin and we know the identities of Assassins of Blue, Black, and Silver, that means it's either the Assassin of Red or White. And we now know the names of Berserker, Assassin, and Caster of Red. So while that last part won't be as useful as the photos that means we either don't know the names of or have photos of Saber, Archer, Rider, and Caster white. And if I remember correctly Saber of White was never summoned, right?" he asked.

"Yes. Well we are just getting underway of leaving the white faction's base. And we got the identities of Archer and Rider of white for sure." Reported Yoruichi over the phone.

"Okay here's the plan. I want Jeanne to come back to the safehouse immediately. That way if something bad happens she can claim plausible deniability and it won't be a lie. If she asks just say that I detected a few hollows nearby and that you and Noba might be needed to deal with them. Meanwhile, I want you and Noba to stay and double back to the White Faction's base and get photos of the other Servants of white. Which means with your info, that's both Assassin and Caster of white for sure." Said Kisuke. "And I have to emphasize that this will most likely mean that you'll be on your own, as Noba will be your faster getaway, but his portals aren't inconspicuous to get in or out. That will be up to you." He stated. "You alright with that?" he asked.

"Yeah. I figured that would be the case. Okay I'll see what we can do. See you later." Said Yoruichi as she hung up her phone. She looked to the other two. "Okay. Kisuke just informed me that several Hollows are nearby and I think it would be best to have Noba come with me. Jeanne, I want you to head back to the safehouse. This is a soul reaper affair." Ordered Yoruichi. Jeanne looked unsure but nodded and handed Noba to Yoruichi as she then turned and headed off back to the safe house. Once she was certain that Jeanne was gone, she then dropped gently to the ground with Noba.

"So what is the real reason you wanted to send her away?" asked Noba in Rukia's female gigai. Yoruichi filled him in on the plan. "I see. What do you want me to do?" he asked. Yoruichi began to strip and Noba blushed and spun around.

"I'm going to head back to the white faction's base and see if I can get a photo of the other remaining White Faction Servants. I want you to use your portals and get me close to that cave we were just in and then once I return to this spot use those portals to get us back to the safehouse." Ordered Yoruichi. She was now stark naked save for a collar with a clear pouch that her phone was tucked into. She rotated the phone so that it would be on her back when she went into her cat form. "My clothes are behind you when I leave." With that she turned into her cat form. "Alright open a portal for me, Noba. Get me as close to the mountain entrance as you can." Said Yoruichi her voice sounding more masculine. Noba did as he was told and Yoruichi did a few motions with her paw before she went invisible. A minute later Noba closed his portals and sighed.

"Well. I guess I'll wait. I really should've brought something to read." He lamented as he sat on the ground next to the neatly folded pile of Yoruichi's clothes. Unbeknownst to him, someone was watching him in the shadows wearing the skull masks of the Hassans. Master, I have something very interesting to report. The Assassin said over their link.

=Romania - cave of King's Mountain – White Faction's home base – living quarters – 12:45 pm

Manaka was busy using her scrying mirror and seemingly just people watching for the time being while Rider and Lancer of White stood nearby as silent sentinels. Then Manaka spoke. "Perseus, Karna what are your thoughts on the discussions that were given today?" she asked. This seemed to cause the two to cock their heads in unison and confusion.

"What exactly do you mean, Master. Every word spoken was the truth." Stated Karna. Manaka turned to them.

"I know. You monitored them. But I want to hear both of your thoughts." She insisted.

"I admit that I find many of the things they spoke of quite fascinating. Abilities that are similar to magecraft but don't require pedigrees and could in fact overturn the entire doctrines of the Moonlit World, a military organization of these super naturally gifted individuals that could actually fight us as equals and who've made it their mission to hunt down and exorcise these fallen souls and send them to their respective afterlives in order to protect both the souls of the dead and the living and artificial bodies and souls that can essentially replicate life and the former could allow for incarnation for us Servants while also helping the Masters and even allow us to survive past a Holy Grail War without the need for the Grail. Though that last bit was speculation on their part. Still, it does have the potential to completely overturn the entire Servant-Master dichotomy." Admitted Karna looking thoughtful with a small smile.

"And you Rider? Your thoughts?" asked Manaka. By now Rider of White removed his mask revealing his face which was sporting a forlorn expression.

"I will admit that Lancer isn't wrong in his thoughts but as for myself. I find myself rather ambivalent to the whole thing. I suppose it comes from the question of what will happen to us once your goal is achieved. Obviously helping you is currently my goal as part of our agreement but after that I have no idea." He admitted sadly.

"Have you considered taking up the role of guinea pig for those gigai's on a Servant and see if they work?" asked Manaka offhandedly. This caught the two Servants off guard. "If they work then you could pursue a life that will be entirely of your making rather than the one you pursued at the order of the Gods."

"I thought you wished to grant your Saber's wish, whatever that was." Pointed out Rider of White.

"Saber's desire was to save the Britain of the past and turn it into an eternal utopia. My desire is to be by his side forever. I have every intention of granting him his wish and mine as well. And thanks to the sheer number of Servants, no doubt both can be fulfilled, and it would only cost 14 of the 40 or so Servants to do it. So, unless more than two wishes are granted, the remaining 28 Servants, if they don't have any particular wish they want granted or those that are left just want to live in this new era, could just get some gigais from Ruler's allies and call it a day." Suggested Manaka.

"You have no interest in pursuing the Root, Master?" asked Karna quirking an eyebrow in curiosity. Manaka shrugged.

"I've been merged with a tainted Grail for 70 years and I already have a connection to the Root so pursuing that would just be boring. Hence my current goals." Answered Manaka immediately. "So as long as you all help me in achieving my goals then I see no issue if afterwards those that are left can go and pursue their own goals whatever those turn out to be." After a few moments of thought Rider of White smiled slightly and placed his mask back on and spoke.

"Thank you Master for your generosity. If Saber of Silver and his wish is what you want then either him or eliminating the 14 necessary Servants to get your wishes granted is what I shall strive to fulfill." Said Rider though his tone was now far warmer than before. Karna looked at him with a small smile, happy that his fellow Servant finally found something that he was willing to wholeheartedly dedicate himself to rather than just serving out of necessity or obligation. Manaka gave a genuinely happy smile.

"Good. I'm counting on you." She said happily. None of them seemed to notice the black cat that had been listening in on their conversation for a while now and had now taken the time to quietly make her way to a large cavern down a flight of stairs that looked promising.

Since that girl said she was going to freshen up in that smaller cavern it's most likely some kind of Mage equivalent to a bathroom so this larger cavern will hopefully lead me to another passage or at least another room. Yoruichi thought as she made her way down the stairs and at the bottom came to a dimly lit room. She saw what looked to be some kind of crude laboratory made of rock and gems. Several of the gems were glowing with light providing the room with it's only light source. All the while she saw several humanoid creatures walking around, some of them carrying things while others were scurrying around trying to get to their next destination.

Then she saw three things that stood out. One was a large pit and standing inside of it was a massive blob of earth and clay, but Yoruichi spotted a few gems interlaced inside of it structure. The closest comparison she could make to it's size was that of Gillian Hollow in terms of height though this thing was considerably bulkier. The next thing she noticed was the figure they identified as Berserker of White or Lancelot was trapped inside a ball of earth and clay but didn't seem to be struggling. If the black mists weren't pulsating around him, I would've thought that he was passed out or dead. Thought Yoruichi. Then she saw the figure standing in front of Lancelot, an unusual figure. He wore a full body suit and blue mantle and had blonde hair. But what stuck out as odd was the gold mask that covered everything of his face and the gold spikes where his feet were supposed to be. What an odd figure. Thought Yoruichi.

"Master I still have Berserker secured do you wish for him to remain as such?" said the man, confirming that he was a Servant. I don't sense anyone else in the room besides the two servants so they must be communicating over that Master-Servant link. I'm still trying to get used to that idea of a telepathic link between two different people that aren't soul reaper and zanpakuto spirit. Thought Yoruichi. "I understand. Yes my noble phantasm is taking shape quite nicely but even if I work on it nonstop for all of tomorrow and even tonight I will only have finished three quarters of the outer structure as I've used up a good portion of the resources that this mountain provided us and I still need the rest to perform any other spells should I be forced to fight. And that's not counting the other golems I've created for combat and support for our forces." Said the figure.

There was a pause. Yoruichi took advantage of this and began to, while in cat form, set up the iPhone and take a picture of the Servant. "Right now, I need gems of high quality and a reactor core to power my creation. It needs something with a soul. Ideally it would be a mage or a homunculus as both also possess magic circuits but with this other group of supernaturally gifted beings, could perhaps one of them-" started the figure but seemed to be cut off. "I understand. Then the only recourse if the latter three are either unattainable or not an option would be these Hollows, I heard through the link that you were talking about with our guests." Said the figure.

There was yet another pause. Yoruichi eyes widened in shock at what she was hearing. "I will not deny that I wish to crack them open and see what makes them tick, but I still think we can utilize them against our opponents and now that I know their weakness, well if all of this research comes to nothing I can just get rid of them without any trouble." Admitted the figure.

Yoruichi, deciding she heard enough tapped the camera button to take the picture. Unfortunately, she realized too late that she forgot to check to make sure the sound was off as the camera made a loud camera click noise to indicate that the picture was taken, and it got the Servant's attention, and both turned towards her hiding place. "What was that?" asked the figure. Berserker growled lowly. Yoruichi decided to cut her losses and began to slink away. It was a good thing that she had left her spot as it was destroyed by one of the golems that had been assisting the figure. Her training in the Stealth force and being its commander was what kept her from making any sound as she then flash stepped out of the cave. She then made her way out of the mountain, but she paused as she felt a familiar reiatsu signature. Oh no. It can't be . . .she thought but before she could finish that thought she heard a small explosion coming from the forest. Damn it! That's near where I sense Noba. She thought and flash stepped to the location. A figure's shadow appeared where she had been standing.

=Romania – several miles from King's Mountain – forests near the mountains – 1 pm

Noba was using his portals as he was avoiding projectiles from numerous angles. All while trying to flip and dodge other projectiles coming from other directions. Noba saw out of the corner of their eyes a dirk from one direction and what looked like a red arrow from another. Thinking quickly Noba opened two separate portals and caught the two different projectiles and then swapped the projectiles to head towards the ones who fired them causing the two to have to abandon their spots to avoid being hit.

Assassin of white was hiding under his cloak as he took shots at whoever this individual was. Master, I think one of Ruler's bodyguards are located in the forests not to far from our headquarters. And one of the other Assassins from the other factions is also present. They seem to be trying to also take pot shots at them. Do you want me to do anything? Asked Robin over the link as he continued to take pot shots and dodging projectiles coming at him. What are they doing there? They left our headquarters roughly a half hour ago. Asked Manaka over the link. No idea. No one has said anything. Answered Robin over the link. Suddenly the other Assassin was sent flying and then was knocked into a tree, cracking his mask and rendering him unconscious. But it wasn't the female bodyguard that did that. Instead it was another woman. A stark-naked dark-skinned woman came into view. Robin relayed this info to Manaka. Stay where you are and just observe them and see if they say anything incriminating. Ordered Manaka over the link.

Yoruichi saw the now unconscious Assassin Servant and then towards Noba in Rukia's gigai. "Are you alright?" she asked. Noba nodded. Yoruichi went over to her pile of clothes and put them on. "Okay give me a minute." She said. She then pulled out her iPhone and then called Jeanne with Facetime. A few minutes later Jeanne's face appeared on screen.

"Yoruichi. Is everything okay? Were you able to take care of the Hollows?" asked Jeanne.

"Yeah it was small fry. Don't worry. Listen I need you to look at a Servant and identify which Faction they belong to but don't give me any True names okay. On the off chance someone is listening." Said Yoruichi.

"Sure." Agreed Jeanne. Yoruichi then flipped the screen and held it towards the unconscious Servant. Jeanne looked at the screen and nodded.

"This is the Assassin of Black." Said Jeanne. Yoruichi nodded.

"Okay. Thanks for the info. Did you make it back okay?" asked Yoruichi. Jeanne nodded and smiled.

"Yes. I arrived just before you called me. That Assassin isn't dead, is he? I don't feel a lost connection." Asked Jeanne.

"No, he's just unconscious. I'm sending Noba back to the safe house once I get to Millenium fortress with the Assassin. I'll introduce myself to them and drop Assassin off and then head back myself." Said Yoruichi with a cheeky grin.

"Okay. Just be careful." Cautioned Jeanne. "Goodluck." She ended with Yoruichi waving to her and ended the call. Once that was done Yoruichi put her phone away and then picked up Assassin of Black and put him in a fireman's carry. She then closed her eyes and stretched out her senses. She then opened them and looked in the direction where Robin was located. This caused Robin to tense as he stayed still under the cloak invisible to the naked eye. "To the other Servant in the area. Since my colleague looks to be unharmed and we're still under a ceasefire, I'll let your attacks on them slide. But should you do so again or the next time you attack them is after the ceasefire, know that you'll be signing your own death warrant." She warned. Then Yoruichi turned her attention towards Noba who nodded and opened a portal and the trio disappeared into it, closing the portal behind them.

Did you get that, Master? Asked Robin. Yes. Return to base immediately as we have another guest. Replied Manaka over the link. Understood. Replied Robin as he started making his way towards the mountain base.

=Romania - cave of King's Mountain – White Faction's home base – living quarters – same time

Manaka looked at the stranger that Rider found at the door of their base. "So who are you?" she asked looking very seriously at their guest. Said guest was a thin, tall, and youthful man with very sharp features, giving him a skeletal appearance, ear length unusual silver hair. His eyes were in constantly narrowed slits, making it impossible to tell what color his eyes were. He also kept his face set in a wide mocking smile. His outfit was a white hakama. His robe opened in a narrow 'V' down to his waist, closed to below the hips, and then open again to the hem, which fell about to mid-calf. His robe had long bell sleeves, into which he hid his hands. The lining of the robe and edges or layers of the under-robe appeared to be black. He had no visible weapon.

"Now. Now. No need to be hostile. I didn't come here to cause issues. I came here to talk." He said in a tone that while polite seemed to have a mocking undertone. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Gin Ichimaru. And I'm a soul reaper." He said simply his smile never leaving. This confused everyone present.

"A what, now?" asked Manaka blinking in confusion.

=Romania – 1 kilometer away from Yggdmillenia fortress – plains – 1:15pm

A portal opened up and Noba and Yoruichi, still carrying the unconscious Assassin of Black in a firemen's carry, came out of the portal. One kilometer away was the imposing Millenium fortress. "Noba. I want you to head back to the safehouse. I'll deliver this wayward Servant to that faction and speak with them and then try to get away and head back to the safehouse myself." Ordered Yoruichi. Suddenly she felt a hand on her throat.

"Lady Shihoin!" yelled Noba in shock as it wasn't the gigai's hand that was on her throat, it was Assassin's as he had apparently regained consciousness and now was gripping Yoruichi's throat despite still being in a fireman's carry. However, the pressure on her neck suddenly stilled.

"What did you call her?" asked the raspy voice of Assassin of Black. After a pause and a careful nod from Yoruichi, Noba answered.

"The woman whose throat your grabbing is in fact Yoruichi Shihoin of the Shihoin Family." He said.

"Then do you know who I am? And do you know of our connection?" asked the Assassin of Black.

"Chika Shihoin, the 10th head of the Shihoin family, was a co-founder of the Hashshashin along with the First Hassan. He's also the one who gifted the first Hassan his sword Azrael and built him the Mausoleum that can't be found by others save for the chosen few. And all of the leaders of that order abandoned their original names and were called Hassan-i-Sabbah. You are one of those 19 leaders though I'm not sure which one off the top of my head. I also know that you're the Assassin of the Black Faction who I'm returning you too right now." Yoruichi recited off the top of her head. Hassan slowly removed his hand from her neck.

"So you really are a member of that family. Are you also a Servant?" he asked his tone curious.

"No. I'm the living descendant of Chika Shihoin and the 22nd head of the Shihoin family." Yoruichi answered honestly. Assassin of Black gasped.

"To think that that family would still be alive to the present day. Your grace I humbly ask for your forgiveness for my ignorance." Asked Assassin, his tone now reverent even worshipful.

"Please stop." She said cutting him off much to his surprise. "You were merely doing what was necessary if you ran into an enemy combatant. If you really want to show that you're sorry then let me do what I came here to do." When he didn't respond she turned to Noba. "Alright then stick to the plan and I'll be back at the safehouse very shortly." She ordered. While obviously hesitant Noba did eventually turn away towards the forest and activated his portals and went inside. The portal closed behind them.

"I see the Shihoin family still retains it's reputation of either themselves or their retainers being gifted in the ways of the supernatural or the divine." Commented Assassin of Black. Yoruichi chuckled and then with a single flashstep found the pair on the outer wall of Millenium fortress. Suddenly she saw out of the corner of her eye several arrows coming her way she flashstepped again onto the courtyard with her passenger. Then several homunculi came out armed with halberds. They surrounded her and her charge. Slowly she put Assassin of Black down on the ground.

"I suggest that you move out of the way, Assassin of Black." She said her tone sounding playful. By now many of the Black Faction arrived to see what was going on. In an instant she rendered several of the homunculi unconscious and disarmed several others. When she was finished she looked towards the now assembled Black Faction looking at her with various expressions. Some were suspicious, some were impressed, some were cautions and some were curious.

"And from what faction do you hail from, Servant? And what is the reason for trespassing on another Faction's territory." asked Lancer with an authoritarian tone.

"I work with Ruler and I'm not a Servant. I'm actually the wife of Kisuke Urahara. Yoruichi Shihoin. Though I will admit that if I was a Servant I would most likely qualify for the Assassin class." Said Yoruichi with a sly smirk.

"Wait a moment! You mean to say that that slob I saw working with Ruler who called himself the Mad Hatter . . . .IS YOUR HUSBAND?!" exclaimed Gordes pointing an accusatory finger at her. Yoruichi laughed heartily.

"I'll admit that Kisuke can certainly be an eccentric but he's a bonafide genius. As to why I came here? Simple. Your Assassin over here was engaged in a fight with another Servant that I assume my colleague got caught up in. Trying to keep the ceasefire enforced I intervened and rendered him unconscious but as a way to show my apologies I thought escorting him back to base safely would be sufficient and also allow me to introduce myself properly." Explained Yoruichi.

"Wait. If you're husband's last name is Urahara, why is yours Shihoin?" asked Caules clearly confused.

"Marriages amongst nobility. The higher ranked nobles keep their name or have it hyphenated. We agreed to just keep separate names as it made things easier." Commented Yoruichi.

"You're a noblewoman?" asked Fiore in surprise.

"Are you by any chance affiliated with the Soul Society yourself?" asked Darnic looking intrigued. Yoruichi smirked.

"The Shihoin family is one of the 5 great founding noble families of the Soul Society. And of the 5 the Shihoin is the most prestigious. I am the 22nd head of the Family." Said Yoruichi. Celenike tsked at this.

"A Noblewoman who fights like a brawler. What do you take us for? Idiots?" she questioned her doubt obvious.

"Considering that it's tradition for the heads of the Shihoin Family to also be military leaders within the Soul Society's military force, it's only natural that I can fight proficiently." Yoruichi countered. Darnic spoke before anyone else.

"While we are grateful to you for returning our Assassin, I doubt highly that this is just a social call. What is your real reason for coming all the way here to see us, Lady Shihoin?" asked Darnic not bothering to hide his suspicions. Yoruichi's face turned more serious.

"Alright. I confess that I did come here with an ulterior motive. I came here to make a deal." She said seriously. The now surprised and intrigued looks were all written on their faces. "You see I have two wards that are serving as reluctant Masters in another Faction and as their family head I feel inclined to not want them killed. The White Faction has already agreed to not target anyone that doesn't interfere with their goals though Ruler was a bit tightlipped about what the goals actually were. The girl takes her neutrality very seriously. The gold Faction is in an alliance with you so it's killing two birds with one stone, Silver is an unknown entity, Blue is my ward's so no need to worry on that and Ruler is already going to talk to the Red Faction tomorrow and I'll gage them then. So now I'm hoping to strike a deal with you." She answered.

"What are your terms?" asked Darnic.

"The terms are pretty simple. While the Servants of the Blue Faction are fair game, I wish that the Masters not be targeted as two of them are retainers to the Shihoin family and therefore are my wards. In exchange I'll use my influence on Ruler to be more lenient towards your faction. For example I understand that command seals are precious commodities and Ruler has two for every Servant. I'm sure it would be very useful to have an insider to soften Ruler up to be more inclined to hand out those seals should someone become careless with the ones you currently have for this Faction." Yoruichi pointed out. This seemed to cause the Black Faction to become thoughtful at the implications of this deal.

"Will this extend to the Gold Faction as well?" asked Fiore curious.

"It can. In fact it might as well as it won't seem as biased if I'm advocating for two factions instead of just one." Admitted Yoruichi.

"Before we make a decision I want to ask you a question. Our familiars saw you on the outskirts of our territory and then in a second you were on the outer walls of our fortress while carrying our Assassin. What was that technique?" asked Angelica.

"That was Flashstep. A fast movement technique that allows us to get from point A to point B in as few steps as possible. I believe that Ichigo demonstrated it yesterday. Though I suppose it wasn't a true demonstration as you all saw so little of it." Explained Yoruichi.

"So you're proficient in this Flashstep as well?" asked Roche trying to sound like grown-up. Yoruichi gave a hearty laugh.

"Proficient? I'm no less than one of the best masters of Flashstep of the entire Soul Society. I even earned myself a title known as the 'Goddess of the Flash'." Said Yoruichi with pride. This caused some of the male masters to blush and some of the Servants to look at her confused.

"So does that mean you can disrobe yourself the fastest?" asked Astolfo clearly confused. Yoruichi gave a playful wink.

"How about I give you a true demonstration of Flashstep?" Yoruichi suggested. "Have one of your Servants attack me and I'll show you just how fast I am."

"But you'll be killed by most of the Servants present." Pointed out Fiore worriedly.

"No. Allow for it. I will personally vouch for her. The Shihoins are incredibly skilled fighters to the point that they co-founded the Hashshashim and their authority was on the level of the First Hassan whose word was law among our order." Said Assassin of Black. This caused the Servants and Masters of Black to look shocked at this news.

"Very Well. We'll do this your way as now I'm intrigued. Let's see how fast you are." Challenged Vlad. With a single movement with his hand, several stakes rose out of the ground. Yoruichi then flitted around to avoid being hit. She landed on one to get a perch. To her surprise, another stake rose out of the one that she was perched on. Again, she flitted out of the way and even broke the stake off as it grew to give chase. This turned out to be a mistake as the remnants of the broken stake were then turned into projectiles that tried to land a hit on her. Again, she flitted out of the way. But then she saw three arrows out of the corner of her eye heading her way.

Unfortunately, she didn't have enough time to dodge and they three made contact with her. Two pinning her arms to the stake she was perched on and the third one piercing her stomach. A look of shock decorated her face. Blood splattering everywhere. Chiron lowered his bow.

"Your speed is truly impressive. You could in fact rival one of my students in terms of speed. But if you're caught off guard or blindsided then your speed is rendered moot." Commented Chiron looking a bit disappointed. Suddenly his eyes, along with the rest of the people gathered in the area, widened in surprise as suddenly Yoruichi's body vanished suddenly leaving behind only her orange shirt which only had the smallest amount of blood stains. A sound of displaced air was heard right next to Chiron as he looked to his right and saw a rather unexpected sight. Yoruichi was now sitting squarely on Siegfried's shoulders. Her clothes remained save for her missing orange shirt. Sigfried was caught completely off guard and had to crane his neck to see her playful expression.

"Did you really think you could catch me off guard with a move that predictable?" she asked. Then she turned her attention to Darnic who was the first to recover from his shock. "I'll overlook that last action and chalk it up to all of you wanting to see how truly fast I was. Well, what do you think?" she asked. Darnic politely coughed.

"As Archer said. Your speed is highly impressive. Mind if I ask what technique that was?" he asked looking intrigued.

"Stealth flashstep, Shiho branch #3: Utsusemi. And that's just one of many techniques I'm privy to as the stealth force commander." Said Yoruichi with a triumphant smile. "Now do we have a deal? Know that if the terms are violated on your end, then the deal is off. Should any of you deliberately target my wards then I will personally take out the Master that gave the order as compensation. You've only just seen the barest glimpse of what I can do and while we've been very forthcoming with information, you've yet to truly grasp fully what we as a group are capable of. So, what is your answer?" asked Yoruichi. Everyone eyed eachother as if to gage what exactly everyone's thoughts were on this. They seemed to come to a conclusion and looked to Yoruichi.

"Who are your wards?" asked Caules curious.

"The Masters with the last name Matou. Both of them became my wards five years ago and I would like for them not to be targeted." Answered Yoruichi.

"Very well. We accept your offer." Said Darnic. Yoruichi smirked and shifted her sitting position on Siegfried before she flickered out of existence. The group looked up to see her now standing unassisted in the air though how she was doing this they couldn't begin to guess. They were all shocked by this display.

"Then we have a deal. With that I'll depart back to the safehouse. You already have the address and contact information, but I will say this. Once you step onto our territory, be sure to leave your grudges at the door." Said Yoruichi. With that she flash stepped away heading back to the safe house.

=Romania - cave of King's Mountain – White Faction's home base – living quarters – 1:40 pm

Manaka seemed to have adopted a pondering look as she mulled over all this new information. "So just to make sure that I'm following you, you admit that most if not all of what Yoruichi said earlier was in fact the truth." She said. Gin nodded. "But what she didn't mention or rather kept out was that she, Urahara, and Rukia along with yourself are all Soul reapers. Psychopomps that are a military organization that send the souls to the afterlife and slay Hollows to send them there as well." She continued. Again Gin nodded. "And that the Soul Society is basically just the afterlife." She continued. Again Gin nodded. "And these swords you all carry are zanpakutos that are just portions of your souls that have been weaponized." She continued. Again Gin nodded. "And Ichigo is actually a living human that possesses soul reaper and hollow powers." She finished. Again Gin nodded. Manaka looked at Gin in disbelief. "Give me one reason why I should believe you." She said.

"You have the ability to summon literal legends into the modern era and can command them to do whatever you want and yet the concept of an afterlife existing is that far fetched to you?" asked Gin in surprise. "Need I point out that you have a concept that you call the Root where all things come from and will eventually return to. That's essentially the cycle of reincarnation but much more direct that going through the process of living in the soul society first then heading to the cycle after." Gin pointed out.

Master. Don't forget that I have been watching and listening this whole time and have not detected any falsehood in his words. So either he's suffering from insanity, is a very skilled liar, or he's actually telling us the truth. Said Karna over their link. Manaka silently nodded.

"Alright let's say I believe you. My immediate question is why are you here and why bother telling me all this?" she asked looking at him neutrally. Gin quirked an eyebrow at this.

"You're not going to ask me how I can confirm all the information?" asked Gin.

"By logic since I'm assuming everything you've told me is the truth as you seem to be of sound mind so insanity doesn't seem to be an issue, there are only a few possibilities with you. Either you are another person working with the mediator but for whatever reason your colleagues saw no need to mention you due to either you being undercover in which case you failed miserably at or because they simply forgot to mention anything about you. The next option is you are acting as the representative for the Soul Society with or without the mediator's knowledge and are meeting me separately from Ruler's group. Another option is you are acting completely as a free agent and are here for your own goals. Or you are affiliated with that Aizen character that I was warned about and are here on his orders or for your own whims. So the only question is which of these is it along with my previous questions." Said Manaka reaching her conclusions logically. Gin's smile turned a tad bit more genuine as he looked at her slightly impressed with her deductions.

"You're not going to think that I'm lying?" asked Gin curious. Manaka just shrugged.

"If you are lying, you're incredibly skilled at it that even my abilities are fooled. So unless further evidence comes up to tell me otherwise I have to assume that you're telling me the truth." Admitted Manaka. Gin nodded.

"Alright then I'll answer your questions. Firstly, I'm affiliated with the man named Sosuke Aizen and I'm here because I'm playing Guinea pig for him during the duration of this war. As for why I'm telling you all this, I'll be honest I really wasn't sure what to expect with you but you've been exceeding my expectations since I first stepped foot in your headquarters. So I feel a bit more inclined to just be honest with you. Well, that and you seem to know when I'm lying and when I'm telling the truth." Explained Gin.

"So what are you playing Guinea pig for?" asked Manaka.

"To see if it's possible for a soul reaper to become a Master and see what will happen as a result. And if it's successful see how many Servants can a Soul reaper of my rank possess." Answered Gin.

"That's impossible. If Soul reapers are spirits then there's no way that a Heroic spirit can form a pact with another spirit. Servants need a living Master to keep them anchored to the world of the living. Though if you're in a gigai then maybe that will work." Manaka thought aloud.

"I want to see if I can become a master without the use of a gigai." Said Gin. Manaka frowned. "Look. Worst case scenario nothing happens, and you get your Servant or Servants back with no problems. But if it does work then you get a powerful ally to serve as a second master for your faction. And since I want to see where this goes, I plan to stick around for the duration of this war. So what is your answer?" asked Gin.

Manaka grew thoughtful at this. Alright. If I give him a Servant, which one do I give him? And if the amount of energy he's putting out that I can sense from him is anything to go by, How many Servants do I give him? Berserker would probably be the most obvious choice as his high mana consumption could convince this Gin fellow to not take any more than one Servant and the fact he's insane would mean Gin would have to spend more time keeping an eye on him than he probably wants to. Gut this Gin fellow never said anything about potentially betraying me or not so that might not be the smartest move. Caster is only loyal as long as his noble phantasm is finished making his loyalty a means of convenience so not a good idea. As for the remaining 4 not counting Saber, I can only give him a Servant or Servants whose loyalty to me will be beyond question even if the contract switches. So Archer or Lancer I have the most confidence in on that front.

Master if I may. Let me be the one to serve as his Servant. Said Lancer over their link. Manaka was shocked by this and didn't bother hiding it. Make no mistake. If he tries to order me to kill you than he will have to utilize a command seal and I will make that clear before such a contract is made and that your orders supersede his. And since you are the one to summon me into this world my loyalty is to you first and foremost. Not to mention that due to the link I can relay information to you without his knowledge. And finally I can tell when he's being deceitful. Lancer reasoned. This calmed Manaka as she realized that he was thinking along the same lines. I see. And if he can support more than one Servant than I think it would be best to have Archer also be assigned to him as her general distrust of men will make her be more inclined to be suspicious of him and if he orders her to kill children, including me, she'll definitely work against him. Manaka thought over the link. She gave a satisfied smile. Very good, Master. I will not object to your plans. Replied Lancer over the link.

"Very well Mr. Ichimaru. I'll go along with your little experiment. But I will select the Servants you get." She said firmly. Gin pouted in disappointment. By then Archer and Assassin had arrived and were eyeing Gin with suspicion. "Oh good you both are here. Lancer could you both fill them in while I discuss matters with our guest." She ordered Lancer nodded and approached the two newly arrived Servants as he spoke to them in quiet tones.

"Alright so who did you have in mind?" asked Gin curious.

"You will get command of Lancer and if you think you can support more than one Servant than I will permit you to take command of Archer. But that will be it." Manaka said firmly. Gin quirked an eyebrow in surprise at his.

"Not who I thought you'd permit me to take command of." He admitted.

"What's the phrase, 'keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer'?" Manaka asked with a sly smile. "Berserker and Caster's loyalties are dubious at best while Archer and Lancer's loyalty to me is beyond question even if the contract were to be switched." Manaka said. A smile appeared on Gin's face at her reasoning.

"And let me guess, they are also more inclined to make sure I don't try anything against you, right?" Gin asked.

"You're catching on. Not to mention that even though you'll get three command seals per Servant once their used up you either lose the contract entirely or you'll have to go to the mediator to get at least one more. And considering who you're working for, I doubt the mediator is going to be inclined to let you have one of hers. So I think that you'll be very careful about where and when you'll use them. Not to mention that Servants with high magic resistance can resist command seals. So unless you want to lose two command seals to make them obey commands that could be antithetical to their beliefs, you'll exercise caution with them." Manaka surmised. By now Archer, Assassin, Lancer, and Rider had gathered around the two. Manaka looked at the 4 Servants. "So is everyone caught up on what is about to happen?" she asked. The 4 nodded. "Then Mr. Ichimaru hold out your non dominant hand." She ordered.

"Ah but I'm ambidextrous. So both hands are dominant." Gin pointed out cheekily. Manaka frowned and gave a snobbish hmph.

"Then I guess you really don't want any Servants and you can report back to your Master that you failed." She said in an airy tone.

"Hey now. I was just trying to have a little fun." Said Gin as he then held out his left hand. She took it and closed her eyes and one set of command seals appeared on the back of his left hand. It formed a spear with the blade surrounded by light. Gin quirked an eyebrow at that.

"So how do you feel?" asked Manaka.

"Fine. I take it that you gave me Lancer's contract?" asked Gin looking back up at Manaka. Manaka nodded. "Well my energy reserves are still fine. If this is how much he's taking right now with no activity I think that I can handle one more Servant and still use Shikai and Bankai for myself." Said Gin thinking aloud. At everyone's curious expressions Gin elaborated. "In simplest terms our zanpakutos have three states that we can use to fight with. Sealed which is what it currently is in and therefore can only use it as a blade, Shikai which grants me a unique power once I call it's name, and Bankai which is my trump card and a last resort as it makes me 5-10x stronger than my shikai and depending on who your talking to can either take the Shikai ability and blow it up to gigantic proportions or it can grant a wholly new ability that still fits the wielder. So why don't we see if my calculations are right." Suggested Gin. Manaka shrugged and proceeded to transfer another set of command seals to Gin.

This other set showed a snake entwining itself with spear of the first set. Gin looked at the design and for a few seconds dropped the smile and even widened his eyes in surprise. Manaka and others saw that he had bright sky-blue eyes.

"Is something wrong?" asked Archer suspiciously. Gin seemed to come out of his state and immediately returned to form.

"Just was curious as to why they took a different form on me compared to you." Said Gin looking at Manaka.

"Command seals often take a shape that is reflective of the Master who receives them." She said looking confused. Gin nodded.

"Thank you. That clears things up immensely." He said simply his own smile returning though it seemed to be more obviously strained. "So I now have both Lancer and Archer's contracts?" he asked. Manaka nodded. "Well it seems my calculations were right though it seems that she's pulling slightly more energy from me than expected but I can still support both of them easily." He commented.

"Enough that you think that they can use their noble phantasms freely?" asked Manaka intrigued.

"Ah. I take it you're refereeing to their trump cards equivalent to our Bankais if what Lord Aizen said was true and I have little reason to doubt him." Gin said looking thoughtful. "Honestly, I'm not sure. We won't know until the War starts." Gin admitted with a shrug.

"Well then I guess the only thing left is to say welcome to the white Faction, Master of Archer and Lancer, Gin Ichimaru." Said Manaka with a sly smile.

=Romania – Ruler's base – outside the house – 2pm

Yoruichi finally arrived back at the house with her mission completed. She immediately smelled homemade food cooking and headed to the front door. Upon opening it the strong scent of food increased and caused her mouth to water and her stomach to growl loudly. "Judging from that sound I think it's safe to assume that Yoruichi's home." She heard Kisuke say cheerfully. Yoruichi smiled and made her way to the dining room. She saw the now named Kaien helping Rukia set the table while Ichigo and Kisuke were finishing up preparing the food. There on the table was roasted pork stew, mushrooms with polenta, several cheeses and cured cold cuts and finally boiled cheese doughnuts. Yoruichi licked her lips in anticipation.

"You guys. You didn't have to wait for me." Said Yoruichi.

"Well, I actually just got back a little before you did and we spent the rest of the time making the meals." Said Kisuke.

"So this is actually a late lunch for all of us." Pointed out Ichigo.

"We decided that we're going to eat and then call and get the Soul Society up to date of what we've found out so far from today and then we'll figure out what to do after that." Rukia finished.

"I hope you like the food." Said Kaien with a nervous look that just caused Yoruichi to look at him more fondly.

"Alright then. Let's eat. I'm starving." Said Yoruichi as she went to sit down at the table with everyone else and they proceeded to dig into their late lunch.

=Romania – Bucharest – outdoor café – outdoor patio – same time

Reines was sitting at an outdoor café with her Servant Archer as the two of them were finishing up their meal. Archer (Gilgamesh) was dressed in modern clothes that consisted of an orange shirt, black coat and dress pants that were slim fitting, and a pair of black dress shoes. He was finishing off a glass of wine while she handed their waitress the money needed to pay for their meal. Once the woman departed, Reines then pulled out a pouch from her bag and poured what looked to be black obsidian stones onto the table. Then she snapped her fingers and the stones arranged themselves in a spiral and suddenly the world around them seemed to stop gaining a washed-out quality to it and all sound was gone. Gilgamesh looked at the girl who was his Master for this war in a bored expression though he quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is it you wanted to talk about, mongrel?" he asked bored.

"I humbly ask that you indulge me as I wanted to ask you a few questions, My King." She said with a small smile that looked somewhat excited. Whether out of boredom or intrigue he motioned for her to continue. "I wanted to first off ask how the clothes are? Are they to your taste?" she asked.

"Please say what you truly mean, mongrel as it's wasteful of both your magical energy and my time to be both maintaining such a spell just to asking such trivial questions. If there is something you truly wish to ask, then ask it." Said Gilgamesh in a slightly annoyed tone. Reines didn't seem to be bothered by this as she continued.

"Very well. I did truly want to talk to you and get your opinions on a few things. My first true question is what do you think of the modern world that you've seen so far?" she asked.

"This current era is disgusting beyond words and yet I find myself utterly fascinated with all that I've seen so far. The little distractions here and there these past two days have kept me from getting too bored, but I think it will be better once the War gets underway come tomorrow night. As then I can see how strong our opponents will be. It's truly a shame that a ceasefire was declared before the fighting could truly get underway, but I can't actually fault the mediator for wanting to solve such an unexpected mystery of why the sheer volume of us were summoned." Voiced Gilgamesh as he swirled his wine in his glass a bit more. "Though for her sake this whole thing had better not have been a colossal waste of everyone's time. Or she will know what happens when she tests a king's patience." He declared his tone getting a bit angry. However, he calmed down and instead looked at his Master her smile gone and she gained a concerned look so he decided for her sake to not dwell on it. "So is there anything else you wanted to know?" he asked his tone now far calmer. This seemed to snap her out of her concern as she smiled once again when she spoke.

"Yes, I also wanted to ask about what you thought about all that's been happening so far. And also what your wish is for the Holy Grail?" she asked trying to temper her obvious excitement. Gilgamesh gave her an indulgent smile as he found her enthusiasm very amusing.

"I shall answer your 2nd question first. The Grail is just another treasure that rightfully belongs to me. And I will not see a bunch of lowly curs fight over it unless I give them permission to take it. Hence why when the fighting does start I shall be entering the fray myself and testing them personally. Besides this could prove to be very entertaining as I could end up battling some very strong opponents that could actually be worthy of my time. As for your first question, mongrel, that also doesn't concern me as the potential deception and split in our faction is a mage affair and a King such as myself is above such matters. Though as to the wider happenings since we haven't really traveled outside of this city and have not heard from anyone else about the goings on, I see no reason to dwell on it. If something happens that affects us then we will concern ourselves about it. But for now perhaps it's best to, what is that common phrase, 'let sleeping dogs lie?'" He asked his tone clearly mocking though at who it was difficult to say. Reines looked a little disappointed by his answers which Gilgamesh saw and spoke again. "And what of you and your opinions on either of these matters, mongrel?" he asked the mocking tone gone now replaced by curiosity.

Reines was completely caught off guard by this but straightened herself and answered. "As far as the potential treachery is concerned, I have complete confidence in my brother's ability to both, not fall for such tricks, figure out how to outsmart the priest, and even defeat him if necessary. As for the Grail, I only want to use it to grant my only wish and that is to reach the Root." She answered truthfully. Gilgamesh now looked disappointed.

"How boring." He stated. Reines immediately looked worried.

"It's not like that, My king. It's just that anything else I want I know that I can achieve with my own two hands. So to me at least I'd rather use the Grail to help me accomplish something that I know I can't achieve on my own. Such as reaching the Root. A good example I can give for a task that I can accomplish on my own but the Grail could be used on is restoring my family's reputation. Technically I could use the Grail to do that, but to do so would undermine all of Brother's hard work that he's done to get it there already so I can easily finish the restoration by simply training harder and excelling in my fields of study to bring the family name Archibald back to prominence once again and that I know I can accomplish on my own with help from my brother. By contrast wishing for it would make it feel unsatisfactory. Not to mention that it's very likely that even if the family name is restored so easily then it will fall just as easily into obscurity again and the next time could be a permanent fall from grace. Instead, having my brother and I steadily build the Archibald name back up to prominence we can ensure at least for a little while that when we're gone that the Archibald family legacy will survive at least 1 or 2 generations with maybe even leaving contingencies to assist that generation to keep the Archibald family name reputable. So having the Grail assist me in accomplishing the one thing in this world that can't be accomplished without the help of a miracle would be the most pragmatic approach to use such a device. That is if I was deemed worthy enough to use it." Reines explained truthfully. Then Gilgamesh smiled.

"Congratulations, Reines Archisorte. You've once again proven why You are a cut above most of the mongrels that are currently alive today." He complimented. Reines was in shock as she realized several crucial things. First was that he complimented her. She knew for a fact that he rarely did that to anyone. And secondly, he'd called her by her name. Essentially, he always called everyone mongrel. But before she could dwell on this, he spoke, causing her to listen to him as she knew he'd get annoyed if her focus wasn't on him. "You would rather earn your merits through your own hard work and dedication rather than simply demand it be handed to you on a platter. So, in recognition of your efforts, I will, at least for now, consider you my retainer. Ergo once the war is over and we succeed then I will allow you to use it. The only exceptions of course would be I find someone more worthy of the Grail's use than you or naturally, if you end up disappointing me. So, you'd better do your utmost to not have the latter be the case." He warned. Reines seemed to snap out of her stupor at that but smiled, nonetheless.

"I'm honored by your words my King." She said as she stood up and gave a shallow curtsy.

"Good." Said Gilgamesh as he finished off the wine in the glass and set it back on the table. "Now let us leave this place and see what your precious brother is doing and figure out how to entertain ourselves from there til tomorrow night." Said Gilgamesh as he got up from his seat. Reines immediately waved her hand over the stones and caused them to gather into her pouch and then the world resumed like normal. With that the duo left the café and walked back to their base at the hotel. Reines practically skipping and Gil following at a more laidback pace behind her.

=Romania – forests outside of Trifas – Tohsaka's base of operation – kitchen – 2:15pm

Aoi, Rin, Ayaka, and Sakura were in kitchen as they were all making desserts for supper tonight. Rin and Sakura were playing with the dough while Ayaka was helping Aoi cutting up the fruits. All this while their Servants were watching or in the case of Lancer helping with the cooking via operating the fryer. Ayaka looked to her Servant. "I have to say that I didn't expect you to know how to cook, Lancer." She said astonished. Lancer gave a small smirk.

"I'll admit that using modern cooking machines like this fryer is a bit unusual even with the grail supplying me the information on how it operates, but most of my original life had me living out in the wilderness so I had to know how to cook my own food. Though it was mostly for meat dishes." He answered with a chuckle. Rin and Sakura handed Aoi the first of several doughballs and she in turned handed them to Cu who carefully plopped them into the fryer.

"What do you think of sweets that we have now and what about the rest of you?" asked Rin who was equally curious.

"Did you guys even have sweets? And if you did, what were they?" asked Sakura getting in on the conversation.

"Girls. Mind your manners. It's rude to pry." Aoi lightly scolded. However, the Servants all laughed, smiled or chuckled at the girls antics.

"It's fine lady Tohsaka. The children are merely curious and I for one see no problem with answering such an innocuous question." Said Saber of Blue as she gained a thoughtful expression before speaking. "I can't speak for the other Servants but for my time, the sweetest things that were available were fruit cakes with honey glaze and those were only if they were in season as we had no way of keeping fruits fresh for more than a week at least not without the assistance of magecraft." Answered Saber.

"Better than my time. The sweetest things we ate were whatever berries or fruits you could get your hands on with maybe some honey if we were lucky and only when they were in season. We barely got to the point of realizing that crushing fruit juices or honey on bread made it tastier. But I agree that if you were a talented mage, you could use magecraft to preserve such things for later use. Though most mages would've rather cut off their right arms before admitting to using it for such a mundane function." Answered Lancer with a chuckle as he pulled out the first golden fried dough and set it on the plate next to him and then put some more doughballs in the fryer.

"And you two?" asked Ayaka looking at the other two Servants of Blue as she continued cutting up the fruits.

"Most of the desserts I had with my sisters were found off the sacks of men that came to our island as they brought food rations with them for their journey. Though if I had to pick, I think my favorite sweet thing was Baklava." Admitted Rider of Blue. At the girls confused expressions she elaborated. "It's a dessert made of many layers of flaky pastry dough usually filled with crushed nuts and sweetened with honey syrup." The girls licked their lips as they pictured such a dessert. Aoi chuckled at the girls antics and looked to her own Servant.

"And what about you Archer?" she asked genuinely curious.

"My favorite dessert I think it was called Muhallebi or milk pudding using various animal milks as the main ingredient. It's fairly simple to make just combine milk, honey and flour and you have milk pudding. Though now you would change out the honey for sugar but that was a luxury item that even kings like myself could barely afford." Admitted Archer.

"And of my question of current sweets?" asked Rin.

"Their definitely far more prominent in their sweet taste due to the addition of sugar with it now being a common staple of the modern era but while certainly tasty, best to be enjoyed in moderation." Said Artoria sagely. This caused many to chuckle good naturedly. Then Kariya came into the kitchen with Berserker of Blue.

"Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long. I just had Berserker help me proofread an article I just sent to my publishers." Said Kariya. He noticed all the baking with a curious gaze. "So what's going on?" he asked.

"We're making some fried doughnuts with fruit and cream cheese for dessert tonight." Said Sakura excitedly. Kariya gave a small smile. Berserker looked absolutely delighted at the prospect.

"Sounds delicious." Kariya said. But before he could say another word Tokiomi, Kirei, and their respective Servants came into the current kitchen. Kariya immediately backed away from the girls and stood by the door he'd entered from. The other two men acted like they didn't even acknowledge his presence. The girls looked curious and nervous due to Tokiomi's expression being concerned.

"Is everything alright, dear?" asked Aoi.

"Kirei has just informed me that apparently the Clock Tower and the Church are becoming suspicious of our inquires." At the confused looks Tokiomi elaborated. "After Kariya informed me that his and Sakura's teachers were assisting the mediator, the only question remained were Ruler's Servants and their identities. Thanks to the slight skirmish before the ceasefire took place we were able to uncover the noble phantasm of one of the Servants which was 'Dance, Sode no Shirayuki'. And given that her noble phantasm conjured up a wall of ice we assumed that she was a Servant had some connection to the elements." Summarized Tokiomi.

"And what happened? Did you find anything useful?" asked Aoi voicing what was on everyone's minds.

"The closest match we could find was a Japanese yokai spirit called the Yuki-onna which does in fact deal with snow and ice. But we have no way to confirm if that is indeed her True Name. However, the thing that concerns me is that the people we made inquiries to revealed that this was the second time that someone asked those same questions, and the person who asked previously was my brother Shirou Kotomine, who is, apparently, a Master working with the Red Faction as the Church's representative." Kirei explained.

"That's not unusual for Masters to be making similar inquiries concerning trying to uncover the names of other Servants and Masters." Berserker pointed out.

"And if the other person making the inquiries is your brother than that's good right? Maybe we can work together with him to win the war." Rin pointed out.

"Ideally that would be the preferred outcome, Rin. Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple." Tokiomi pointed out.

"What do you mean, uncle?" asked Ayaka, nervous.

"Shirou and I have never had the best relationship. The last time we spoke was at my Father's funeral years ago. In fact, he doesn't even know that I'm participating as a Master in this War." Kirei said his expression becoming a deep scowl.

"While I would rather not have personal matters interfere with mage matters, the truth is we might have to form an alliance with him down the line but that's not what's gotten me concerned. What worries me is that up til now, while news has most likely reached the Church and Clock Tower about their being more than 2 factions, I'd hoped that at least until the fighting started properly, we could lay low and not be found out. But with our inquiries, there's now a chance that Kirei has been found out to be a Master and that in turn could expose us to being a faction as it was well known that I took Kirei on as my apprentice and it won't be long for them to realize that none of us are at the Tohsaka Manor in Fuyuki. Thus, it won't be much of a stretch for them to conclude that the Tohsakas at least make up one faction." Tokiomi explained.

"Well, no offense Lord Tohsaka, but once the fighting got underway wouldn't it have exposed who the Masters of the other Factions were anyway?" asked Kariya in genuine confusion.

"Yes but if the Masters remain hidden until the final rounds of the War where only one Servant per class is left, then they can, if their Servants are strong enough, take the Grail before any retaliation from others could occur. I was hoping to do this for our main strategy for the war." Tokiomi admitted.

"So you want us to just stay behind the protections of this base and wait til everyone else has gone to kill eachother and then sweep through with us and nab the Grail?" asked Lancer with a frown on his face. Tokiomi nodded.

"There is another reason I was hoping to keep our presence in the war hidden for as long as possible. Since the Clock Tower didn't even inform us of the Grail resurfacing, now as a separate faction they might see us as their enemies getting in their way and we could suffer retaliation. So by keeping our presence as unnoticed as possible until the end, the Red Faction would be unlikely to target us but now that we've made inquiries, there's now a chance however slim that we might be found out." Tokiomi admitted. This caused a deep frown to appear on Kariya who took a calming breath before he spoke.

"Respectfully, Lord Tohsaka. If that was really your concern then why did you insist on bringing Aoi and the girls to participate? Surely the command seals could've been transferred to others and the girls would've been back in Fuyuki where they would be safe." Said Kariya in a calm tone though his expression was clearly one of anger.

"And who would have those seals? Your poor quality of magic circuits and low circuit count means that if it weren't for the unusual nature of our current Berserker, you'd most likely have died supporting just a regular Berserker let alone supporting more than one Servant. Kirei and myself could perhaps support more than one Servant but that's only as long as Caster was constantly supporting us with top quality gemstones. And that only 5 Servants accounted for. Who would support the other two?" asked Tohsaka with disdain. Kariya was silent as he had no response to the question.

"Speaking of gemstones, I have something for all the girls." Said Caster trying to diffuse the situation. He approached the girls with an easy smile. "My master ordered me to create some mystic codes for all of you." He explained. Then he presented the girls with several gemstone necklaces. Blue sapphire for Ayaka, Ruby for Rin, and Emerald for Aoi. Kariya couldn't help but remembered his gemstone meanings from his time with Kisuke when they were creating Rin and Sakura's bracelets. Speaking of bracelets, I better call Kisuke and see if he'd be willing to make some an updated versions of those bracelets and perhaps commission one for Ayaka as well. He looked as 3 of the 4 girls as they were admiring their gems.

"What do you think, Lancer?" Ayaka looked to her servant who had just finished frying the last of the dough as he turned to her and smiled warmly.

"It suits you quite well." He complimented causing her to blush.

"Really!?" she squeaked.

"Yep. And sapphires represent wisdom. Which I would argue fits you to a tee." Cu added with a good-natured smirk as Ayaka flushed in embarrassment.

"I'd argue that all the gems fit our masters nicely." Added Artoria with a small smile.

"How so?" asked Rin curious.

"Well ruby represents passion which I know from the last couple of days of staying with this faction, you certainly possess that, Rin." Answered Artoria.

"By contrast emeralds represents harmony. Something that you clearly demonstrate repeatedly, Lady Tohsaka." Added David with an easy going smile which Aoi returned. Rin then saw that Sakura didn't receive anything and spoke up.

"Where's Sakura's?" asked Rin. And with that the lighthearted atmosphere deflated and tension once again settled in the room.

"It's alright Rin. I'm okay with not getting one." Sakura suggested trying to keep things from escalating. But Rin wasn't having it.

"Caster could you please make one for Sakura, too? She's also part of our faction so it's only right that she be given one too." She asked.

"Sakura is not a Tohsaka so it will be more pragmatic to only use our resources to safeguard ourselves." Tokiomi stated.

"True, darling. But Rin is also right in that Sakura is part of our faction and she's also a child, so using a single gem for protection shouldn't be much trouble." Aoi said trying to be persuasive. For several seconds no one knew how Tokiomi was going to react. And then he sighed in defeat.

"Very well. Caster spare a gem and make a similar mystic code for Sakura Matou." He ordered. Caster smiled and bowed.

"At once, Master." Said Paracelsus. He then turned to Sakura. "Is there a particular gem you want, miss Matou?" he asked.

"An Amethyst." She answered immediately now with a happy expression on her face. Ah a gem that represents peace and spirituality. Very fitting, Sakura. thought Kariya to himself.

"So with that out of the way, is there anything else we should know or talk about?" asked Kariya.

"Yes I need to discuss what we will be doing once the War is underway." Said Tokiomi. This caused everyone to look at him and Kirei with either interest, curiosity or apprehension. "Now that there's a chance that our identities as Masters in the Blue Faction could be exposed, I think it would be in our best interests to head off any potential threats. And I believe the best way to do that is to steal the Grail and head back to Fuyuki as quickly as possible." Said Tokiomi.

"How would that work, uncle?" asked Ayaka. "Heading off threats, I mean?"

"A sensible question. Ideally it would be best for us to wait until 7 Servants have fallen before making our move. But the circumstances have now opened up a different opportunity. Currently the Black Faction will be mostly in the dark about the identities of us the Masters of Blue save for the Matous. But their focus will primarily be on the Red Faction due to Yggdmillenia being in a rebellion against the Association. And due to the Matous fall from grace they'll not see us as a legitimate threat. So, we'll take advantage of that oversight. While the clash between Black and Red is going on I think that it would be the best opportunity to send our Servants in from behind their fortress and make their way to where the Grail is being held and steal the Grail back. The idea will be to send Lancer, Saber, Rider, Caster, and Berserker to the fortress and make their way to the Grail. Once that's been accomplished Caster will create the second half of a transportation magecraft ritual that will teleport the Grail from it's location to our base." Explained Tokiomi. This was met with shock and surprise. And while that's going on, I'll send Archer and Assassin to ambush Ruler and bring her to us and the Grail, should we successfully acquire it. Then either force her to have her Servants to eliminate the competition or at least we will have access to her command seals as Kirei knows the necessary ritual to take her command seals from her for ourselves if it becomes necessary. And once we're in Fuyuki, I'll have everyone hand over their remaining command seals and then force our Servants to commit suicide. Afterall that was the Servants entire purpose. Die and be used as fuel to access the Root. But considering how attached the girls are getting to their Servants, it's probably best to keep them in the dark about these latter parts of my plan. Tokiomi thought privately only to be brought back to the present by his wife's voice.

"Won't that just put big targets on our backs, dear?" asked Aoi confused.

"Information will take time to travel among mages. They will have a difficult time figuring out which faction is responsible for the theft due to their being 6 factions. So we have a small window before they eventually figure out that we were responsible. Therefore stealing the grail at the start might be the best time for us as no one is going to have all the information about us. By the time they realize who took the Grail and where it could be either hidden away or where we could be taking it we'll have already left the country." Kirei explained.

"We're taking the Grail back to Fuyuki?" asked Kariya in surprise.

"Of course. It's the Grail's rightful place and no matter where it is any Servant's summoned with it's assistance will return to it. By the time we get back to Fuyuki hopefully 7 will fill up the Grail allowing us to use the Grail for it's original purpose: to reach the Root and acquire the knowledge and True Magic that exists there. Not to mention once we're in Fuyuki, then the girls and the rest of our faction will be safely behind the Tohsaka manor defenses." Replied Tokiomi.

"And if there aren't? What will happen then? And for that matter if we are successful in stealing the Grail, how are we to get out of the country with it? And most importantly what will we do if we can't steal the Grail successfully in the opening stages in the war?" asked Kariya not liking where this is going. After a moment Tokiomi answered.

"I believe the phrase is 'we'll cross that bridge when we come to it'." Tokiomi stated his tone final.

=Romania – outside of Trifas – Ruler's base – kitchen – 2:45pm

Yoruichi set her utensils down as she savored the food. "That was fantastic." She said with satisfaction. By now everyone else was also finished with their food.

"Alright. I'll go and send a message to Captain Hitsuguya and see if he can get the others together and get our meeting started." Said Urahara as he left the table. Ichigo gave a sour look.

"He just doesn't want to help with the clean up." Groused Ichigo. Rukia looked at Kaien.

"Kaien, Ichigo, and the rest of us are going to have a meeting with others over the phone. Do you want to be apart of it or would you prefer to sit out of this?" asked Rukia.

"What's going to be discussed at this meeting?" asked Kaien looking concerned.

"We're calling some non-mage colleagues of ours and are filling them in on the Servants and then seeing if we need to do more than just assist Jeanne." Yoruichi explained. Kaien contemplated this for a few minutes before he answered.

"I think that I want to meet these colleagues of yours. I'm really curious about them since you guys told me that all of you are soul reapers save for Ichigo whose a substitute soul reaper." He admitted. Yoruichi looked at the trio in curiosity.

"We felt that he had a right to know the truth and he agreed to not repeat what we told to anyone that either wasn't already in the know or who we gave him permission to talk to about what we told him." Admitted Ichigo.

"You guys saved me. I could never bring myself to betray the people who helped me like that." Said Kaien. By now the 4 younger members of the group had finished clearing away the food and dishes and putting the former in the fridge while the latter was put in the sink which Ichigo and Kaien did together.

"Well if you're going to participate in the meeting tonight then I'll save my questions til then." Yoruichi announced. By then Kisuke returned to the room.

"Okay good news. Captain Hitsuguya is in the process of informing the captains and we should be able to begin the meeting in about 15 minutes." He announced. Ichigo looked up from helping with the dishes.

"Great that should give us enough time finish the dishes and get everything set up for the meeting." Said Ichigo.

"My thoughts exactly." Said Urahara.

=Soul Society – Seireitei – Byakuya's office – same time 8:45pm (Tokyo time)

Byakuya was in his office as he was pouring over various documents. Most were reports while the rest were books and materials that either talked of the soul society's founding or were about different myths and Heroes from various cultures. Byakuya was carefully noting things down in a notebook on the non-soul reaper documents and signing his signature on the soul reaper action documents as a way to save time and multi-task. He glanced over to the desk not far from his and saw Renji doing the same thing though his desk looked far more disorganized and messy. Minutes later Renji got up from his desk and carried a stack of documents over to him. He sighed tiredly.

"Okay. That's the last of the official paperwork for the day, Captain. These just require your signature." Said Renji holding up a stack of documents in his hand. At Byakuya's silent nod Renji placed the stack at the far corner of his desk.

"And how goes the research from the other documents you're looking at, Renji?" asked Byakuya maintaining his stoic demeaner. Renji shrugged.

"Nearly finished but not a whole lot to add to what we already know other than how they died." Answered Renji, slightly disappointed. Suddenly Renji's Denreishinki went off as did Byakuya's. The both of them checked theirs respectively and Byakuya nodded.

"Finish what you have at your desk and I shall do the same for our meeting tonight and once we're finished we'll make our way to Captain Hitsuguya's office as soon as possible." Ordered Byakuya.

"Safe to assume that, that was a missive from that Captain, sir." Asked Renji. Byakuya nodded.

"I shall inform him that we'll be over in a half hour or less as we still have things on our end to finish up." Said Byakuya. Renji nodded and returned to his desk seeing the captain text back Captain Hitsuguya. Renji gave a wry smirk. Never thought I'd see the day when the traditional noble Captain Kuchiki learn how to text on Denreishinki modeled after the human's iPhone and be actually good at it. Renji thought with a chuckle but quickly got back to his research. For about another 15 min only the scribble of pens to paper or the shuffling of paper could be heard. Finally, Renji got up and stretched. Then he looked to his Captain. "Alright, Captain. I've finished. What would you like me to do with the documents?" Renji asked. Byakuya, not looking up from his work, pointed to an opened black polished wood chest on the far wall.

"Place the documents in that chest but don't close it as I'm nearly finished myself. Once I put my documents in, I'll close it and it will activate a Kido seal to keep them safe. I'll have some servants come by tomorrow to take the chest back to the Kuchiki library where they'll be put back in their proper place." Ordered Byakuya. Renji nodded and did so before returning to his desk. Minutes later Byakuya stood up and carried his documents over and then closed the chest. The lock was then covered by the Kuchiki family crest showing the seal was now in place.

Renji then grabbed his notebook, pen and stuffed them in the inner pocket of his Shihakusho and then grabbed his zanpakuto that was lying next to his desk and strapped it to his waist. Once that was done he looked up to see his captain doing the same. Once both were ready Renji headed out first followed by Byakuya who turned off the lights and closed the door to their shared office. Renji could hear the hum of a Kido seal activate on the door effectively locking it and sealing the room til morning work hours began.

"Hey there." Said a male voice off to the right. This caused both men to look over and see a familiar figure. The figure was a tall, light-skinned man with high cheekbones, grey eyes and long wavy brown hair. His hair was tied in a long ponytail and had long bangs that framed the left side of his face. He also had a noticeable amount of body hair on his chest, feet, and arms. He also had thin facial hair around his mouth and on his cheeks. He wore a Sugegasa straw hat and a pink, flowered lady's kimono, which he draped across his shoulders and over his Shihakushō. Although his haori and obi sash looked cheap, his pin-wheel hairpins by contrast looked very expensive. He also did not wear tabi with his sandals. As he approached the pair lazily and Renji notice that he was carrying a neatly stacked group of sake saucers in one hand and a small sake bottle in the other. Renji could see clearly who this was. Captain Shunsui Kyoraku of the 8th division. "I see you two have been pulling a late night. Just finished then?" he asked.

"We have and just what exactly brings you to the Squad 6 barracks, Captain?" asked Byakuya neutrally.

"Oh nothing much. Just looking for some company for the lovely night and to hopefully enjoy some good sake. Either of you interested?" he asked cheekily.

"You know that I don't drink. So I'll pass." Answered Byakuya slightly annoyed.

"I'll have to pass as well. I've got other plans tonight." Said Renji trying to make light of the situation.

"Of course. You've both got a meeting at the squad 10 barracks tonight, right?" asked Shunsui slyly. This caused both men to freeze up. "Oh, don't get all worried. I only noticed some odd things happening and was simply trying to piece them together." Said Shunsui.

"Such as?" asked Byakuya in a suspicious tone.

"Well Jushiro for starters told me that for the next several weeks he couldn't join me for any drinking or relaxing activities. And since I know my old friend as well as I do, that usually means that either he's still recovering from a bout of sickness or he's become involved in something serious and it requires both his attention and secrecy and well sake has a bad habit of loosening lips. Then there's the fact that around 1:20 am earlier this morning, I was escorting the lovely lieutenant Matsumoto back to her quarters at the squad 10 barracks and I felt the spiritual pressures of you two, Jushiro, and Toshiro in the Captain's office along with a Kido barrier active. After I left the lieutenant at her quarters I sensed that the three of you were leaving and that young Toshiro was still in his office." Explained Shunsui. He looked to see the other two men were looking either embarrassed or annoyed but remained silent. "I take it that whatever you 4 are meeting about is classified?" he asked.

"A safe assumption." Admitted Byakuya.

"I see. And is it also very likely that this is something that needs to be brought to Old Man Yama?" asked Shunsui.

"Again, a safe assumption." Admitted Byakuya. Then Shunsui walked past the duo and spoke.

"Well whenever you guys get ready to see him let me know so I can be there as support for you." He said cheerily. This caught the duo off guard.

"Captain Kyoraku. You don't even know what we're meeting about and yet you'll throw your support with us?" asked Renji completely shocked.

"Lieutenant Abarai. You, Byakuya, Jushiro, and Toshiro are some of the most honorable Soul reapers in the entire Soul Society. If the 4 of you are meeting up for some reason, I'm confident that you all have nothing but the Soul Society's best interests at heart. So, I would like to offer my support whenever you all get ready to present what you have to Old Man Yama." Replied Shunsui with a genuine smile on his face.

"Your support is appreciated." Said Byakuya. With that Shunsui continued walking away.

"Well I better not keep you. I'll go find someone else that I can enjoy this Sake with. Good night, gentlemen." He said before flashstepping away.

"That was unexpected." Admitted Renji.

"I agree. But we're already running late. Let's go." Said Byakuya.

"Yes, Captain." Replied Renji. With that the two flash stepped away to their location. Minutes later they arrived at squad 10 captain's office. Byakuya quietly knocked on the door and sure enough minutes later Toshiro opened the door sighing in relief when saw it was them.

"Everything alight? You both got here later than expected." Asked Toshiro concerned.

"We'll explain once we all get settled." Said Byakuya. Once both were inside Toshiro closed the door and activated the barrier once again. They saw that Jushiro was already seated with notebook in hand and a satchel at his feet and more importantly that the call meeting was already underway.

(Heavy dialogue incoming. If you don't want to read, head to the next scene change.)

=Romania – outside of Trifas – Ruler's base of operations – living room – same time 3:10 pm (9:10 pm Tokyo Time)

"Alright now that everyone is here, why don't we get started on the reports. Who wants to start?" asked Kisuke.

"First things first, who's the extra person with you?" asked Toshiro pointing out the 6th person with Ichigo, Rukia, Yoruichi, Kisuke, and Jeanne.

"This is Kaien. He's the homunculus that Yoruichi rescued from Yggdmillenia. Kaien meet Renji Abarai, lieutenant of squad 6, Byakuya Kuchiki, the captain of squad 6, Toshiro Hitsuguya captain of squad 10, and finally Rukia's Captain of squad 13 Jushiro Ukitake" Said Ichigo. Kaien immediately bowed to all of them.

"Ah. Nice to meet all of you." He greeted meekly. This caused the Reapers to smile.

"Nice to meet you as well, Kaien. Interesting. Is that the name you had or the name you picked out and, as a matter of curiosity if it was the latter, was there any reason for why you wanted that name?" asked Jushiro curious.

"Ichigo told me how Japan uses symbols that have multiple meanings in your language and while we were going over potential names, when the name Kaien came up, I was told the meanings for the name which were Ocean and swallow which I was told was a type of bird, and I ended up liking them, so I chose the name Kaien. Homunculi are all born nameless, so I was very happy to pick my own name." Explained Kaien with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"There's no shame in choosing a name just because you like it." Rukia reassured him. This caused him to sit up a little straighter as he took her words to heart.

"What will happen to Kaien now?" asked Byakuya.

"Kaien will be travelling with me when I return to Karakura if not be sent over earlier as I will be testing the Senkaiodon after we're done here and then once I'm done with Ruler and her meeting with the Red Faction I'll swing back over to Karakura and see what I can do to help Kaien along with a few other side projects I'm working on." Kisuke explained. This satisfied everyone.

"Moving on let's have everyone compare notes on the progress they made with their respective assignments." Suggested Yoruichi.

"I'll start on my end. I've been slowly putting together a report for the head captain using all the information we've gathered thus far from various different lines of inquiry. I think that at least once all the information on the Servants are gathered, we'll need to inform the Head Captain immediately." Said Toshiro.

"Do you think our meetings have been compromised?" asked Yoruichi.

"No but my lieutenant has already voiced concerns due to the fact that Captain Ukitake's co-third seats both came and inquired about Rukia's well being. She did placate them but was curious herself yet was understanding enough to agree to wait until I told her myself and that she'll lend us her support if need be." Admitted Toshiro.

"Captain Kyoraku stopped by before we left our office to come here tonight and told us that while he too doesn't know fully what's going on, he suspects that it's serious and that he's willing to lend us his support." Reported Renji.

"That's why you were both late." Toshiro said as his eyes widened in realization.

"And on my end Captain Soifon stopped by and was highly suspicious as to why she had to hand over a package to me and demanded to know the condition of your wellbeing, Yoruichi. Then gave me several death threats should anything happen to you." Said Ukitake looking exasperated. Yoruichi giggled.

"I really am sorry about that. But Soifon was the only one I could trust to get the package to you and then get it to me." She said with a bit of mirth.

"What was the package?" asked Ichigo curious. Yoruichi looked at him with a sly smirk.

"What separates me from other Soul Reapers?" she asked. This caught everyone off guard.

"You're going to have your zanpakuto be delivered here? To actually use it?" asked Kisuke in surprise as were the other Soul Reapers.

"Considering how powerful our potential adversaries could be, we're going to need every edge we can get. Even if I have to get that edge from someplace I haven't used in years." Yoruichi admitted. "So anything else on your guys' end?" she asked hoping to move on.

"The only other person that I know is aware of things is Unohana. She's the only one that has a fuller picture of the situation compared to everyone else because I had to tell her. The reason I had to tell Unohana the truth about what was going on was due to one of her co-third seats, Hanataro Yamada, giving her the report about his meeting with Jeanne and all that was said between them. She has agreed to keep things quiet right now and keep the report from making it to the Head Captain for now, but she wants to be present for when we make our presentation to him. However, she made it very clear that she will reserve her support until after she has all the information." Admitted Jushiro. Kisuke looked thoughtful at this.

"While I'm concerned about information getting back to other parties, we're going to have to start bringing others into the fold and I would rather they be people willing to support us rather than those who could oppose us." Kisuke admitted. "We'll set that aside for now and continue with the reports. How's the research on your end?" he asked.

"Well Captain Kuchiki and I did a thorough look at all of the Servants that we covered from last time. Many of these are pretty obscure and have very little records to go on, especially considering their deaths. Hassan of Serenity's death was an odd one. Last known record of her had it be where she was attempting to assassinate her last victim but then apparently the lack of human contact caused her to have a breakdown and then she confessed the truth for why she was there and who she really was. The next morning she was found with her head decapitated but no one else was in the room and her victim had left shortly after her confession. But they labeled it as a suicide." Renji reported.

"Considering that this is the Hassans that we're talking about, I think we can deduce that she was killed by the first Hassan as punishment for failing to kill her target." Yoruichi stated. "What about the others?" she asked.

"We already discussed Berserker and Lancer of Blue so no need to go over them again. Rider was killed by another hero named Perseus via decapitation. Saber was never recorded to die in her myth and was last seen being taken to Avalon to wait for the time when she would be needed. Since Saber of Silver is the same Servant with a slight variation we already know that the same end was for him as well. Archer's records show that he died an old man peacefully in his sleep. And finally Caster's records show that he was murdered but with no resolution making it another one of history's unsolved murders." Reported Byakuya.

"Well aside from Saber all of the other Blue Servants don't seem to require any kind of special methods of elimination if it becomes necessary." Concluded Kisuke.

"Um why are we discussing how these Servants died or how to kill them?" asked Kaien.

"Because as a mediator I need to know how to potentially take down any Servant that could be a threat to the populace and since these people are helping me they need to know this information as well." Explained Jeanne. This seemed to convinced Kaien as he nodded.

"Alright so moving onto the Silver Faction. Saber was already covered earlier along with Archer and Lancer of Silver yesterday and Berserker we don't know anything yet. So for the remaining Silver Servants, research showed that Rider died of old age but both Assassin and Caster had the unusual issue where they just disappear from the record with no indication that they died. And that's it for Silver." Reported Renji.

"So three will have to be a trial and error routine while the others seem to go down by normal methods." Noted Kisuke. "And the other factions?" he asked.

"We haven't added any new Servants yet from the White or Red factions than what we've already gone over for them. The Gold faction is all from Arthurian myth so all three sabers and the Shielder can be killed by normal methods though for Gawain it's best to make the kill during the evening or before 9am or after noon or after 3pm. As for Merlin due to his being in Avalon he's the only one that we're not sure on and will require a bit of trial and error." Admitted Byakuya.

"And the last Faction, the Black Faction, our research yielded that Saber was killed by targeting the weak spot on his back, Lancer died by regular methods, as did rider, and Berserker set herself on fire so she also died by regular methods. As for Archer, Caster, and Assassin those either had no record of how they died or they died in a very specific manner. Caster just disappeared from the records after she left her prick of a husband. Assassin was found decapitated in his personal quarters but no one knew how he could have done that without assistance, and finally Archer was killed by hydra venom which I understand to be a lethal kind of poison. Now if what we discussed last time was anything to go by, then that means that he's more likely to be susceptible to poison in general, right?" asked Renji. Jeanne nodded. "So it's likely that all three can be killed by normal methods but the last 3 will have to be a bit of a trial and error." Renji concluded.

"That's good. That means that we don't have to get too creative for all of them if we have to deal the finishing blow. It's just going to take some effort to weaken them to that point that we can kill them if it becomes necessary." Concluded Kisuke. Yoruichi looked to Ukitake.

"And what about you, Captain Ukitake? How were things on your end?" she asked. Ukitake held up a satchel as he spoke.

"Well good news is that all of the files concerning the Masters are in here. I was going to wait and send these off with whichever member of squad 4 was going to be sent but Unohana wanted to wait until after our meeting with the Head Captain to properly gauge the situation and then decide who would be going to Romania so it will be a slight while longer before you get these." Said Ukitake placing the satchel back on floor.

"Might be best we go over to them now after we finish reporting what's been going on with our respective groups?" suggested Jeanne. On this no one objected.

"And on your end?" asked Renji curiously.

"Ichigo and I spent time with Kaien helping him get adjusted to his new life now that he's essentially free and we learned some interesting things about homunculi as a whole." Said Rukia looking to Kaien. He nodded and she continued. "He was able to know how to do tasks instinctively despite the fact that he'd spent all of his existence in a tank up until yesterday." Explained. Rukia sounding very impressed.

"That's because Homunculi are all programmed to understand basic things in order to do tasks to assist mages with whatever they need them to. So even though this is the first time I've done those tasks, I already know how to do them as if I've been doing them for a long time. That also extends to combat. If I were to pick up a weapon right now, I would know instinctively how to use it and what it is. Though my skill with it would require practice. Magecraft is the same way." Explained Kaien. Kisuke perked up at this.

"You know magecraft?" asked Kisuke. Kaien nodded.

"I only know two spells. One is reinforcement and the other is called Straße gehen. The former allows me to harden anything I am in contact with to its maximum potential. So, say I touch a pillow and use reinforcement on it. By just touching it and activating my magic circuits I can channel my prana, or I think you all call it spiritual pressure, into the pillow and through that its now hard enough that it could be used as a weak but usable shield even against blades and guns though it wouldn't last very long. But it would still better than if reinforcement wasn't used on it. I can even apply it to myself instinctively and with it I can run faster, leap higher, can become more durable but only for as long as I have the spiritual energy to do it or I can draw on the mana or spirit energy in the air to assist in my spell casting for either spell." Said Kaien. This got everyone's attention but Toshiro spoke first.

"And Straße gehen?" asked Toshiro.

"That's a basic alchemic magecraft technique. Alchemy is broken down into three steps: Understanding the components of an object, breaking it down, and restructuring it. Straße gehen allows me to instinctively do the first two steps. Going back to the pillow example if I were to touch it and recite the chant. I would instinctively know what makes up the pillow and be able to break it down into it's components, destroying it in the process. And that process would be applicable to anything I come into direct contact with. But due to my limited knowledge of the world, I'm not creative enough to know how to restructure things yet and it would require proper mage training for me to get to that point." Explained Kaien. Kisuke looked intrigued.

"Is that so? Interesting." He admitted.

"Beyond that, that's pretty much how our day went for us." Summarized Ichigo.

"Well I was able to get an audience with the white Faction along with Noba in Rukia's Gigai and Yoruichi." Said Jeanne. From there she went onto explain how her meeting with them went using the agreed upon cover story due to Lancer's ability to detect lies and how she gained the identities of Rider and Archer of white and learned the identity of the lone Master of White who turned out to be a young preteen girl called Manaka Sajiyou. Yoruichi added that she doubled back after their initial departure and got a picture of the Caster of White and learned that apparently Manaka has been merged with a tainted Grail for 70 years and supposedly she already has a connection to the Root, or according to their understanding the cycle of reincarnation, so pursuing that is stated by her to be boring hence her actual goals of apparently wanting to be reunited with 'her prince' and making his wish come true which, according to her, Saber's desire was to save the Britain of the past and turn it into an eternal utopia. So it's most likely either the Saber of Blue or Silver though her bets were on silver. While Manaka's desire was to be by 'his' side forever. Yoruichi did noticed that when she left the cave the second time, she did sense Gin Ichimaru's spiritual pressure not too far from the cave entrance so what the implications could be for the White faction Yoruichi admitted being at a loss for now.

"You didn't have to lie to me about sensing a hollow to go back to the cave." Jeanne said with a pout.

"We felt that it was better for you to have plausible deniability. This way if anyone asks you can honestly say that you took my word about my lie of their being a hollow and your neutrality stays intact. And then they know that Kisuke and I are to be treated as separate allies from you so you don't have a leash on us like your 'Servants.' At least for the White and Black Factions." Yoruichi explained. At everyone's questioning looks Yoruichi revealed about her encounter with the Black Faction after she escorted Assassin of Black back to his base and the little deal she struck with them. She did this so as to get them to allow her to leave while making sure that they didn't target either Kariya or Sakura with the understanding that she was going to be their advocate to Ruler when it came to handing over extra command seals. With Ruler knowing about it now she can play along should this come up later at least for now.

"So, I guess that just leaves me." Said Kisuke when nothing else was said. He proceeded to reveal that he did successfully get a photo of the final Silver faction Servant though he chipped his zanpakuto in its shikai state when he went to stab him as a distraction. A feat that is really rare for soul reaper's zanpakutos. And after that, by either luck or happenstance he was also able to get photos of an Assassin Servant though he wasn't sure of which Faction, photos of Saber and Lancer of Red and even a small video of them as well, and he got photos of the last two Casters of the Gold faction and he even learned the True names of the last three Servants for the Red Faction and even got some intel about there being a schism forming in the red Faction and that the priest Shirou Kotomine had managed to get info on Kisuke but no idea if he'd gotten any one Yoruichi, Rukia or Ichigo.

"That's impressive. But the last three Servants even knowing their true names, if there are no photos or face to face encounters, are moot for me to give you their abilities." Jeanne reminded them. "And considering that tomorrow evening will be the start of the Grail War proper, this might be the last time that they'll be able to have these meetings at convenient times like this. So any information we gain might not be relayed until all the combatants have had their fill of fighting for the night and that might not be til morning for some of them." Warned Jeanne.

"Then in that case Renji and I will look into the last three Servants after this meeting and whatever we find will be relayed to Captain Hitsuguya." Said Byakuya.

"And once I have all that along with all we discuss tonight, I'll finish putting together a report for the Head Captain and if I don't hear from any of you within the next 48 hours from when we finish the meeting tonight, then I'll report all that we have so far to the Head Captain." Said Toshiro.

"You'll have to let me know when so I can inform Unohana to accompany us for the meeting." Reminded Jushiro.

"So what are the names of the last three Servants that you don't have a photo of?" asked Renji as he got a pen and notebook out to scribble down the names.

"The last three are as follows: Berserker of Red is Eric Bloodaxe, Assassin of Red is Semiramis, and the last one Caster of Red is . . . William Shakespeare." Answered Urahara somewhat reluctantly.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Ichigo in shock.

"I know. It blew my mind too realizing that he was somehow a Servant." Said Kisuke sharing in Ichigo's surprise.

"Who's that?" asked Renji frowning in curiosity. Ichigo looked at him like he had grown a second head only to pinch his nose as if to stave off a headache.

"That's right you wouldn't know who that is. Okay long story short Shakespeare is one of the most influential English writers and playwrights in history. His plays are some of the most studied English works currently known to date despite the fact that he's been dead for about 400 years or so. In fact part of the big reason I've been trying to learn English was so I could read the plays in their original language." Admitted Ichigo.

"So what should we expect for any of these Servants since Ruler can't give us the information for the three Red Faction Servants?" asked Byakuya.

"I can give you just a few broad strokes for the three we don't have. Semiramis is known as the Empress of Assyira and since she's an Assassin she probably has Presence Concealment as a class skill. She most likely has one np that is tied to how she assassinated someone though what the specifics are, I can't say for tonight. Eric Bloodaxe is known as the Bloodaxe King. Being a Berserker, he most likely has Madness Enhancement as a class skill and his np is probably tied to the Bloodaxe of his name and title. As for Shakespeare his moniker is simply The Playwright. Being a Caster he most likely has the Class skills of territory creation and item construction, and he will most likely be physically weak but as to what his np will be, that's difficult to say. It could be very weak, or it could be incredibly powerful. But that's all I can give in terms of broad strokes for the three members." Admitted Jeanne.

"Still, it's a decent base to start with for research." Reassured Jushiro. "So do we move onto the Servants we do have, or do we start with the Masters?" he asked.

"I think that it would be more expedient to get through the Masters first as there's most likely not a whole lot of info." Said Kisuke. Jushiro nodded and pulled up the satchel and handed out a few of the files out to the four other Reapers.

"These first few are about the Black Faction Masters. So let's start there and see where it goes." Suggested Jushiro.

"Do they have photos?" asked Yoruichi.

"All of the Black Faction, and all the mages for the Red Faction but not for the priest of the Red Faction." Answered Jushiro.

"Wait there are priests that are participating in this?" asked Ichigo in surprise.

"That's not as shocking as it first appears. The Church, that is the Roman Catholic Church, has always had a branch that deals with the supernatural. In that branch, according to my limited knowledge, they have members that are tasked with hunting down those they consider heretical like mages as they see magecraft as a perversion of God's creation and of course exorcists. As far as the Holy Grail War is concerned, the Church wants to confirm if the Grail is potentially the real deal or an elaborate fake and if it's the former then ensure that the Grail doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Though keep in mind, according to my research on the subject, I can say with complete certainty that the Grail in the War is a construct made with the help of magecraft so it's technically an elaborate fake. As to the Church's role in a Grail war, since the first war ended in pointless bloodshed with apparently a lot of civilian casualties, it was agreed on by the founding families that the Church be brought in to act as a neutral mediator to keep everything fair and to run interference with non-participants. Before anyone asks about the hypocrisy of what I've just described, I'm aware of it and from what I understand it's par for the course concerning anything that deals with what's collectively called the Moonlit world." Explained Kisuke.

"Still that doesn't explain why they would be actively participating as Masters." Renji pointed out.

"That's pretty simple. With my presence the Church's role becomes redundant so they decided that they were going to have members participate as Masters and see if they could most likely nab the Grail on the Church's behalf." Said Jeanne.

"So why don't we start with pumpkin and then move onto the others in the Black Faction?" suggested Ichigo. Renji chuckled.

"You mean Gordes?" he asked. At Ichigo's glare he waved it off and looked at the file. "Alright. I've got his file. How in depth do we want to go?" he asked.

"The only things we really need are their abilities and their disposition as to whether they pose a threat to Ruler's safety. While the Servants might not hold any grudges with her the Masters are the ones giving the orders." Yoruichi pointed out.

"Okay well according to notes in his profile Gordes is known for being pompous and prideful with a tendency to act cantankerous when upset. Yet he's apparently happily married with a wife and son. Didn't expect that. His abilities have him as an alchemist whose talents rival the Einzberns who are the premiere alchemist family. Their specialty is the mass production of homunculi so does that play a role in this current war?" asked Renji curious. Kaien explained that his fellow homunculi would serve Yggdmillenia as either combat forces or, through manipulating the Servant contracts, act as batteries to power the Servants so that the Masters can use their abilities without tiring themselves out. Yet to keep them from rebelling due to their treatment of being seen as less than human due to their artificial nature, the homunculi are programmed to be weak willed by design making Kaien a rare exception. Kaien then spoke up.

"Um if it's alright, I would like to be excused as I don't think I will be able to help any further in these discussions." He said. Everyone on the Romanian side nodded.

"It's now a quarter to 4 here so why don't you, Ririn, and Noba go into the kitchen and start preparing dinner?" suggested Rukia with a small smile. Kaien thought about it and nodded.

"Alright. We'll let you know when we're finished." Said Kaien with a small smile as he headed to where the two plushies were in the kitchen doorway and headed into said kitchen. With that everyone turned their attention back to the screen and resumed their discussions.

"Is that it for Gordes?" asked Toshiro. Renji nodded. "Then we'll move onto mine which is on Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia. Do you want to see his photo?" he asked.

"Those files will be sent over soon enough so we'll look at the photos in greater detail when we get the files here." Said Kisuke. Toshiro nodded.

"Alright. According to his file, Darnic participated in the last war and his true age is 97 years old. And I'm going to say this now this photo of him looks very recent and he only looks to be in his 30s. Notes on his personality paint him as having a superiority complex." Read Toshiro.

"Not surprising. Typical mage mindset sees all but a select few mages of high pedigree as being beneath them including ordinary humans, obsessed with reaching the root, or as we call it the cycle of reincarnation, and doing whatever it takes to reach their self-assigned goals even sacrificing family members to get there. Also, they despise and spurn modern technology." Kisuke rattled off.

"Well I can tell that we're not going to get along with most mages." Ichigo commented. "Even less so with this Darnic guy if how he maintained his youth is by consuming human souls like that one Matou guy did."

"If he has, I'll deal with it, Ichigo. You focus on keeping Jeanne safe." Said Yoruichi. She motioned for Toshiro to continue.

"He's apparently the leader of Yggdmillenia Clan and started some kind of succession movement from the Mage's Association due to bitter resentment between the two and keeps the Clan together through fear of him. As for abilities, only states that he stole the grail during the 3rd war and has supposedly been successful at perfectly replicating it and apparently leaked that information to the rest of the Mage community which has led to Auxiliary Grail Wars all over the world. And that's all his file says on him." Toshiro finishes.

"Then I shall go next. My profile covers a girl by the name of Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillenia. Her file has her at 19 years old and apparently she's the chosen successor for the Clan despite technically not being blood related to Darnic at all. She's also apparently crippled and has been since birth due to her magic circuits being in her legs making it impossible for her to walk. Notes in her file say she lacks most of the traits typical for mages and is even stated to be a conscientious objector. She only fights due to her fear of Darnic. Still, she apparently is known for her strong commitment to decisions. As for her abilities, she is quite talented as a mage. Considered a genius in both spirit evocation and human engineering. She's even classified as a spirit medium despite being mediocre in most other forms of magecraft. She also specializes in the creation of mystic codes, the most well-known being called the Bronze-link manipulators. The file states that these are 4 spider-like limbs that connect to a harness that she wears on her diaphragm, and they serve the function as assisting her in moving around where a wheelchair can't go as well as being imbued with properties used for defensive and offensive capabilities and can move at high speeds. And that's it for her profile." Byakuya read. Urahara hid his face behind his fan as he snickered.

"I can't help but wonder what her inspiration for that was." He thought aloud snickering. At the Reapers confused looks and Ichigo's annoyed one he waved it off. "In all seriousness though I wonder how she'd do with learning Kido?" he thought aloud again.

"Stay on task Kisuke. Let's move onto the next Master." Said Yoruichi

"Well then, I'll go. My profile has the name of Caules Forvedge Yggdmillenia. He's apparently the younger brother to Fiore by a year. Notes state that he was meant to be the spare successor if Fiore died prematurely and then her main caretaker. He seems even less talented than his sister. Even as a Master he's serving as subordinate to his sister. Yet they seem to have a close relationship despite the politics. I certainly am glad to hear that. He also lacks the typical mage mentality and apparently is much more open to the modern world embracing it to the point that he owns and can easily operate a smartphone and a computer and even assisted his sister in her education of it as well, hence her engineering capabilities. As for his mage capabilities, his profile states that he can summon low class spirits such as animals or insects and is able to utilize spirit invocation such as seeing the last memories of a person just before they died but must do so by experiencing said memories and any pain that comes with that. But that's it for his profile." Finished Jushiro.

"I think that I could get along with this Caules guy the best so far." Ichigo noted.

"So that's half the Master's who's the remaining three and who's starting?" asked Rukia as she saw her Captain placing the files that were done on a nearby end table and handed out the last three Black Faction files to the other Reapers. Jushiro pulled out a file with a gold tab and held it to himself.

"I'll start. My file has one named Roche Frain Yggdmillenia. He's the youngest of the Masters at the age of 12 years old. I'm not really liking the idea of a child participating in what's essentially a death match." Renji said voicing his thoughts.

"Unfortunately the Grail doesn't care for the age of the Masters so long as they get the numbers needed to fill up the slots for the participants." Said Jeanne sadly.

"What about the boy's abilities?" asked Yoruichi trying not to dwell on the implications.

"His abilities are that he's a very skilled and very famous golemancer or creator of golems but that's about all he does. As for his personality, notes say that he was raised by golems and prefers their company to humans to the point that he's obsessed with golems, so he naturally doesn't fit in well with humans or how to properly interact with them." Said Renji looking a bit sad.

"It's like the equivalent of the lock & key kids of today except with the side of deliberate neglect on the parents part." Ichigo commented. He looked up and asked. "Who's next?"

"I'll go. Mine's on a woman by the name of Celenike Icecolle Yggdmillenia. Her profile states that she comes from an old line that goes back to the Middle Ages. However, that family practiced what is collectively known as the Dark Arts though there's little elaboration on what that is. Though it apparently involves witchcraft, curses, and apparently human and animal sacrifices for various rituals." Said Toshiro with a look of disgust.

"Already not off to a great start with this person. What of her personality?" asked Yoruichi. Toshiro didn't answer her right away. "Captain?" she asked curious.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but this woman makes Mayuri look sane and reasonable by comparison. Notes in her profile paint her as a while attractive and very intelligent woman she's described as sadistic, vindictive, selfish, has no regard for life at all, and apparently runs a business specifically designed to kill people using curses." Finished Toshiro looking outraged. Everyone else looked angry or disgusted.

"Let's hope that she's the exception not the rule otherwise it's going to be hard to make a case to not kill all the participants." Said Jushiro concerned. "I think you have the last one for the Black Faction, Byakuya." Byakuya nodded.

"I have the only one whose last name isn't Yggdmillenia. She's Angelica Ainsworth. She's apparently the head of that family and along with Yggdmillenia and the Einzberns led a secession movement against the Association. As for her abilities, her family allegedly created a version of the Grail modeled after the original one after it was first created 200 years ago that they called Pandora's box which allows for the summoning of Servants but at the cost that they are then doused in what is described as mud in the profile which strips them of their personalities and makes them unable to use their noble phantasms. So due to these obvious flaws, it was deemed a failure and was scrapped. So instead the family specialized in a technique called Flash Air which is described as a magecraft that substitutes one thing for another through displacement." Read Byakuya.

"So like Noba with his wormholes." Said Ichigo.

"Sounds like it." Said Kisuke. "What about personality?" he asked.

"Notes describe her as a no-nonsense, intelligent, calm, serious, has a strong mentality, and shows respect to those around her." Read Byakuya.

"So overall most would be able to work with if Darnic and Celenike are removed from the equation of the Black Faction Masters otherwise we have to be very careful when working with them and make it worth their while to get their help." Summarized Yoruichi.

"My source told me that the gold Faction is made of entirely Einzbern homunculi with only their leader as the one pulling the strings for the Gold Faction so I was only handed a file on him." Said Jushiro holding up said file. At the collective nods from everybody Jushiro read what was in it. "So the file is on the head of the Einzbern family named Jubstacheit von Einzbern. Basically they are the premiere Alchemy family that both creates homunculi and created the original Grail through the sacrifice of one of those homunculi. After Jubstacheit became the 8th head of the family every human member of the family either died or left in exile. This happened shortly after the end of the 2nd Holy Grail war. His file even reveals him to be a golem himself, shockingly enough. As for personality, there isn't much here other than he's obsessed with getting the Grail. So much so that 20 years ago he allowed an outsider to enter the family to be their representative originally until that person betrayed him and left with several grail candidate homunculi and stealing several relics. Beyond that notes say that he carries the same mage mentality as previous members we've discussed already." Finished Jushiro.

"I wonder if maybe we should sic Mayuri on this guy and let him experiment with him. Sounds like that would be simpler as once he's out of the way the other homunculi will be leaderless." Said Renji thinking out loud. Jushiro put the read files onto the side table and pulled out 5 new ones. One white one that went to Toshiro and 4 blue ones to himself and the other Reapers.

"Then since there's only one Master for the White Faction let's do that one next." Suggested Toshiro. Yoruichi nodded.

"Also if we do Blue Faction next you can skip over Kariya and Sakura Matou as both are my wards are firmly on our side." Said Yoruichi. No one objected as Byakuya and Renji handed their files over to Jushiro who traded them out with other ones and put the first Blue ones on the same side tables as the others. "Okay onto the White faction member." She said.

"Her name is Manaka Sajiyou She was last seen 80 years ago as a participant in the 3rd Holy Grail War when she was about 14 years old but disappeared before the end and due to her not appearing after was presumed dead. Her file has her listed as having the title of an unofficial True Magician due to her connection to the Root and can pursue and master any magecraft of her choosing at a prodigal rate. AS for personality she carries the same mage mentality but seems to be far more approachable compared to her peers. But that's it for her." Finished Toshiro.

"I wonder if the tainted Grail she claims to be merged with is in fact the discarded Pandora's box she found and that kept her alive and at her 14th year." Said Kisuke thinking aloud.

"My thoughts exactly." Said Byakuya. "So let us move onto the Blue Faction Masters barring the Matous. I will go first with the current head of the family Tokiomi Tohsaka. He's the 5th head of the family and one of the founding families of the Grail War who provided the land for the War and still desires to reach the Root through the War. He's married with originally two daughters though he gave up one for adoption which thanks to your testimony we know you adopted the youngest Sakura. But then took in a niece a few years ago after her family was killed named Ayaka Tohsaka. Despite notes saying that he's a typical mage in temperament he does love his family but does base his decisions as a mage rather than a human. And expects the same of others to think and act the same way and also expects others to follow his instructions to the letter. As for abilities his specialty is in Jewel Magecraft as well as elemental magecraft primarily fire but also wind as ice. He also has basic level of reinforcement, familiar usage, divination, spiritual evocation, Alchemy, summoning, spiritual healing, and . . .necromancy." finished Byakuya showing disgust for the last bit.

"Wow. It's like a mage version of you, little Byakuya. Prideful, arrogant, but can back it up with actual skill." Said Yoruichi.

"I would never dabble in something as disturbing as necromancy. Could you elaborate on some of these branches of magecraft?" asked Byakuya. Kisuke nodded and proceeded to do so. After 20 minutes of explanations, Byakuya and the other Reapers were satisfied with the explanation.

"Alright. I've got his wife, Aoi Tohsaka so I'll go next." Said Renji. "Not much for her though. She came from the Zenjou family. A family in mage circles that specialized in bolstering the spouse's line that their children marry into. So while she possesses magic circuits she isn't a practicing mage and instead would specialize in producing heirs with great potential as mages. Unfortunately, there's not notes on her personality so that's all we've got on her." Finished Renji.

"I can say from interacting with her in the past that she's gentle, passive, loyal to her family, basically playing the role of the peaceful mother and traditional ideal wife." Said Yoruichi.

"I've got the two files on the niece and heir of the Tohsakas and due to how brief both are I'll just go over them quickly. I'll start with Rin Tohsaka. She's currently 12 years old and inherited the family crest at the age of 6. She's already been identified as an Average One, apparently meaning she can easily wield all elemental magecraft with expert ability, a rarity among mages with proper training. Other skills she's learning are jewel magecraft bounded fields, which sounds like barriers to me, familiar crafting and usage, reinforcement, healing, and Runes. I must say the girl sounds like a prodigy for her young age. Unfortunately there are no notes to her personality." Said Jushiro.

"I've met this girl before and overall if it weren't for the magecraft training she would be indistinguishable from any other child her age in the modern era. Tomboyish, competitive, mischievous, but is perceptive and can be serious when need be and she's very protective and loyal to Sakura even if they are officially no longer sisters." Said Yoruichi fondly.

"She sounds like the most normal one out of all the Masters besides maybe that Caules guy." Ichigo commented. "What about her cousin?" he asked.

"Ayaka Tohsaka. Her profile has her listed at 13 years old and was a paternal cousin to Rin due to Tokiomi being her uncle and her father being Tokiomi's younger brother. Ayaka is also a half Japanese and half British girl with a mother from Britain. Said mother died in childbirth with her and her father died 3 years prior due to unknown circumstances. But police reports stated that his body looked to be torn to pieces by a wild animal despite living in a densely populated area in Tokyo. Ayaka herself was reported to be traumatized due to her reporting seeing a black monster with a white mask who was destroyed by her father just before he was killed. Police wrote it off as a means to cope with her loss and her new status as an orphan. After his death Ayaka was taken in to live with her uncle, aunt, and cousin where she's lived with since." Finished Jushiro looking sad.

"So the girl is spiritually aware as was her father and she survived a hollow attack thanks to her father protecting her before he died. No doubt she is still affected by that attack as well as being written off as a child using imagination to cope with the trauma. What of her abilities?" asked Byakuya.

"Due to her not having a magic crest for her family she and her late father had instead developed a new branch of magecraft which they called Demon's Way. Apparently, they allegedly made a pact with a demon to gain knowledge of these abilities that would be unattainable otherwise until they reached the Root. The pact essentially bypassed the need to reach the Root but on the condition that the knowledge be kept secret though the fact that Ayaka knows it, is either that she's apart of the pact or the pact was already broken and she's trying to learn from scratch. So, while they are recognized as founding a new branch of magecraft, they aren't officially recognized as True Magicians due to her and her late father's refusal to reveal just what this magecraft entails. Beyond that, she's also skilled in reinforcement and in creating mystic codes. She's also rare among mages in that she knows how to use modern tech and even owns an iPhone. But that's all her profile says on her." Finished Jushiro.

"Demon's Way. That's the English translation for Kido. Do you think that's really what she's performing and is simply ignorant or do you think she fully understands and is simply keeping it a secret as part of the agreement?" asked Toshiro.

"Hard to say. We won't know until we actually see her perform any magecraft. Until then we'd best leave it be and look into it later." Pointed out Kisuke. He looked to Jushiro. "Personality besides her trauma?" he asked. Jushiro shook his head.

"Nothing else of note in her file." He said.

"And I never met her personally. Lisa, one of the Visoreds, had described her as a conscientious objector, has an inferiority complex but gets along well with Rin and Sakura and seems to be close to the both of them." Reported Yoruichi.

"We'll have to investigate the kido potential angle further down the line." Admitted Kisuke. "So how about their final member barring Kariya and Sakura?" he asked. Jushiro collected the files and put them on the read stack. He pulled out the last Blue file and handed it to Toshiro. He then pulled out 4 silver tabbed files and handed them to the other two and himself.

"I've got the last one for the Blue Faction. He's a catholic priest and his name is Kirei Kotomine. He's actually listed as the younger brother of Shirou Kotomine as Shirou was apparently adopted a decade before Kirei was even born. When he was born Kirei was apparently very talented as a member of the Catholic Church in that he was awarded the title of Executor at the age of 10. The youngest in history. He served for several years as an Assassin for the Church. He married a terminally ill woman named Claudia Hortensia and even had a child named Caren Hortensia. But 2 years after marriage she died, and he gave his daughter over to his wife's relatives to raise her. As of a few years ago he went to Tokiomi due to the Kotomines and Tohsakas having a friendship that goes back generations. There he trained under Tokiomi learning magecraft surprisingly. He's set up as Rin's guardian should something happen to her parents. As for abilities, he's able to push his strength and agility to superhuman levels. He can calmly analyze a situation and make quick judgments on his battle strategy and can even sense killing intent to identify targets. He also wears Kevlar and mystic code clothing as a way to protect himself. He also uses Baptism Rite and Black Keys where he is an expert with them and is a practitioner of Baji Quan. As a mage he's considered a creator type mage though he never progressed beyond a beginner level though he exceeds in Spiritual healing." Finished Toshiro.

"He sounds like a male version of Captain Soifon but without the temper." Commented Renji.

"My thoughts exactly. Sadly, I never met him, so I only have Kariya's word to go off of who follows Tokiomi's orders to the letter like a dutiful subordinate but that's it. Anything from his file?" asked Yoruichi.

"Only that he and Shirou only met twice in his life. Once when Kirei was born and then the two never spoke or saw each other again until 20 years ago when their father passed away and after the two attended their father's funeral Shirou then went to the Middle East and never contacted or saw Kirei again so there is tension between the two understandably. But beyond that, that's it." Read Toshiro.

"I wonder what caused such estrangement between the two?" wondered Rukia aloud.

"Makes me wonder if Kirei might target Shirou out of anger and resentment." Added Ichigo.

"Aside from finding out Shirou's connection to Aizen, that estrangement is not our concern unless he either endangers civilians or becomes a problem to Ruler." Kisuke pointed out. "So, all that's left is the Silver and Red Masters. So, let's start with the Silver Faction since there are only 4."

"I'll start, as Captain Ukitake handed me the files for the two kids of the Silver Faction." Said Renji. "I'll start with the oldest of the two. Illyasviel, I hope I pronounce that right, Emiya. Hers and her brother's files are pretty scant on information. She's listed as being 15 years old. And she's an anomaly in the form of being a human-homunculus hybrid. Apparently 10 years ago they left the Einzberns and have been on the run ever since which contributed to the scant information. Due to her mixed heritage her body apparently composed 70% of magic circuits. Which by mage standards means she has access to an unlimited amount of prana. Holy crap!" exclaimed Renji. "So she'd be at a captain level for her age." He said thinking out loud.

"While impressive, if she doesn't know how to utilize it then it's nothing more than untapped potential. What are her abilities?" asked Byakuya. Renji cleared his throat.

"She has some training in alchemy as she can take her hair strands and convert them into long thin wires that can shapeshift to attack targets or she can immobilize them. She also has mystic eyes of binding which she can more subtly immobilize her target. As the blood heir to the Emiya family, she has access to the family magecraft which only states as time alter but no further details here other than she can use it for longer durations than her father at faster and slower rates than him due to her hybrid heritage and doesn't suffer from the same physical toll as he does for that same reason. But that's all it says on her abilities and no notes on her personality." Finished Renji.

"Time Alter?" asked Byakuya curious.

"Since it's family magecraft I can only begin to speculate what that could be though it's name leans into something . . .extraordinary. Perhaps when we look into her parents files we will get more clarification." admitted Kisuke.

"Back to this Illyasviel I have to say that first part of her profile makes her sound like the mage equivalent of you, Ichigo." Commented Rukia.

"Yeah but she's spent the last 10 years as a fugitive on the run so obviously there's distinct difference." Ichigo pointed out. "So what about her sibling?" he asked.

"That would be her younger brother, Shirou Emiya. He's listed as 12 years old and adopted into the family. Apparently before his adoption he lived in the Shinto section of Fuyuki city when the apartment building he was living in collapsed suddenly and without any warning. The cause is unknown though deep claw marks were found on some of the stone pillars in the area where the parking lot was located. Shirou was the only survivor with no memories save for his name and age. He was adopted by the Emiyas shortly after the tragedy and taught him magecraft. He's been with them ever since. As for his abilities his Origin and Elemental Affinity are sword and imaginary numbers." Read Renji.

At his curious look, Kisuke quickly explained that Elemental Affinity was what element a mage would be most proficient in wielding and Origin is the foundation with which to potentially build their personal magecraft off of but they needed to be awakened either through outside assistance or through traumatic events. But some origins are better off being left dormant. Kisuke used the origin of consumption as his example as upon awakening it the person would be forever hungry and compelled to consume everything, including taboo things like human flesh and souls with the expected consequences that came with it. The disgusted and disturbed looks of everyone made them brush past that and continue on with the assessment.

"Alright no notes on his personality but his abilities have him knowing reinforcement, a specialized form of projection magecraft." Read Renji.

Kisuke interjected saying it was similar to how quincies shaped reishi into spirit weapons but then infused the weapon with his own power to solidify it into an object that can be seen by all but if not fed energy constantly will degrade and fade into the ether after a while. Renji nodded.

"He's apparently skilled in structural grasp and Tracing. Yet he's only ever been able to reproduce weapons and armor, particularly swords. Both what he sees and his own original creations. He's also skilled in Japanese Archery and a decent swordsman. Observers have noticed that when fighting, if he's in danger from physical attacks, scales or blades are created within his body to further reinforce his body. And that's it." Finished Renji.

"Given that his family appears to be on the lam, it makes sense that he needs to know how to defend himself. And his magecraft seems to compliment that need perfectly." Noted Yoruichi. "What of the parents?" she asked.

"I have the mother Irisviel Emiya so I'll go next as her file is also scarce." Said Jushiro. "It says that she was created as a Justeze-class or Grail class homunculus but was engineered to live a full lifespan due to the fact that the Einzberns at the time had no idea where the missing Grail would turn up. Her age is listed as 20. She's also the first homunculus to reproduce like that of a regular human resulting in the hybrid child Illyasviel with her human husband Kiritsugu Emiya. But shortly after daughter's 5th birthday the trio had disappeared from the Einzbern castle in Germany and have been on the lam ever since. No notes on her personality but for her abilities she's extremely skilled in alchemy and healing magecraft. She also has the same hair-wire trick as her daughter but she's more skilled at it simply due to being older. And she seems to be somewhat skilled in using modern tech and even owns an iPhone. And that's all they have on her." Finished Jushiro.

"I wonder why they had to be on the lam?" asked Rukia thinking aloud.

"I think it was because Kiritsugu stole some relics from them." Suggested Ichigo. "Speaking of Kiritsugu do you have the final file for this faction, Byakuya?" he asked looking at said Captain. Byakuya glared at him but said nothing and looked at the file he opened.

"The final member of the Silver Faction is the husband and father to the other members named Kiritsugu Emiya and his file is the most extensive from what I've seen so far. He's listed as being 39 years old and he's a freelance mage with the moniker called 'The Magus Killer.' He's the 5th head of the Emiya family. Mother died shortly after his birth and father was branded a heretical mage. At 9 his father died due to his experiments running wild which resulted in the population needing to be exterminated by other freelance mages. He was taken in and taught by Natalia Kaminski also a freelance mage. The two became a duo and earned an impressive reputation. But after about 6 years a mission went wrong forcing him to kill her in order to complete it. It ended in success but also in her death. He continued his work as a freelancer until he was hired by the Einzberns to represent them in the next Grail War. Here he met his wife and eventually they married she taking his last name and had a child together. 5 years later they fled as a family but he apparently also stole several priceless artifacts before leaving. This caused the Einzberns to put a bounty on his head yet his reputation has been enough to deter most assailants. Later, while on the lam, they adopted Shirou. Since then sightings of them around the world have occurred but their ultimate whereabouts remain a mystery with only trusted individuals acting as spokesperson should the Association want him for a job and act as a go-between for the two parties. In other words, when they need him, he's an asset and when they don't, he's an embarrassment. Notes on his personality have him as cold, practical, pragmatic, calculating, and emotionless. He's also ruthless and will do whatever it takes to accomplish the task no matter how underhanded he has to be to go about it. He's also very good at forming strategies analyzing an enemy's movements and abilities even under the stress of active combat. That's how he is when dealing with business but there is nothing on how he is 'off the clock'." Byakuya read aloud.

"You said that his file is extensive. Then just give us the highlights of his abilities." Said Yoruichi. Byakuya nodded and continued.

"He was trained in tracking, using different types of weaponry and assassination and is skilled in limited magecraft. Preferably he uses modern tech to supplement his magecraft. He also prefers using guns as they require no energy to use unlike mystic codes. Attaching cameras to familiars to see what's going on without using energy to see through familiars' sights. He's also skilled at disabling bounded fields something that's considered a terrifying feat." Byakuya read aloud.

"Actually I can provide context for why this is considered such a feat. It's because mages believe that the only true threat to them are mages similar to themselves in skill. As a result they can't think like combatants on a battlefield. They'll hone their magecraft to counter similar threats but will ignore physical attacks as they see those as secondary menaces. Their arrogance in seeing technology as silly little tricks that plebians can perform makes them further underestimate non-mage opponents and thus make them weak against them potentially." Said Kisuke.

"I take it that you are speaking from the findings of your research?" asked Jushiro.

"Well that and I met this Kiritsugu Emiya before." Admitted Kisuke shocking everyone. Kisuke revealed that 6 years ago Kiritsugu came to Karakura on a job though the true extent of that he wasn't sure. He further revealed that two weeks before Ichigo's mother, Masaki, died, Kiritsugu came to Karakura strictly to observe her and her family though who made that order or why they made the order, he never found out save that it was a Lord at the Mage's Association and that Kiritsugu was strictly there to observe. After a week Urahara confronted him and found out that Kiritsugu knew how to use a cell phone and had already reported back to his superiors and was in the process of leaving. He'd confirmed that he saw Masaki's family but was out of earshot the whole week as the woman seemed to know when she was being watched so he heard no names being dropped. Once he extracted information he could from Kiritsugu, and realizing that he truly didn't mean any harm personally, Kisuke dealt with him like he did to non-trouble mages. After that he never saw him again and a week later Masaki was killed by Grand Fisher.

"So confronting him about that probably won't get me any clearer answers than what you told me already then." Said Ichigo thinking out loud looking a little crestfallen. Kisuke nodded. Ichigo felt a hand touch his and he saw Rukia take his hand in concern and to show her support. He smiled in return.

"While that is an unexpected connection I think we need to continue with his abilities." Reminded Yoruichi.

"Most of the time he uses mundane weapons like machine guns, sniper rifles, explosives, and state of the art surveillance systems to track and kill opponents. He only has two known mystic codes one called the Thompson Contender which is a gun that has been modified for mystic attacks and the other is the ammunition he fires from it called Origin rounds. Not much on the former but the later has more details. Somehow these rounds were made by surgically removing 4 of his ribs, grounding them up, condensed to preserve his soul supposedly, and then sealed into the core of each bullet though the number is quite small as to how many of these bullets he has at his disposal. When used in tandem these two mystic codes can be deadly to mages. His origin is called severing and binding. When the bullets are fired from the gun and make contact with the target, they activate Kiritsugu's origin. On a living person who isn't a mage, they will suffer necrosis wherever they're hit running the risk of permanently crippling them even if they heal on the surface while the nerves and capillaries will never heal, and their original function will be lost. For mages, it will cause their magic circuits to short out resulting in permanent damage. The more circuits that are in active use the more severe the damage will be to the mage. The short out is the serving aspect of the round, the binding is when the circuits will then bind them in chaotic useless manner making them permanently inoperable and destroying the target's magecraft abilities. Only by pure physical means can a defense be mounted against them. If the target doesn't die from the attack then it will leave them permanently crippled. As to his mage craft abilities he is able to use familiars, basic hypnotic suggestions and night sight. He also has the usage of his family's magecraft which is called . . . . Time Alter: Innate Time Control." Said Byakuya looking at the file in surprise.

"WHAT?!" asked everyone in equal shock.

"Please tell me that there is some kind of elaboration on this ability, Captain Kuchiki." Said Kisuke recovering and was eagerly taking notes.

"According to his file, this magecraft allows for time adjustment within a barrier but it can only stagnate time that has passed and accelerate time in the future within said barrier. As a result the size of the barrier and scope of time being adjusted needs to be taken into account when being modified. The way that Kiritsugu has adjusted this magecraft for combat is that he puts the barrier around himself and adjusts the time on a smaller scale as in within himself. He does this by chanting time alter and giving the degree of speed he wants. Accel speeds him up and stagnate slows him down and release alter stops it at any time. Time alter double accel is the most used version of this magecraft. And that allows him to move faster than the human eye can see. And Time alter triple stagnate can reduce the speed of his biofunctions to a 1/3 of their normal speed. Yet all of this, while impressive, does take a physical toll on his body that even with healing magecraft takes a while to recover from." Finished Byakuya looking somewhat impressed.

"So he basically created the magecraft version of Flashstep and can make it very difficult to sense his life readings for anything meant to sense those sort of things." Said Toshiro quirking an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong. That is still impressive both in what he can do and how he's been able to apply that to a combat scenario. But if he were to go up against soul reapers well we have flash steps and while the stagnate part I can see helping him stage a surprise attack. But after the initial surprise, he'd have a difficult time keeping up with us for a prolonged period of time. Especially since the continued use of this magecraft would start to strain his body." Said Toshiro at the end of his assessment.

"Still, I wonder if stagnating his biofunctions would also have some effect on his spiritual pressure." asked Kisuke aloud as he continued to take notes. "I have to say based on his skillset I can see how his strategy would go with most mages that he encounters. He'd start by using a normal gun which would lure his mage opponents into a false sense of superiority. Tease them with his magecraft abilities making them decide to take him somewhat seriously by goading them to use their power at peak output allowing them to think that he's been overcome by a superior opponent and then hit them with his origin rounds which would kill them at best or leave them crippled and in pain at worst with no ability to use magecraft ever again." Theorized Kisuke. Yoruichi grinned a Cheshire cat smile.

"When he dies and if he comes to the soul society and hopefully will have enough power to become a soul reaper I will definitely have to make sure that Soifon keeps an eye out for him as I can see him having a very promising career in the stealth force." She said happily.

"If he retains his memories from when he was alive." Jushiro pointed out as he collected the files on the Silver Faction and placed them with the already read files. Yoruichi shrugged.

"Okay so I think that all that's left are the Red Faction Masters." Said Renji looking relieved.

"Yep and after those 7 we still have to get through another 9 Servants." Said Ichigo looking very put out.

"The sooner we get through this the sooner we can get done. So who do we start with for the Red Faction Masters?" asked Rukia. Jushiro handed out 3 files to the other reapers and taking one for himself.

"I'll go first. Mine's on a guy called Feend vor Sembren. I really hope I pronounced that right. Anyway, Not a whole lot on him save that he's a first class instructor at the Clock tower the educational center of the Mage's Association acting as a college for mages. He's part of the neutral faction in the Association that has given up pursuing the Root but is committed to improving magecraft that already exists. He's a gifted mage with a duel elemental affinity of water and wind. A rarity among mages. He's an expert in summoning, creating barriers, presence concealment, and is also skilled in healing magecraft. Not much on personality other than he's a strict but fair teacher and isn't prejudice against new lineage mages. But that's it." Finished Renji. Kisuke interjected stating that this was one of the missing Masters that he'd been informed of by the two Red Faction Servants that he encountered. He reminded them of the schism happening in the Red Faction due to two Masters suddenly being absent shortly after picking up Shirou Kotomine and while there was written testimonies to explain their lack of direct participation, the other Red Masters weren't buying it as there were protocols apparently put in place that had to be followed due to such circumstances and they weren't being followed leading the other Red Masters to become suspicious of the priest.

"So who is the other one?" asked Jushiro curiously.

"The Servants weren't entirely certain of names but one was mispronounced Sembren and the other was Rum." Answered Kisuke.

"Jean Rum?" asked Byakuya. Kisuke shrugged.

"Possibly? Since you asked you must have the file so why don't you go next?" suggested Kisuke. Byakuya nodded.

"Jean Rum she's actually another mercenary mage that works for the Association. Her title is Gale Wheel. Her profile notes say that despite her title of mercenary she does have a sense of morality and is a bit of a bibliomaniac. But she specializes in combat and is thought of as a monster who will remove her opposition without mercy. Her reputation precedes her that even the heads of prestigious mage families respect her. Her only listed abilities are that she specializes in wind magecraft and chakrams hence her moniker but there isn't much else on her. And you said that she and Sembren went missing after they went to get their priest ally, Shirou Kotomine?" asked Byakuya after he finished. Kisuke nodded.

"All that's known is that both are alive to maintain the Servants but where they're at is a complete mystery. But the other Red Masters are only tolerating working with Kotomine until either he starts to show signs of possible betrayal or until they find where their missing comrades are." Said Kisuke.

"I already have his file so why don't we move onto the priest next?" asked Toshiro. Ichigo and Renji exchange a smirk finding this ironic but chose not to comment on this. If Toshiro noticed he was completely ignoring it or the irony really had gone completely over his head.

"What does the file say on Kotomine?" asked Yoruichi smiling.

"It says that he was adopted in the aftermath of the 3rd Holy Grail War after the theft of the Grail. Allegedly at the age of 17 years old." Read Toshiro though his face scrunched up in confusion. "If my math is right then that war was 80 years ago. So right now if there are no shenanigans involved he would be 97 years old. Same age as Darnic though he would most likely look his age. Too bad we don't have a photograph of him. But it does make some measure of sense then if he's actually doing some kind of subterfuge he would need to do it without any kind of physical confrontation. His body would be too frail for that. Getting back to his file, he was almost immediately enrolled into the section of the Holy church called assembly of the 8th sacrament which is in charge of tracking down and investigating potential holy relics. He's also the older brother of Kirei Kotomine and who Shirou went out of his way to not form any kind of familial connection. The last time they saw each other was at their father's funeral and then he went to the Middle East where he had been for the last 20 years though it doesn't say what he went there for. As for personality he's actually quite personable and while he's social when he needs to be he often keeps to himself otherwise. As for abilities he possesses a device called the spirit board due to him otherwise being the mediator if he wasn't already a master." Read Toshiro.

"The spirit board plays the same role as my True name discernment though it's something that the Church has specifically." Said Jeanne.

"Does it give him the name for all the present Servants or just the 14 that were originally thought to participate?" asked Kisuke. Jeanne shrugged indicating she had no clue either way. "Well, are there any other skills for Shirou Kotomine?" he asked Toshiro nodded.

"His abilities have him as a skilled fighter, adept swordsman, and is a practitioner of Baptism Rite." Kisuke interjected stating that Baptism Rite was the Church's equivalent to konso and that that is performed with the use of Black keys which are weapons similar to zanpakuto but with no soul within them. "The strange thing is that his age doesn't match his skills as he shouldn't be able to physically perform the skills he's listed to have." Toshiro pointed out.

"Not much can be done about it until we meet him in person. We'll just have to wait until then." Said Yoruichi. "So who's next?"

"That would be me. The file I have is about a mercenary mage named Kairi Shishigou. His is also pretty extensive. He's the current head of his family at 32 years old and is also a bounty hunter and freelancer. He's gained notoriety within the magecraft underground as well as jobs for the Association. His Magecraft is . . . Necromancy." Said Jushiro looking a bit green with sickness. But he pressed on.

"He's often seen wandering from battlefield to battlefield recovering corpses of mages and plundering them for materials including magic crests which are the foundations of many mage families. He's often been described as carrying a think stench of blood and gunpowder due to his work. His abilities place him more as a spellcaster than a traditional mage which is apparently a researcher. His battle experience is 2nd only to the Magus Killer and is considered a first rate spellcaster though a 2nd rate mage. Like the magus killer he also mixes magecraft with modern weapons. In fact due to him being a necromancer he's one of the only mages to successfully turn the bodies of magi and phantasmal beasts into suitable killing weapons." Read Jushiro looking a bit upset.

Kisuke interjected here and revealed that phantasmal beasts were creatures that were thought to be magical or mythical that were in reality still existing and roaming around to the present day. His example were those the elusive unicorn actually being real. Which led to a quick explanation as to what unicorns were as most Soul reapers didn't know what they were. Kisuke gestured for Jushiro to continue.

"Kairi is also skilled in concocting herbal mixtures that stave off drowsiness for days on end and also in various types of poisons which he uses to coat some of his weapons. His primary weapon is a sawed-off shotgun which has been modified into a mystic code that can seek out warm body temperatures. The bullets themselves are actually human fingers with the ability to curse others with physical force with his own necromancy. Their speed is only subsonic at best though. Once they hit their target they burrow themselves into their bodies until they reach the target's heart causing the curse to rupture the heart in a 1 shot, 1 kill method though he's limited to 2 shots at a time. Once he's used that he also has a regular hand gun with 7 shots in it and several knives coated in poison for melee combat as last resorts. To supplement his guns and knives he also has grenades that are made from mage's hearts and are packed with teeth and nails. Once activated and thrown it rapidly expands and explodes. He also can have these release poison over a larger area with his magecraft killing far more targets than the initial blast. A few other items he has is his coat which is apparently made from magical beast hide acting as a kind of stylish body armor, uses animal eyeballs to see as a form of scrying and finally monkey paws to set up bounded fields. As for his personality, notes paint him as pragmatic and able to think over his actions in relation to what he can achieve and is unwilling to take risks that result in little success. He's also said to be more worldly than a traditional mage and seems to enjoy smoking. And that's it for this man." Finished Jushiro.

"Okay let's make sure that Mayuri never meets up with this guy as it might encourage his more mad scientist tendencies." Said Renji looking concerned.

"Do you think he would step into the realm of necromancy?" asked Toshiro.

"Considering that he's been collecting and studying arrancar corpses from our war with the Espada just months earlier I wouldn't be at all surprised if he were to try and not only partake in necromancy or something similar but perfect it down to a science. He might actually pull off having an army of zombies to fight on his behalf someday." Byakuya commented though he looked disgusted at the prospect.

"I will say that he seems at least reasonable compared to Mayuri." Said Jushiro trying to find the silver lining on this Master. With that he passed out the last three files to the other Reapers while he packed up the others that had already been read.

"Alright. So we're down to the last 3 of master files and then we can move onto the 9 Servants that were encountered today." Said Ichigo relieved that they were almost finished with one part of their meeting.

"So whose going first?" asked Rukia curious.

"I shall go first." Said Byakuya. "The file I have is on a girl named Gray who is both the apprentice and assistant to one named Lord El-Melloi II. Currently she's about 15 years old. She was born in Blackmoore Cemetery in Wales, England. Apparently, there was a clan living in that area that wanted to create an ideal human vessel to revive King Arthur in both spirit and flesh. Gray was the closest they came to success, but she was discovered by Lord El-Melloi II as he was investigating another case. When upon realizing that this ritual would result in Gray's life and soul being sacrificed to revive King Arthur, he staged her death and had everyone believe that she was another failure and quietly departed with her and took her as his apprentice and enrolled her into the Clock Tower where she studies under his tutelage. As for her abilities she has two known ones. She can utilize earth magecraft and has a single mystic code named Add. This mystic code looks like a gold birdcage with a cube bearing a face and is capable of speech. However, when she releases it's known restraints, she can have this cube then change shape into various weapons that she can use. The scythe is the most common form it takes but it can also change into a hammer, bow, a great sword, a Great Shield, a Halberd, and even a grappling hook and a boomerang. Once released the mystic code consumes both magical energy and spirit bodies and converts them into a physical boost to the owner giving them superhuman agility and strength that goes beyond reinforcement magecraft. Rumors are that there is a second stage to this mystic code that when all restraints, known and unknown, are released it becomes the holy lance of King Arthur known as Rhongomyniad, but this has never been confirmed. Not much on her personality though she is known to be aloof but is very loyal to Lord El-Melloi II though given her upbringing that loyalty makes sense." Finished Byakuya.

"That mystic code sounds suspiciously like a zanpakuto." Noted Toshiro. "It even sounds like it has a shikai and potential Bankai."

"Except that it sounds like it was passed down generations like a divine blade rather than a traditional zanpakuto. It does make me wonder how she would react to or handle being around other spiritual entities like Soul Reapers of Hollows." Noted Byakuya.

"She also seems like a capable fighter despite the fact that, from what we've learned so far, most mages tend to avoid confrontation outside of matching magecraft with magecraft especially since her mystic code can change into completely different weapons at will it sounds like." Jushiro pointed out.

"That would certainly be something interesting to investigate at a later date, but we will have to do so either tomorrow or when the fighting gets underway." Kisuke pointed out. "So, who's next?" he asked.

"I'll go next. My file is on the man called Lord El-Melloi II and this one is also quite extensive. He was originally born as Waver Velvet and he became part of the world of Magecraft after a romantic encounter between a mage and his grandmother after the latter taught the former a few tricks. Both Waver's parents died of illness before he finished high school and when he became the head of the family he sold all his family possessions to get the tuition needed to enroll in the Clock Tower as he became the first of his family to be a serious practicing mage. He managed to get into a class that had been taught by the first Lord El-Melloi of the Archibald family, a prestigious mage family with a lineage going back 9 generations and also a Lord and head of the mineralogy department, but after Waver wrote an essay about his theory of merit not pedigree being a way to improve oneself as a mage, the antithesis of the current acceptable thought process of mage culture, his teacher proceeded to mock and humiliate him publicly in front of his peers. Afterwards he found out that the first Lord El-Melloi was leaving due to him being a participant in an Auxiliary Holy Grail War, which were Grail wars meant to imitate the original except they had been happening all over the world and Waver decided to steal his teacher's catalyst and also participate in the same war as his teacher. File speculates it was for both revenge and to apparently prove his theory on merits verses lineage. Not much information exists about this war, but Waver did participate and in fact is the only known survivor of that war. His teacher was merely a casualty of said war. After his return the Archibald family fell into near ruin and put a young branch heir named Reines Archisorte as the 10th head. As for Waver himself, he became a well-regarded lecturer that helped in bringing out the fullest potential in those who attended and gained a respectable reputation for the ever-growing new line mages that were making up the bulk of mage population. This had allowed him to actualize a multilateral approach to education that hadn't been seen yet. As for the Archibald family, the current head arranged a meeting with him upon seeing his meteoric rise. When he found out who she was he was tasked to restore the reputation of the Archibald family, and both take on the family's massive debt. Waver did this by publishing an encyclopedia of his former teacher's works and taking no credit, this not only reinstated the family's reputation and prestige but also made them one of the most influential mage families currently within the Association right behind the heads of the departments in the Clock Tower and the headmaster of the Clock Tower and Mage's Association which makes up about 12 individuals. Waver's humility in not taking any credit and his own self guilt for his teacher's death made the head of the Archiblad family reward him further on the condition of continuing to acknowledging his teacher's death as his fault and to become the foster brother to Reines. When he agreed to the terms she used her new influence to not only make him Lord El-Melloi II and be acting head of Archibald family until she came of age but to also get the Headmaster to call for a grand roll which, according to the file, is a meeting between Clock Tower Lords and their representatives, and there, while a Grand Ritual originally and still is to some extent, though there is no further elaboration on that note here in the file, it now mostly serves as a meeting to discuss and decide the mundane operations of the Clock Tower. It was here that is was decided that Waver would be made the 1st lord of the 12th department or the Modern Magecraft Theories department, which at the time had only ever had a dean but no lord even at it's founding. Said dean was one named Dr. Heartless. An odd name." said Renji with a look of confusion but he continued on.

"While the file doesn't go into any details, it states that Dr. Heartless apparently is labeled as deceased and so the head of the department was vacant completely. Though there is a side note here that states records show in the past at least one person did attempt to try and become the Lord of this department about 35 years ago. That person was . . .Jeremiah Kurosaki." He read in shock.

"What?! Was this guy a relative of mine?!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"I'm just reading what's in the file. It gives no further information." said Renji defensively.

"While I do find this intriguing, we do need to finish up on this Lord El-Melloi II first before we go any further on a possible connection to Ichigo and the world of Mages." said Kisuke.

"Seriously?!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"Ichigo. We still have to get through one more Master and about 9 Servants tonight. As interesting as this rabbit hole is to go down, especially with adding onto what I knew from Kirisugu when I met him 6 years ago as that at least now might have some context to add to that, we can't afford to get distracted from the main focus of tonight's meeting. If you want, I can look further into this at a later time. Just not tonight." said Kisuke in an attempt to appease Ichigo. After a few moments Ichigo relented and motioned for Renji to continue.

"Okay back to the subject at hand. Jeremiah Kurosaki was the only other person to apply to become a lord of the department of Modern Magecraft theories due to him being the 7th head of the Kurosaki line at the time roughly 35 years ago but was turned down at the time. Instead Lord El-melloi II became the first Lord of that department and at the age of 29 he is now also the youngest lord of the Clock Tower but also the lowest ranked of the administrative lords of the Clock Tower. Rumors are that the headmaster however does secretly support him out of all the departments though this has never been confirmed. As far as personality goes, his meteoric ability causes him to be easily underestimated, which he takes advantage of. He's commented on being a brilliant professor even though he doesn't wish to be overly involved with his students in any way. He's apparently quite popular with his students anyways but it seems to put him in a constant state of crankiness. He's part of the Visionary faction within the Clock Tower politics as he wishes to reform some of its practices though he's known to be flexible and willing to compromise when it's reasonable. He's well known for respecting one's merits rather than bloodline a rarity among mages. Finally his documented abilities are hypnotic suggestion, and alchemy. The latter he uses for magecraft forensic investigations. This along with his keen power of observation and insight allow him to be a magecraft investigator in addition to a professor. But these also allow him to detect the hidden talents of his students and train them up. He's apparently so good at this that 10 years after he survived the Auxiliary Holy Grail War the first batch of Waver's students that attended his first lectures have since gone onto achieving respectable careers and ranks with the Association as a whole. In fact Fiore Forevedge Yggdmillenia is listed as one of his former students before Darnic convinced her to leave." Read Renji.

"And considering the girl is set to be the next clan head and chosen successor for Yggdmillenia that's saying something since she's not good at most magecraft in general according to her file." Toshiro commented.

"Anything else?" asked Byakuya. Renji shook his head.

"The funny thing is, this is probably the first mage I've heard about so far that I genuinely respect and even admire to a certain extent considering where he came from and where he is now." Said Ichigo sounding impressed.

"Reminds me of a certain Lieutenant that we all know." Said Rukia eyeing Renji cheekily. Renji blushed and looked off to the side embarrassed.

"Are you thinking about meeting this Lord, Ichigo? In light of this potential relative of yours?" Renji asked trying to divert the attention off of him.

"Now that this Lord might have a connection to a relative of mine, probably. Which if my math is right, this Jeremiah guy might in fact be my grandfather." said Ichigo. He looked at Kisuke. "Did you really not know about this, Hat n' Clogs?" he asked.

"I sincerely thought Kiritsugu was mistaken and simply disregarded his words as events prior that your mother was involved in seemed to indicate that she was something else. I won't say what as that's not my place. Perhaps when this is resolved you can talk to your father as he was involved in those events as well and would probably have more information as he was the closest person to her . . . well besides. . .never mind." Kisuke stopped himself. "If you want I can do some digging and see if I can come up with anything regarding Jeremiah Kurosaki." suggested Kisuke. Ichigo sighed in frustration.

"That's probably the best that I'm gonna get. So yes I would like it if you could do that when you go back Hat n' Clogs." said Ichigo. Kisuke nodded in acceptance.

"So who is left?" asked Yoruichi getting back to the subject at hand.

"I have the last file. The last Master seems to be none other than Reines El-Melloi Archisorte. Strange how three of the red masters have close connections to each other. As for Reines herself, her profile states that she was part of a branch family of the Archibalds and is currently 15 years old. She was the first El-Melloi's niece but was adopted into the main branch as a younger sister as a way to maintain peace between the main and branch families. But when the first El-Melloi and his then fiancé were killed in the Auxiliary Holy Grail War that they both participated in massive discord both outside and internally occurred for the Archibald family due to a crisis of succession. As such fortunes, mystic codes, and tomes were plundered. In the end Reines was made head of the Archibald family due to the fact that she had the best compatibility with the Archibald family magic crest which had also been plundered. By then all she had inherited was a few relics, tomes, and mystic codes that were deemed useless by others, the title of Lord El-Melloi, and a massive amount of debt. After Waver's return and rise in prominence she eventually arranged for the two of them to meet. From there it plays out as it said in Waver's file except now the current arrangement is as follows between them. In addition to being her foster brother and taking the title of Lord El-Melloi II and acting head of the Archibald family, he's also her private tutor and he was to take on the massive debt of the family and restore the Archibald family crest. You all already know how he got rid of the debt but it doesn't say if he was successful yet in restoring the Crest yet or not. By doing this, it would send all the right messages that she was receiving private tutelage from a brother not connected by blood. She also took the Velvet family Magic Crest from Waver as collateral to ensure he wouldn't attempt to flee from her demands. So far, the arrangement between the two has continued without any real problems. She also seems to be on friendly terms with Waver's apprentice, Gray." Read Toshiro.

"Gotta say she seems adept at politically maneuvering within mage culture. So what of her abilities or personality?" asked Kisuke.

"For her personality, notes say she self admits to having a bad one as she enjoys watching people suffer from their own mistakes. She's ruthless in her political dealings and the exercising of her authority. In fact, schemes and political maneuvering have become her forte. She's also extremely cautious and extremely difficult at trusting people due to the cutthroat nature of the current mage culture. She treats Waver more like a servant than a brother but is fiercely loyal to both him and Gray, nonetheless. As for her abilities, she has the mystic eyes of detection. Basically, these eyes allow her to detect magical energy. She has a photographic memory and can erase all sounds from an area and is very skilled with both. The only other ability she has is a mystic code named Trimmau. It's a female maid golem made out of mercury. Formerly it belonged to Reines uncle and was originally an amorphous blob of mercury called Volumen Hydrargyrum, but upon being inherited to Reines and under Waver's guidance she reworked it to take its current female maid form. She's meant to serve and protect Reines as her bodyguard. Though when she's in public Trimmau uses her mercury properties to fit into a suitcase for easy travel and to hide until Reines let's her out of said suitcase. Other abilities include using her body to clean and invade places. Her default combat mode is turning its hands into hammers. Trimmau can take on a variety of forms, such as a suit of armour, or a horse. She is even able to transform into the shapes of other people, where Trimmau can imitate a person's appearance and habits to a certain degree. A portion of her can be used to use as a familiar and become a figure-sized version of the owner sharing their senses. By dissipating into a mist, Trimmau can create projections of diagrams and patterns among the mist, useful for cases such as sharing something on a sheet of paper with the entire room. Trimmau is also capable of hacking computers. Trimmau is strongest in statistical analysis and pattern recognition. This can range from something as simple as identifying and tracking footprints, to running calculations like a computer to analyze data and come to a conclusion. This specialty is because excelling in combat is not the only reason for her creation, Kayneth having created Volumen Hydrargyrum to serve as the El-Melloi faction's leading computational machine, a remote processor. When this function is activated, floating number tables and symbols appear, calculating formulas. Under Waver's control however, only a portion of it can be used. And that's it." Finished Toshiro.

"So, she enjoys schadenfreude. Doesn't trust easily but once you have her trust she's incredibly loyal to whoever has it." Noted Yoruichi. "So far I'm not seeing a real issue with her."

"I'm more intrigued with this mystic code of hers, Trimmau. I wonder if I could examine it or perhaps recreate it." Said Kisuke looking incredibly intrigued.

"Considering how secretive and paranoid mages are, I doubt that you'll get a chance to even remotely look at that maid golem. Let alone examine it to see how it works or to try and recreate it." Said Jeanne. She sighed at the fact that he didn't seemed to be listening. "Well now that we've gotten a better idea of the Masters, are there any last thoughts before move onto the remaining 9 Servants?" she asked.

"I think we can now do a final threat assessment to you for most of the factions since now we have a better idea on the Masters." Said Toshiro.

"I agree. But as far as individual assessments of the Servants let's start with the last of the Silver Faction Servants. Then we'll do a group threat assessment. And do so for all the other Factions that we now have a full picture of. Beyond that we'll do the same as yesterday with the Servants." Said Yoruichi With that Kisuke fiddled with his iPhone.

"Okay. I've sent a photo of Berserker of Silver to everyone's phone." He announced. Jeanne looked at Rukia's and she gasped in surprise. She then looked at Kisuke.

"Kisuke did you say you fought this, Servant?" she asked concerned. Kisuke looked at her with a quirked eyebrow but nodded. "And you survived without getting injured?" she asked, shocked.

"Well, I did get Benihime chipped slightly but avoided any bodily harm." He admitted.

"You must be incredibly skilled then cause very few can go toe to toe with Heracles and live to tell the tale." Said Jeanne amazed. The exiled reapers, Ichigo and even Byakuya looked shock at this name drop.

"WHAT?!" said those in the know while the others looked confused.

"That's the Berserker of Silver's True Name. Heracles, Greece's greatest hero." Said Jeanne.

"Who's that?" asked Renji confused. Byakuya sighed.

"I'll field and summarize this one. Heracles is a hero whose most notable feat is completing 12 tasks that no normal human would not be able to do. In fact just performing one of these tasks would kill a regular human. The fact that he was the bastard child of the head god of the Greek pantheon did help him in granting him divine strength but that's just one part of what made him and his feats so widespread and retold. An example I can give is his final labor where he was tasked to head to the underworld and bring back the three headed Cerberus dog that guarded its entrance alive and he succeeded. That is a gross oversimplification of his legend but considering that there are 8 other Servants to look into after this, I believe that it would be best to stop here for his legend. If anyone wishes to research this further out of curiosity, other than myself and Renji, you'll have to do so another time. So, what can we expect from him as a Servant?" asked Byakuya looking at Jeanne.

"I'll start with his parameters: strength is A, Endurance is A, Agility is A, Mana is A, Luck is B, and finally his np is A." Jeanne rattled off.

"I can already tell that this Servant is going to be sporting worldwide fame. But for due diligence without the boosts his overall power level is A. So a mid-level lieutenant." Kisuke calculated.

"I do need to remind everyone that Heracles qualifies for almost every Servant Class save for Caster as he never learned magecraft in life. And Berserker is actually the weakest class for him. His best class is actually Archer. And as a result only 1-2/14ths of his soul is present in this summoned state." Said Jeanne. Everyone looked at her in surprise.

"So you are saying that not even factoring in boosts and only having so little of his soul present and that he's summoned into his weakest class, Heracles is still at mid-level lieutenant?" asked Toshiro looking shocked. Jeanne nodded.

"And with the boosts?" asked Jushiro hesitantly.

"Boosts put him at an EX rank so mid-Captain level. So he and Saber of Silver are the only members of the Silver Faction to reach that level with Rider of Silver coming in at the Captain threshold. So before we get into skills and np is there anything extra that we should note?" asked Kisuke.

"The only bit of extra information is that his main weapon isn't a Noble Phantasm, but rather a simple Nameless Axe-Sword made of rock. It was originally carved from the foundations of a temple. He can brandish it with ease due to his extreme strength, and he can cause large amounts of destruction with each swing. It is a brutish weapon more like a rock than an axe, and it can only be considered a weapon due to his extreme strength that allows him to wield it, suiting him perfectly despite being unconventional. It works on the same principle as prehistoric flint weapons unearthed in Northern Europe in that stone weapons broke easily because they were inherently brittle, had low lethality, and did not see widespread use, but Heracles compensates for the shortcomings with the sheer mass of the stone. Each of his attacks is a fatal blow that needs to be blocked or dodged. But that's it for extra info." Said Jeanne.

"Okay then let's move onto his skills." Said Yoruichi.

"Okay for Class Skills he has 2 of them. They are Madness Enhancement which is B rank and Divinity which is A rank." Said Jeanne.

We've heard both of these skills before so unless there's anything you want to add to those skills then let's move on." Said Toshiro.

"The only thing to add is to his divinity skill. Being a mixed-race child of a god, the King of Gods Zeus and a human, and becoming a god himself after death thanks to his great deeds, Heracles naturally possessed the highest level of the Divinity skill." said Jeanne.

"Alright. What about Personal skills?" asked Renji.

"He has three Personal skills. They are Indomitable which is A rank, Valor which is A rank, and finally Mind's Eye (Fake) which is B rank." Said Jeanne.

"Could you elaborate on these skills?" asked Byakuya.

"To put it simply Indomitable is an upgrade of the Battle Continuation skill. Which means that he will be able to survive for a time even after he receives a fatal injury. The only difference is that this skill combine with one of his nps can potentially resurrect him from a fatal injury." Explained Jeanne.

"So yet another opponent to not introduce Kenpachi to." Said Ichigo looking extremely put out. "His other two Personal Skills?" he asked.

"Valor is able to neutralize mental interference such as suppression, confusion, and charm on the Servant who possesses this skill. Normally, under the influence of Mad Enhancement, this skill is unable to take effect. But in Heracles case, the two skills actually work together guaranteeing that he'll never be able to be affected by mental spells and allow him to use limited strategy against opponents even while technically being insane. Then his final skill is called Mind's Eye (Fake) is a danger avoidance ability based on Intuition/Sixth Sense, gained through many ordeals and adventures. Even though Heracles' sanity was lost due to Mad Enhancement, this skill remained effective due to it being nearly an instinct. So, you have three skills that can actually, in Heracles' case, work together to allow him to fight with the strength of his Berserker class but still be the warrior of legend that he was described to be in life." Explained Jeanne.

"And Berserker is his weakest class?" asked Renji in surprise.

"Is that all for his skills?" asked Byakuya.

"Yes to both." Answered Jeanne with a small smile.

"Then let's move onto his noble phantasm." Said Byakuya.

"He has two. One for offense and one for defense. The offensive one is called Style: Shooting the Hundred Heads. It's an all-purpose np capable of adapting and changing how it appears depending on the target and the circumstances of its use. It's a c-A rank np but an unknown type of np. It originally had the form of the bow and arrows used to simultaneously exterminate the one hundred heads of the Lernaean Hydra, an immortal nine-headed serpent that would grow back no matter how many times it was cut down. Upon slaying the Hydra at the end of a lengthy battle, Heracles devised this combat technique and became able to utilize abilities that emulate the combat technique of this np with other weapons. It is implied that he has attained this martial arts technique in response to that characteristic, a technique that "exterminates no matter how many times his opponent resurrects." In essence, it is "a high-speed attack consisting of nine consecutive strikes, as swift as if the attacks are overlapping." It can also be a rush of extreme speed that adds up to a hundred attacks within a single breath. The ability would be best suited for the Saber Class even though the Archer Class is the most suitable for Heracles. Under normal circumstances Heracles' current Berserker class wouldn't allow him to have the motor functions to pull off this np and it would be sealed off from him but because of his previous mentioned skills create a loophole for him and the fact that this np is a technique applied to all weapons rather than a specific weapon he is able to utilize it though his speed would be slower with this np but considering that with proper motor functions that speed would be godspeed that's not saying much." Jeanne admitted.

"So, what's the defensive one?" asked Rukia curious.

"That would be God Hand which is a B rank anti-unit np. It's a continuously active-type np that grants him a "body that knows no death." It is a blessing of the gods representing immortality, as well as being a curse, that was granted to him for completing his Twelve Labors in life. Though this was after he became a god in the legends. With God Hand Heracles' body turns into a tough suit of armor and nullifies all attacks Ranked B or lower, regardless of the type or power of the attack. It provides the three effects of resurrection, attack-nullification, and the ability of "immunity against an attack he has experienced previously." The resurrection effect has 11 uses, Heracles cannot perish unless killed 12 times." Explained Jeanne.

"Hold on. You mean we have to kill this guy 12 times with attacks that are equivalent to our Bankais and every time one of them is used he becomes immune to it and recovers from it instantaneously?" asked Renji looking shocked at the implications of this np. Jeanne nodded.

"He has lives equaling the number of labors he overcame to atone for his sins, rendering him an "immortal" being who must be killed once for each labor to be fully eliminated. And with Illyasviel Emiya as his Master, he could be able to also regenerate lost lives over time due to her immense spirit energy. I estimate it would take a day and a half to restore at least one life. Obviously thanks to this np, Heracles is able to charge into a battle without even thinking about defense, ignoring various attacks that are unable to harm him even when aimed at vital spots like his temples. But powerful attacks such as Excalibur or Caliburn can take multiple of his lives with a single strike. So, it's possible that if you were to face him, if your Bankais were quite powerful, it could take multiple lives in one go as well. Same with Kido of A rank level or higher. Combine this np with his Indomitable skill and it's possible that if he particularly wants to eliminate something or someone or there's something or someone he wants to protect he could be resurrected a 13th time so while it's not likely that does need to be taken into consideration when devising strategies to combat him. The only other major weakness for this np is that due to Heracles' legend where he died due to being poisoned by Hydra venom, God Hand is, unsurprisingly, ineffective against Hydra venom, one single strike from a venom-coated dagger being enough to eat through all of God Hand's lives and kill him." Finished Jeanne.

"So in summation, we have a Captain class Servant with Skills and nps that work together to make him the ultimate physical warrior even though his only detractor is that he's insane. And he can only be killed with A rank or higher attacks and has to be killed either 12 different ways, with attacks that can take multiple lives, can't be allowed to leave the battlefield to recover or we have to find some way to acquire hydra venom to use it against him. And this is the shikai np while his offensive instinctual technique np is closer to a Bankai." Summarized Toshiro.

"He sounds the closest to Kenpachi in Servant form." Commented Yoruichi. "Alright now that we have all the Masters and Servants for the Silver Faction I think we can do a final assessment for the entire faction."

"Well based on all the information the only member that could be a true threat in terms of the Masters is Kiritsugu Emiya due to his life as a mercenary for the Association. But only if his family becomes threatened. And since the rest are his family, I think we can discount them as threats as Masters. As for their Servants and how many will survive or how long they'll last, with 2 Captain level Servants, Saber and Berserker, 1 at the threshold of Captain level, Rider, 1 lieutenant level Servant, Caster, 2 high seated officer level Servants, Lancer and Assassin and 1 unseated officer level Servant, Archer. I can see this Faction making it passed the halfway mark with only three Factions remaining with at least 4 Servants still alive. That being Saber, Berserker, Rider, and Caster respectively" Assessed Kisuke.

"Keep in mind that all that matters in the end is to have a Servant filling in the 7 warrior slots to conduct a proper Holy Grail War at the end regardless of which faction they had been previously from. Meaning that if several Servants from the same faction make it to the end, then they will have to face each other as enemies then." Jeanne reminded them.

"My assessment remains unchanged." Said Kisuke.

"What about the threat level to Jeanne now that we have as much information as we are likely going to get on everyone Masters and Servants alike?" asked Ichigo.

"I'd say that given their situation of being technically on the lam, if we were to make an offer to them that they would find beneficial they might be more inclined to be allies rather than a threat." Said Kisuke.

"Such as?" asked Jushiro.

"Well we could offer to take in his family since this safehouse is neutral territory under Ruler or I could personally make an appeal to get him to consider moving his family to Karakura where they would be safe guaranteed." Said Kisuke.

"It's an interesting proposition but would that Faction go for it? Afterall until the Einzberns are dead, the Emiyas would be put into a cage until either the bounty was dropped or until all of their family members died." Pointed out Toshiro.

"Still it's an avenue that I agree is worth pursuing. So, since we already covered all the Servants for Black and Blue let's get full assessments of them done now starting with Blue since we already know most of them anyway due to prior dealings." Said Yoruichi.

"We've already talked about the Masters of Blue but now that we know of their abilities the only thing that changes is that Tokiomi and Kirei are the only ones that could be an issue for Jeanne as Tokiomi is a traditionalist mage and could potentially put civilians at risk if it gets him the goal of getting the grail and considering Kirei seeming to have no self-motivation and his connection to Tokiomi as Student and Teacher, it highly likely that he'll go along and do as he's told. Everyone else will either follow orders or stay out of the way and support the two to the best of their abilities. Should Tokiomi be incapacitated then their threat level to Jeanne essentially disappears. As for their Servants and their status' by the half way point of the war, well one is a Captain level, Saber, 4 are lieutenant level, Archer, lancer, Rider, and Caster, and the last two are low seated officers' level, Assassin and Berserker. I can also see this Faction making it past the halfway point of the War with all but two Servants, Assassin and Berserker, surviving to that point." Assessed Kisuke.

"So, they might have the best chance of obtaining the Grail." Concluded Rukia. "What about the Black Faction?" she asked.

"Darnic and Celenike are obviously the most concerning and as long as both are alive, dealings with them will be fraught with the possibility of that Faction being a genuine threat to her. Should both be removed somehow, then that threat goes away as Fiore would be far more diplomatic than Darnic and her authority would be respected due to her being named the successor of Yggdmillenia. As for the Servants and their status' by the halfway mark, well this Faction actually has no Captain level Servants, has 1 lieutenant level Servant, Archer, though technically 2 depending on specific circumstances, Lancer, otherwise that one joins the other 4 Servants who would be at high seated officer level, Saber, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker, and the last one would be at a low seated officer's level, Rider. Shockingly I don't see this Faction lasting to the halfway point of the war or if they do only 1-2 Servants making it to that point. That being Archer and potentially Lancer depending on the circumstances." Assessed Kisuke.

"So now that those three are out of the way we can focus on the other three Factions and the Servants we got intel on." Said Ichigo.

"Actually, there is a point of clarification that I want to get out of the way. We know this war is for possession of the Grail and that Aizen has been tampering with it but what exactly does this Grail do? And what connection does Aizen have to it?" asked Byakuya.

"I'll field this one as I have done research on this subject and I'll be brief. The Grail is supposed to be the collection point of a ton of spirit energy that can then be used for its original purpose. To summarize, Mages see the root of existence, which we know to actually be the cycle of reincarnation, as a place for them to go to seek power and wisdom. Why? To essentially improve both their status among their fellow mages and to obtain a miracle that they can pass onto their lineage and justify their status among their fellow humans as being special. Understandably due to it being in a separate plane of existence and in the afterlife no less makes that goal difficult to say the least. As a result, mages have spent centuries coming up with ways to reach it and get what they want anyway. Those that succeed are granted abilities that can warp and outright break the rules of reality. The Grail is one such method to do this in helping mages reach the cycle of reincarnation for the reasons I stated already. According to my information, the Grail is a construct that comprises of spells and rituals that when activated can punch a hole straight to the cycle of reincarnation, but it lacks the spirit energy on it's own to perform this function. That's where the Servants come in. Their souls, regardless of however little of them are summoned, are far more powerful as is than at least 100 normal human souls. So, if all 7 are sacrificed their souls are collected into the grail. So now the construct has the necessary ability to open a portal to the cycle of reincarnation and with the death of 7 Servants has the power to pull off the ritual but there was an oversight that rendered the whole thing almost useless. 7 Servants need to die to punch a hole to the root but only a Servant can touch the grail to activate it so one Servant needs to stay alive to activate the ritual. But if only 6 Servants are sacrificed then while there is an impressive amount of spirit energy present it can't reach the Root. You see the problem, here?" Kisuke asked. Everyone nodded. "So instead the goal changed to instead getting a wish granted rather than reaching the root for both surviving Master and Servant. As a final bit the Grail also has access to the Throne and allows the mages to summon Servants."

"And thanks to Aizen's tampering, if he could actually use it not only would he now be able to make it to the cycle of reincarnation thanks to sheer numbers of Servants but he could potentially summon Servants from the throne to act as his army." Said Renji.

"And since the cycle of reincarnation is in the royal realm, it bypasses the need to create the oken (king's key) that was what Karakura's population was going to be sacrificed for to create. So that would explain why he abandoned his whole thing in Karakura to begin with." Suggested Toshiro.

"That's possible but keep in mind that he had already beaten all of the 13 Court Guard Squads Captains and many Lieutenants were down for the count. Aside from those that had been in Hueco Mundo there weren't too many things that were standing in the way of Aizen just going in and finishing his plans. The only thing that I can think as to why he still called off everything was because that he grew overconfident in his abilities and also saw something else that provided more elegant solutions to his problems because once he gets to the royal realm he'll have to deal with the royal guard of the Soul King. And those 5 members are more powerful than the entire 13 Court guard squads' members combined. Then if you have a bunch of Servants that come from times that precede the Soul Society's very existence which has a roughly 3,000-year history itself, then I can see Aizen using them to fight the Royal guard. Now whether that would be to keep the 5 members busy or to eliminate them I have no clue but I can see this as a plausible plan for Aizen to utilize for getting his goals." Theorized Kisuke.

"The only flaw with your logic is how he would control an army of Servants. He only get 3 command seals per Servant." Jushiro pointed out.

"I can see him using the hogyoku to grant him unlimited number of seals to maintain his control over them and don't forget that he convinced 10 Espadas to follow him despite how disparate their personalities were to each other. I don't see how he couldn't just do it again." Reminded Yoruichi. On this no one objected.

"Alright then which Faction do we do next Gold, White, or Red?" asked Renji.

"Let's do the Gold faction first and let's start with their female Caster." Suggested Kisuke as he fiddled with his phone and sent a picture to everyone else's phones.

"I can't help but notice that she bears more than a passing resemblance to the Lady Fiore of the Black Faction. The only difference is the green eyes and that she looks slightly older." Noted Toshiro. He looked at Jeanne with a quirked eyebrow. The unasked question being obvious in his expression.

"I believe that this is most likely a case similar to myself and my host Laeticia. Where Fiore is a many generations descendant of this Servant, either a grandchild or a great niece. Given who this is, I'm inclined to believe that it's the latter." Speculated Jeanne.

"And the Servant in question is . . .?" asked Renji.

"Guinevere. Queen of Camelot. King Arthur's wife and Lancelot's lover. Their affair is actually one of the causes that actually brought Camelot to ruin. She married for political reasons to Arthur but loved Lancelot and the two had a whirlwind affair that they kept secret from everyone else. Surprisingly she never had any children with either man and after Camelot eventually fell to ruin Guinevere renounced her love to Lancelot and chose to become a nun for the rest of her life as a way to atone for her infidelity. But that's it on Guinevere other than she was a skilled healer in magecraft hence why she's a Caster." Answered Jeanne.

"Alright. Let's look at her parameters." Said Rukia.

"Parameters are as follows: Strength is E, Endurance is E, Agility is D, Mana is B, Luck is D, and Np is C." rattled off Jeanne.

"I already can tell she's not going to be that strong of a Servant. Even with the fame boosts since she's part of Arthurian legend. But for the sake of due diligence, it would seem that her overall power level without boosts is at a D rank. So an unseated officer level. With boosts she's at a C rank. So a low seated officer but about an 11th seat at most." Calculated Kisuke.

"Anything else extra you want to add before we get into her skills?" asked Byakuya. Jeanne shook her head.

"Given her limited role in the legends, all I said earlier is the most said of her aside from a few one-off different interpretations where she perishes earlier in the story or is an outright wicked queen in place of Morgan le Faye. And she is this world's Guinevere. So she married Artoria and as far as I'm able to put together Artoria knew about the affair and since hers and Guinevere's was purely political, she gave her blessings to the couple in private." She said.

"So it was more a rare case of adultery being beneficial for all three parties involved. Gotta say I can see why she went after Lancelot now if her 'husband' was also a woman and neither swung that way. Alright let's take a look at her skills." Said Yoruichi.

"Very well. She has 2 class skills. One is territory creation which is C rank and High-speed incantation which is B rank." Said Jeanne.

"No item construction?" asked Ichigo curious.

"She was never known to create any potions or any magical items, so she doesn't have the skill." Answered Jeanne.

"Both of these skills we've heard before, so we'll move onto her Personal Skills." Said Jushiro.

"She has 3 Personal Skills. The first is Resolute Devotion which is A Rank, Healing Magecraft which is B rank, and finally Abbess of Amesbury Priory which is also A rank." Said Jeanne.

"Elaboration, please." Said Byakuya.

"Right. Healing Magecraft is exactly as the skill says it is. The other two are a bit more abstract. Resolute Devotion is alluding to her and Lancelot's love in that despite it being an adulterous love they both were devoted to each other for as long as Camelot lasted. As a Servant this skill gives her the ability to be immune to any and all mental interfering magecraft or nps that is lower than it's rank of A. This is to ensure that despite being a weak Servant she will not betray her Master through any kind of manipulation. The only exception is if the magecraft is cast by whoever she has pledged her loyalty to or if it's higher than A rank. This skill will be granted to her for the duration of the contract." Explained Jeanne.

"I wonder if that means she can be immune to Kyoka Suigetsu?" wondered Kisuke aloud. "And her final skill?" he asked.

"Finally her Abbess of Amesbury Priory Skill is a reference to after the fall of Camelot she became a nun and her conviction to atone for her infidelity. Which proved sincere as while Lancelot became a friar and even lived in a monastery not too far from where Guinevere's nunnery was, she refused any and all attempts to be with the man she loved as she viewed the love they had as wrong due the disaster is caused. In fact, her conviction inspired not only Lancelot but Bedivere as well to enter into monasteries and become friars after Camelot's fall Since the three of them were the only known survivors of Camlann. By the time she died she reached the rank of Abbess which is the head of the nunnery. Now as a Servant this is a skill that acts similar to her Resolute Devotion skill except that it can be granted to others and has the same benefits as her Devotion skill to those she granted this skill to. The only real weakness it has is that it only lasts for about half an hour and then she has to wait just as long to charge it back up and use it again but if she turns it off before the max time limit than however much time she used it is how long it will take her to recharge it." Explained Jeanne.

"That I can see being a very handy skill for allies along with the healing magecraft. What about her np?" asked Toshiro.

"Her np is called Queen's blessing: Sanctuary of the fleeting utopia. It's a team ranked C-B ranked np. The fluctuating rank is due to how big of an area she can deploy it and it's maximum rank of B is due to her not being as skilled in Magecraft as Merlin. In fact in would be best to think of it as a less impressive Garden of Avalon." Explained Jeanne.

"You mean like a knock off version of it?" asked Renji curious.

"That's a little mean to put it that way but it's not inaccurate. But it creates an absolute safety zone where wounds are healed, weapons with intent to harm are rendered moot and any magecraft not devoted to healing is negated entirely." Explained Jeanne.

"So she's a dedicated healer with the support ability to keep both herself and her allies safe from mental interference be it from nps or from other forms of magecraft. Not a bad role though she is limited in her abilities by playing strictly support. Especially when her np is only at Shikai level at its strongest. And I don't see her lasting very long in a straight up confrontation." Said Ichigo looking over her abilities. "So that just leaves the last one. Who is it?" he asked. Kisuke fiddled with his phone again and sent the next picture to everyone's phones. Jeanne gasped in shock and looked sad while everyone else looked disgusted or surprised at the picture.

"So, who's this? He looks like an insane person." Commented Renji.

"This is the last of the Gold Faction Casters. His True name is . . . Gilles de Rais." Said Jeanne reluctantly. Toshiro immediately picked up on her hesitation.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"I know this one because he and I had a history together." Said Jeanne. She immediately gave a quick rundown of how shortly after she was accepted into the French army she met Gilles and the two became close confidants and friends with him even teaching her to read and even write though she only got as far as to know how to write her name. He became a trusted advisor to her in military matters and when she had been captured he led several attempts to free her from prison. But thanks to the Grail she knows that after she died he became mad with grief and in despair he lost his faith in God so he committed all sorts of atrocities on both women and children in the hopes of God smiting him to prove his existence. Instead other nobles, who wanted his rich land holdings and wealth rather than to bring him to justice, arrested and hung him for his crimes. The Caster version is the Gilles that became a broken man after her death. Kisuke then added how he had encountered this and the other Servants they would get to which caused Ichigo to laugh.

"So, you were doing a grocery run and happened to stumble across these groups and decided to just observe and see how things played out?" he asked with a chuckle. Kisuke hid his face behind his fan. "Unbelievable." Said Ichigo exasperated.

"Jeanne, I have two questions for you. First do you believe that this Gilles will commit similar atrocities now as a summoned Servant and do you think that you'll be able to go against a former friend in his current state?" Yoruichi asked cautiously killing the lighter mood with the question. Jeanne thought about it for a moment and then answered.

"I have to. Because his state of mind is one of insanity and he will commit atrocities if he believes that it will bring him victory though perhaps my presence will nullify that somewhat." Said Jeanne being a little hopeful.

"I don't think so. During my observations his madness made him believe another Servant looked enough like you and when she clarified she wasn't he didn't take no for an answer. Also it seems like he was hoping for a version of you that was as jaded and vengeful as he was over what happened to you when you were executed hence why he went after the Servant he mistook for his idealized version of you rather than the version of you he actually remembers. So even if you came to him and clarified the situation, there's a good chance that he probably will think that you're some trick meant to deceive him and could make the situation worse or he'll try to force you to become his ideal version of you through some . . . I'm gonna say unpleasant means if what I was sensing from the book he nearly pulled out was anything to go off of. That book's very presence screamed foul and kill it with fire on the spot kind of vibes and he hadn't even fully pulled it out for others to see yet at the time." Said Kisuke.

"Then let's get on with his personal analysis and see how powerful he is." Said Toshiro.

"Very well. His parameters are: Strength is D, Endurance is E, Agility is D, Mana is C, Luck is E, and finally NP is A- EX rank. I also need to let you all know that Gilles is only well known in France due to his affiliation with me." Said Jeanne.

"So, he gets no boosts from fame or geography. So that means that his overall power level is D rank. So he's at an unseated officer's level but just barely under a 20th seat's level. And that's due to his np being the standout rank that it is. Anything else extra we need to know for his abilities before we get into his Skills?" asked Kisuke.

"It should be noted that Gilles still retains his physical prowess from his time as a knight, and he could potentially handle classes other than Caster in a straight up fight. But while he became a general, it can be said his money was his greatest asset rather than his martial prowess. As a Caster though his occult knowledge is terrifying. He is capable of keeping human beings in stasis with his magic, allowing them to withstand incredible amounts of physical damage which would otherwise prove fatal. Beyond this, Gilles is able to accomplish similar skills to other magi contained in the class, such as concealment, divination, and the creation of magic items though he can only access these abilities as long as he doesn't use his np. But that's it for any extra tidbits on his abilities." Said Jeanne.

"So, what about his proper skills?" asked Byakuya.

"He has two Class Skills. Territory Creation which is B rank and Item Construction which doesn't have a rank. This is due to when he uses his np which allows him to summon creatures, once he uses that then his Item construction skill becomes lost. But when he is able to use it it's usually E rank."

"We've already gone over these two skills multiple times, so we'll skip that and go straight to the Personal Skills." Said Jushiro.

"He has three Personal skills. Appreciation of Blasphemy which is C almost B rank. Mental Pollution which is A rank, and finally Evil Eye of the Abyss which is C rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"Elaboration, please." Said Toshiro.

"I'll start with Mental pollution. We've actually seen this skill before with Jack the Ripper though it was at a lower rank. As a quick refresher, this skill is acquired through a distorted mental state, providing the power to shut out mental interference magecraft. At Rank A, he can completely reflect mental interference magecraft. However, because of his twisted mentality, he is unable to understand anyone who does not possess an equal rank of Mental Pollution, though he displays no difficulty communicating with others around." Explained Jeanne.

"Is it safe to assume that the rest of his skills correlate to this warped mental state?" asked Kisuke curious. Jeanne nodded.

"Appreciation of Blasphemy is the skill that if he sees an Np that possess Blasphemous anecdotes, like some kind of artwork that might be meant to resemble Cuthulu, then Gilles can potentially figure out the Servant's True Name with that particular Np." Said Jeanne.

"So anyone that might have some connection to the Cuthulu mythos is guaranteed to be IDed by him. Interesting." Noted Yoruichi. "Final skill?" she asked.

"The final skill is Evil Eye of the Abyss. This is the result of his eyes becoming bulbous and unsettling like you all see in his picture. The reason for why his eyes are like that is due to Gilles de Rais looking into the abyss and was looked back in turn. As a result, those eyes suffered a great metamorphosis and became a thing that spreads fear upon looking at them, similar to those "creatures" that lurk in the depths as written by the author H.P. Lovecraft. The fear that those eyes produce doesn't come from violence or coercion, but by making the "fear of the unknown", which the opponent already has inside, surface. For ordinary humans this can lead to Lost Sanity just by looking at him for prolonged periods of time." Finished Jeanne.

"So the Lovecraft connection is actually deliberate as that's the second reference to it." Noted Ichigo.

"Who is Lovecraft?" asked Rukia. A few minutes were given to explain the Cuthulu mythos to the Reapers who were all quirking eyebrows by the end of the explanation.

"While I will admit that I have mixed feelings concerning this Cuthulu mythos, I'm curious if there are any other connections between this and Gilles." Said Byakuya.

"The last connection actually resides with his np. It's called Prelati's Spellbook and is an A-EX rank and anti-army np. The truth is that in terms of Servants of the Caster class, Gilles is one of the weakest on record. Possessing very little ability in Magecraft himself, most of his power is derived from his Np. The spell book itself acts as a massive reserve of spirit energy and a guide for whatever spell he hopes to enact. The spell book is a demonic guidebook and summoning Grimoire with a cover made of . . . .human skin." Said Jeanne looking more than a little grossed out by that. The Reapers all looked a mixture of disgusted and outraged at this description but didn't comment on this. So Jeanne continued. "I actually have a history of this book itself. According to the knowledge from the Grail, Prelati's Spellbook is also known as the R'lyeh Text. It's either a copy from the original book in a place called the Sunken Spiral Castle, translated from the R'lyeh language into Chinese during the Xia Dynasty, and later translated into Italian by François Prelati. Or an alternate telling of the Grimoire's origin describes Prelati sealing a link to the Sunken Spiral Castle into a blank Bible, turning it into a Mystic Code capable of summoning Horrors or sea demons, whichever you prefer, which are these demonic, amphibious familiars. Furthermore, the previous original text was described in a language other than that of humanity's languages. The book contains records of a forbidden knowledge relating to an evil god of an ancient time sometime before humanity's origin. Because he can summon these Horrors endlessly, he can become a viable threat despite his own personal weaknesses." Explained Jeanne.

"Yet more references to H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. I really don't like where the implications of these findings are going. If the book belonged to someone else how does Gilles get this as his np?" asked Kisuke.

"Simply because of his association with Prelati as Gilles was his main benefactor up until his demise. But I'm not sure if Prelati is prominent enough to have become a heroic spirit in his own right so Gilles gets his spell book due to affiliation. The Spellbook itself is also otherworldly not just because of it potential origins but also due to the fact that if it is cut, rather than showing pages, it shows a glowing, unearthly substance. It is also capable of regenerating damage caused to it under its own power, and the "wound" closes much like it would on a living creature. I imagine that this due to the human skin covering." Said Jeanne.

"I know that this can't be easy for you but you mentioned earlier, very briefly, about the creatures that this book can summon. Can you give us a fuller description of these Sea Demons?" asked Jushiro looking at her with a bit of sadness. Jeanne took a slow breath and continued.

"The Sea Demons, without a discernible torso nor appendages, are best described as endless masses of arm-thick tentacles with circular mouth-like openings at the end of each tentacle, marked with curved claws and shark teeth-like blades equal in power to swords. They usually are shorter than a man but can also be summoned several times larger than one. Their appendages are heavily spiked, serrated and covered with either eyes, suction cups, spines, papulae or all of them. Each tentacle contains an additional mouth which split open to reveal them, and have some form of elasticity to their limbs to allow them to reach and bind their target from a distance. They also possess some regenerative powers to non-lethal wounds, even crippling ones such as lost limbs. Their innards spew a black mist-like gas that would cause lung corrosion in a normal human, and can spit a purple, viscous acid that is also a paralyzing agent. They are not living beings of nature, but creatures from an entirely different world with different natural laws. They are summoned by using the blood and flesh of creatures, living or deceased, as a sacrifice, and they must constantly receive magical energy from the spell book. While one sea demon's fighting strength is generally not comparable to a Servant's, the np's Anti-Army classification is not just for show as it makes it possible to summon dozens of bodies in order to further compensate for an individual demon's fighting weakness with overwhelming numbers. It is able to endlessly call them, revive them, and send them at any enemies as its wielder commands it. They will stay summoned as long as they receive spirit energy. No matter how many are destroyed in close combat, their numbers will never decrease for it is possible that the flesh of the defeated demons, acting as mediums, will instantly spawn new ones to take their place. That being said, the demons summoned through the Grimoire cannot remain present in the current world without a continuous connection to the book's spirit energy supply. If the connection to the supply is severed for even a moment, they will all instantly dissipate into the blood of the original sacrifices." Explained Jeanne. Everyone was stunned for several minutes.

"I can see why they are called Horrors. Though that being said do you think that they would react differently when being cut by zanpakutos which are meant to purify what they cut?" asked Byakuya his expression growing thoughtful. Jeanne paused for a moment.

"That's a good question. There are very few nps that could do any real damage to the creatures hence why hitting the book is often the go-to strategy. But perhaps your weapons could actually do damage given the creatures you face on a regular basis." Said Jeanne.

"Guess will have to test it out if and when that time comes in the future. At the very least these things are the only things he can summon so while it would be difficult it still seems doable to deal with." Said Rukia.

"Uh well that's not entirely true." Said Jeanne looking nervous. This got everyone's attention.

"What else can he summon?" asked Toshiro with wide eyes not liking what he might hear next. Jeanne breathed and continued.

"Gilles also has the potential ability to become absorbed with the Spellbook into a mass of demons to employ a creature called simply Gigantic Horror. Now he needs a good deal of preparation time to pull such a feat off, and with a chant he would summon numerous Horrors. They would then begin to gather under his feet and form a "sandbar", which would be made up of an extremely numerous amount of them. Then a fog will form around the area as an aftereffect while he simply will stand relaxingly on the Horror sandbar. Then a vortex of raging spirit energy will overflow from the tome and begin to distort even the space around it. The Horrors, ever increasing, will then swallow him with their tentacles, covering his entire body. Swelling in numbers, they will entwine and coalesce while rising up as a large lump of meat. It can eventually even be called an "island of meat", but still will grow even then. Upon fully forming, the really enormous Gigantic Horror will become an aquatic giant befitting the name of a "sea demon", the nightmare that governs the ocean in the realm outside of the world. It can be called the true form of the diabolic underworld, a massive extradimensional evil god that is at least the size of a building, of which all of the summoned Familiars are bits and pieces of it. While Gilles would no longer visible, he would still be within it's heart. Yet it won't be under his control in any way, only invited to eat whatever is nearby, which given the size of Trifas it would only take it an hour to consume the whole town including the fotress of the Black Faction. It's brought forth with the intention of suicide. As it feeds on lives to grow, it will eventually grow too large and die, so it would be summoned only for the purpose of destruction. It has a similar structure to an amoeba, it has no bones or organs and it feels no pain, even if a third of its body were to be blown away. It continuously regenerates, no matter how much damage is done, without suffering any permanent damage. Anything that comes in contact for more than a few seconds with its body will be swallowed up leaving no trace of the person or object behind. In order for the gigantic horror to be destroyed, either Gilles's Master must be killed, allowing Gilles to potentially fade away naturally after his spirit energy supply is used up unless the creature starts feeding on humans, or an Anti-Fortress attack, such as Excalibur, must be used in order to eradicate the entirety of its flesh and kill Gilles deep inside the heart of the creature. The reason for such a tactic is that though from another dimension, the gigantic horror is affected by weapons with an affinity towards slaying monsters." Finished Jeanne. Once again the Reapers were left in a state of shock for several minutes before Renji spoke up.

"And the mages don't care if this guy deploys something like that!? As long as it gets them the Grail!?" exclaimed Renji a bit outraged at the prospect. Jeanne looked a bit saddened by this.

"If Gilles were ever allowed to get that far then in order to preserve the secrecy of Magecraft than the mages would most likely sacrifice all of Trifas and it's inhabitants and only then try to get rid of the creature so as to continue keeping Magecraft a secret as all witnesses would either be dead or so few would survive that no one would believe them. That being said don't think for a second that I would approve such actions. I am fully aware that Gilles will need to be dealt with as soon as possible and I will not hesitate to put him down regardless of my former connection with him. My duties as Ruler outweigh any personal connection and I've personally made it my business to not involve civilians as much as possible." Answered Jeanne. This seemed to calm Renji down a bit. Yoruichi took the opportunity to speak.

"Still, it would be best to target him specifically as he's so far, the only one that could pose a threat to the entire area and his lack of sanity means that he's both a ticking timebomb and a loose cannon even if he's only at a 20th seat's level. Then while he can induce terror in others if they're weak willed enough, his biggest asset is his spell book and his ability to summon these Horrors that if he wanted could become a kaiju-sized version with which we're not sure if our weapons would be enough to harm it. That np is pretty much a Bankai and a high level one at that. So, if I were to be so bold, I would make his elimination from the War the top priority, especially if the mages of the Gold Faction can't or won't keep him on a tight leash." Said Yoruichi.

"So, what about overall assessments for the gold Faction?" asked Byakuya.

"Well not much for the masters as they are weak willed homunculi who'll just blindly follow orders. Then you have the leader who's obsessed with getting the Grail and will stop at nothing to get it, making him a person of interest since he just might order that last Caster to summon that creature if he felt that it would guarantee him victory. So he and Gilles are both individuals that should definitely be on a priority list to be taken out as soon as possible. As for the other Servants, Gilles is only a 20th seat thus aside from his broken np is the weakest, Guinevere comes up next as an 11th seat, then we have Merlin as the strongest of the 3 Casters at mid-level lieutenant. Then the Sabers we have Kay and Bedivere both of whom are at high lieutenant almost Captain level, and the final Saber Gawain would be the strongest of the 3 Sabers at Captain level. Then there is their Shielder who is also at captain level. As to threat level Both leader and Gilles would make them a threat to Jeanne very likely tjpugh once those two are removed then the threat level they pose drops drastically almost to nothing and I can see this Faction making it past the halfway point with only losing Gilles and Guinevere in the process." Summarized.

"So, so far it looks like Blue, Silver, and Gold would end up being the Factions to at least survive past the halfway point. Which Faction do we want to tackle next? Red or White?" asked Renji.

"Since we can't really get a full picture of the Red Faction until tomorrow let's do the white Faction." Said Ichigo.

"Actually, I want Jeanne to look at a photo first and then depending on her answer will either add to the Red Faction or we'll start off the White Faction." Said Kisuke as he fiddled with his phone. Once he pulled up the picture Jeanne looked at it and then nodded.

"Your instincts about this Servant being an Assassin were spot on and he's actually the Assassin White. His True name is Robin Hood." Said Jeanne. All but Rukia, Renji, and Toshiro's eyes widened in surprise. Kisuke fiddled with his phone again and sent the picture to all the Reapers phones.

"You know he looks exactly as how I thought someone with that name would look like." Commented Jushiro.

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that name. Care to enlighten us?" asked Toshiro. Byakuya, being the wealth of knowledge that he was proving to be, gave an abbreviated version of the story. About how Robin Hood was an outlaw who was famous for robbing from the rich to give to the poor due the commonfolk being forcibly taxed to the point that they would be unable to sustain themselves by a corrupt king and sheriff. From there tales varied and included a colorful cast of characters who either were his allies or enemies but this main fact always remained. Jeanne only added that Robin Hood was actually a title rather than a single person's name due to how it was just common to call outlaws by such a name and this Servant is the one who inherited that name around the time of Richard the Lionheart and his brother John. So as this one is the most remembered it's no surprise that he made it onto the throne. This satisfied the three who weren't in the know so Kisuke spoke up.

"Okay. Let's get to his parameters." He said grinning.

"His parameters are as follows: Strength is C, Endurance is C, Agility is B, Mana is B, Luck is B, and his NP is D." Jeanne rattled off.

"Okay and what about boosts? I know he's most famous in England but is he as well-known as King Arthur?" asked Kisuke. Jeanne nodded. "Okay then without boosts that puts him at C or a low seated officer level but about an 11th seat at most. Then with boosts he's at B or a high seated officer level but about a 3rd seat at best." Calculated Kisuke.

"Anything extra to add to his abilities?" asked Rukia. Jeanne nodded.

"Despite being classified as an Assassin, he fights using Archery. Under usual circumstances he would be summoned as an Archer but most likely due to the Archer positions all being filled by the time he was summoned he got the Assassin class which is possible thanks to one of his skills which I will get to shortly. He has a crossbow attached to his arm which is both his np and weapon-of-choice known as the Yew Bow. Due to his history, Robin Hood is unsuited for close range duals. Although he is capable of using daggers in close quarters if he's pressed to do so. He also holds the knowledge of a Druid. Robin is also an expert in the use of traps and poisons. Particularly in the poisons of the natural realm, making him an excellent "defender of the forest". Robin employs these skills to shoot poisonous arrows in addition to nonpoisonous ones. He also specializes in Guerrilla warfare in forest-like environments. These two talents can come together in that he can create a Yew tree and it in turn can create a bounded field that constantly spews Taxine poison, which means the only way to cleanse the area is to find and destroy the tree before succumbing to the poison. But that's it for extra abilities." Said Jeanne.

"I can see why he qualifies as an Assassin, and I have no doubt that one of his skills is the double summoned skill to allow him access to all his abilities. May as well start going over his skills then." Said Kisuke. Jeanne nodded.

"He has 2 Class skills. One is independent Action which is A rank and the other is Magic Resistance which is D rank." Said Jeanne.

"We've gone over these in detail and at these ranks before so we can just skip to the Personal Skills." Said Toshiro. Jeanne nodded.

"Very well. He has 3 Personal Skills. One is Double Summon which is B rank, next is Subversive action, which is A rank, and finally the last one is Golden Rule which is E rank." Rattled off Jeanne.

"We've seen the Double Summon skill before so we can skip the explanation and we've seen the Golden Rule skill before though not at this rank. So, care to elaborate on this and his last skill?" asked Byakuya.

"He has Golden Rule on account of the fact that his legend is so intrinsically tied to wealth, but its low rank is due to the fact that while he was never bad off financially, he always gave away the wealth he acquired. So, he can always obtain wealth but then will immediately get rid of it for one reason or another. So, if his master is poor than he'll always be able to get enough to keep them alive but from there it's up to the Master to be savvy enough to utilize that money responsibly." While Jeanne said this Rukia gave Renji a hard side eye and Renji just glared at her as if daring her to say anything, but she kept her mouth shut while Jeanne continued and everyone else seemed oblivious to the exchange save for Ichigo who smirked at the unsaid joke. The trio focused back on Jeanne as she continued. "Robin's final skill grants him the ability to reduce enemy's war potential in the preliminary stage before going to battle. An expert of traps. With this skill at A rank, it is possible to disable close to 60 percent of the enemy forces before they advance. And this is especially effective if he's in a forest." Finished Jeanne.

"Not bad. In a war like this that could go a long way in tipping the scales in his faction's favor. But what would happen if he had to do so in a non-forested environment? Will that ability be reduced or does that work regardless of environment?" asked Yoruichi. Jeanne thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I'm not certain of that. His skills would warrant him being able to utilize terrain regardless of location but they're just at their best in a specific environment." Said Jeanne. This seemed to satisfy the group.

"So, all that's left is his np which you said is his crossbow, right?" asked Ichigo. Jeanne nodded.

"He actually has two nps, but I'll cover his crossbow first as it was mentioned earlier. His first np is called Yew Bow: The Bow of Prayer which is a D rank and anti-unit np. It gets its name from the Yew tree that it was created from in Sherwood Forest which Robin Hood used as his base of operations. The act of making a bow from a Yew tree, which are holy arbor for the Celts and in Northern Europe, in the Forest of Sherwood has ceremonial connotations of "becoming one with this forest." It is said that the Yew is a tree that leads to the world of the dead, and Robin Hood, perhaps knowing of that due to him being able to utilize Druid Magecraft, said at the end of his life that "I want to be buried at the place where this arrow drops" before firing an arrow at the end of his life. The arrow hit the root of a Yew tree as was expected, and according to his wishes, he was buried by the side of the big tree along with his beloved partner, his bow. It was by this sequence of events that his bow made from only the wood of a Yew tree came to be imbued with enough power to be used as an np. As a Servant, he makes use of it as a regular bow to shoot arrows and utilizes poison arrows to poison his targets. It can also be used as a grenade launcher and can have rapid-fire cartridge attachments so that he can use it continuously. The Yew Bow's np projectile is not an arrow, but rather an explosion trigger. It does not have to pierce through the body. Even if the target deflects the projectile, they will still explode. Also, his trump card, once the bow's name is invoked, it has the ability to instantaneously amplify and surge out any impurities stockpiled in the target's stomach, such as poison and diseases. If the target is poisoned for example, it will make that poison explode like gunpowder, dealing extreme damage close to a lethal dose of poison. If invoked in the situation the target is poisoned, it strengthens the current poison already afflicting the target, increasing the poison damage in addition to extending the effect of poison by another turn, while adding the even deadlier poison of the Yew tree to stack on top of that. The bow can also materialize a number of roots from a shot projectile that swarm around the target and take the form of a tree that subsequently bursts and withers. His Yew Bow houses nature powers such as the extremely strong poison from the Yew tree, and the ability to reproduce Sherwood Forest through growing hundreds of Yew trees in an area. Finally if he can't rapidly grow a tree to create the poisoned bounded field I brought up in his extra abilities, it is possible to dye the surroundings with the poison of the Yew tree with an arrow fired and pierced onto the ground acting as the origin, turning the area into a space of poison but the same idea still applies to the part of the tree bounded field." Finished Jeanne.

"Well he knows how to utilize his resources at the very least. Though poison seems to be his big theme." Complimented Yoruichi. "What's his other np?" she asked.

"That would be his emerald green cloak called No Face May King: Faceless King. Essentially, it's magic clothing that erases any sign of the wearer. It's a B rank and anti-unit self np. To give some context, the mantle of Robin Hood is an incarnation of nature, introduced and inherited as a custom of the Celts from the Beltane Festival or more commonly called Spring Festival after the establishment of the "May Festival", where participants in the festival pray to the forest spirit Jack in the green for the arrival of spring. In the May Festival, they make a circle and dance around a pillar built in the center of the village square where a boy and a girl on the cusp of adulthood would impersonate the "May King" and the "May Queen". The "May King" as part of the name of his np is a metaphor for Robin Hood, a "transparent king" who added brown accents to his green clothing so that his figure would not be seen. Wearing the May King costume erases any sign so that those who wear it will naturally melt into that appearance. With this now emerald green cloak np, Robin Hood holds the same level of ability as the Fairy Puck who in turn could render himself completely invisible to the human eye. It is said to be stronger than the Bow of Prayer on the back of his hand as a one-sided victory cheat item, disabling the readings of both of the combatants in battle. It does not hide spirit energy, but it does completely conceal the wearer's sound and scent. Hence the No Face and Faceless King in the name. The cloak allows Robin Hood to be a sniper who hides his figure, exhibiting the Assassin-like behavior. If he begins to attack, his targets can sense that he is following them but are unable to actually detect his location. However, Robin Hood cannot use both the Yew Bow's True Name release and No Face May King at the same time." Finished Jeanne.

"So, we have an Assassin that has Skills and nps that play to into that very well as well as have poison capabilities. And is at a 3rd seat level. One of his nps and main offensive one is a shikai level while the stealth 1 is a bankai level but he has to drop that one to use his main weapon to its fullest potential. The only other downside is that he's reliant on the environment being a forest. Any other environment is not as effective." Summarized Kisuke. "Alright who's next?"

"That would be Archer of White proper with her True name being Atalanta the Chaste Huntress of Greek Mythology. Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of her this time." Said Jeanne.

"That's fine the basic thing everyone needs to know is that she's a Cat girl, but she actually has a tail and cat ears in her human form." Said Yoruichi with a playful smirk. "So, let's get started on her parameters." She said.

"Her parameters are as follows: Strength is D, Endurance is E, Agility is A, Mana is B, Luck is C, and Np is C." rattled off Jeanne.

"And since she's from Greece that means that she gets fame boosts. But without boosts his overall power level is C rank or low seated officer roughly about 15th seat at best. But with fame boosts her overall power level is B rank or high seated officer roughly about 6th seat at best." Calculated Kisuke. "Anything else we need to know about her?" he asked. He looked to Byakuya who sighed but answered the unsaid question.

"Atalanta is a famous huntress from Greek mythology that earned her recognition thanks to being the first one wound the Calydonian Boar during the hunt for its extermination. After being abandoned as an infant by her father, the King of Arcadia due to being born a woman, Artemis made it so Atalanta was raised by a female bear and later was adopted by a hunter who lived in the mountains. From there she had developed her skills rapidly, due to her latent talent. As such, Atalanta is a peerless huntress, and the greatest of Greek mythology." Said Byakuya.

"That's correct. According to the Grail she's skilled in the ways of the forest, easily traversing through it by leaping between branches, having knowledge in restraining wild beasts, and displaying the capability to become one with the forest to easily disappear from the sight of someone actively watching her. She is more animal than human, and her senses are far greater than others. She is able to sense enemies far before others with her great sense of smell, and her sight is great enough to pinpoint targets in conditions of near zero visibility at night from an extreme distance. Atalanta is also famed for her swift feet, which would not allow her to lose to any man in a foot race. She is also included as a member of the Argonautai, which assembled brave heroes from all over Greece to help retrieve a special item for their leader Jason but that's really not relevant to Atalanta save for her having a friendship with Medea, Jason's wife and currently the Caster of Black, after the item was retrieved. But that's it for extra information." Said Jeanne.

"I have a question. Why does she sound like she has the appearance of a Catgirl with cat ears and a tail?" asked Ichigo curiously.

"It goes back to her legend. I won't go into the details but after a series of events Atalanta eventually ended up with a man named Hippomenes. He attempted to make love to her but, depending on the version of the story your hearing, it was either Atalanta willingly or unwillingly was about to have her chastity taken from her and one of three deities, be it Zues, Aphrodite, or Artemis herself, decided to intervene as the couple were committing some kind of sin that resulted in the pair being turned into lions." Byakuya explained.

"Losing their humanity aside wouldn't that not prevent them from . . . you know . . . mating . . .with each other?" asked Renji being a little embarrassed and having his cheeks get pink slightly at the question.

"This was considered a punishment on several levels not just because of the loss of their humanity but also because it was believed that lions couldn't mate with each other. Only leopards, thus forever separating the two. I imagine that the reason for her having cat ears and a tail is due to the fact that it's a reference to her final fate in her legend, correct?" asked Byakuya. Jeanne nodded. "And considering that women are rarely even named in legends, it's actually impressive that, while having connections to other legends, that she has a legend in her own right." Noted Byakuya. "What about her Skills?" he asked.

"She has two Class Skills. They are Magic Resistance which is D rank and Independent Action which is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"Exactly the same as Robin Hood. Then let's move onto her Personal skills." Said Jushiro.

"She has 2 Personal Skills. Crossing Arcadia which is A rank and Aesthetics of the Last Spurt which is C rank." Said Jeanne.

"Elaboration, please." Said Toshiro.

"Arcadia is the name of Atalanta's homeland, and Crossing Arcadia gives her the ability to traverse the area she's in as if it were her homeland. She can move while jumping over every obstacle on the field, including enemies. This comes from an anecdotal line, "Arcadia, my far-away homeland, I shall jump stone by stone across the steep mountain range that leads to you." As for the last spurt skill, this comes from the latter part of her legend where she would challenge men to beat her in a footrace for her hand in marriage. She would let them take the lead then sprint past them, winning the race. To quote her legend, "Go ahead. I shall pass in front of you afterward like a squall." Now as a skill, once an enemy takes the initiative, and after confirming their actions, she can act to anticipate them. But that's it for her personal skills." Said Jeanne.

"So, these skills make her to be more of a burst fighter who can anticipate obstacles but once fights start getting longer than she could be in real trouble." Noted Renji.

"So, all that's left are her nps." Said Ichigo. He looked at her to continue.

"Her main armament is Tauropolos: Bow of Heaven. Technically this isn't an np of hers but she can fire off her main np with it. As for the bow itself, she received from the gods, it is her general armament, her weapon of choice that received the blessings of the goddess Artemis her patron. It is a jet black, Western-style weapon larger than her own height, granted to her by Artemis and named after one of the goddess' titles. Although usually there's nothing its arrows cannot pierce, the power of her regular shots isn't high enough to hurt someone like Siegfried due to his Armor of Fafnir. However, by drawing her bow to its limit she's able to perform a physical attack flying faster than the Speed of sound that would exceed an A rank strike. In fact, drawing her bow with every ounce of strength in her body allows her to strike with the force of Gods. As such, said strike could theoretically pierce Siegfried's dragon armor. Furthermore, her attacks can come from a distance so far away that the other servants can't detect them. An extreme range attack with A rank destructive power that leaves no traces of magecraft; the eyesight required to take aim with near zero visibility; and the supreme precision to thread such a needle of an attack. There existed bowmen who could accomplish every single one of these feats, but almost none could have possibly accomplished all of them simultaneously. Finally, by reducing the strength of her attacks, she can prioritize its speed by quickly nocking, drawing and releasing her arrows. Although her arrows can still travel faster than sound in this state, only a few Archers like Chiron possess immense skill with the bow to surpass that of Atalanta and could still shoot those down. But that's only if the two would be facing off against each other." Explained Jeanne.

"So, she not only put all her eggs but the whole chicken in the basket of Archery. And this isn't even her main np." Noted Kisuke. "So, what are her nps like?" he asked.

"Technically she has two but only one she uses normally; the other one is rarely used similar to Vladd's case." Said Jeanne. This got all the Reaper's attention as she continued. "Her main np is called Phoebus Catastrophe: Complaint Message on the Arrow. It's a B rank anti-army np. Interestingly enough this np has more to do with Atalanta's patron goddess Artimis and her brother the god Apollo than with her herself. It is associated with the episode in which Artemis and Apollo shot to death all the children of the fertile woman Niobe after she boasted that she was greater than their mother, Leto, because "Leto had fewer children." In seeking their divine protection, they desire a calamity in compensation, so it is equated to their protection being a calamity for the enemy. Rather than her bow or arrows acting as the np, it is instead the technique itself of nocking and shooting arrows with Atalanta's bow. Nocking two arrows, a complaint to the gods, she aims them at the sky as they begin to shine, before releasing them at a great enough speed that they pierce through the clouds while leaving behind a glittering trail. Through this action she is sending a complaint letter affixed to an arrow to seek divine protection from Sun God Apollo, god of the bow and arrow, and Moon Goddess Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Shortly after, there comes a faint light filling the sky and a sound similar to falling rain, but instead of it being a rain of water, it is a rain of arrows of light falling onto the enemies like a downpour. As the malevolent gods seek a sacrifice, they scatter down a "torrential rain under the name of catastrophe", carrying out an attack on all enemies. It is possible to set the range of the downpour, letting it spread over the battlefield or focusing it all onto a single enemy. Servants can block and evade them. Though the damage dealt by each individual arrow is small, they attack in great numbers, so the np is strong against Servants who are like her that have low Endurance and high Agility. Concentrated targeting to purify a single enemy is much stronger, reducing even the most durable of Servants to a near-death state. Only if they have a way to regenerate afterwards could they survive such and onslaught. The option to switch between raining arrows over a wide area or a narrow area makes it a very convenient np overall so she will be very reliant on this one." Explained Jeanne.

"I can see the convenience, but if she doesn't have a real tie to the legend it's based on, how can she use it?" asked Rukia looking confused.

"Because the goddess that it's tied to is her patron. While her enemies are being punished, she and her allies are getting divine protections. I know that it seems like a bit of a stretch but while her legend does have her participating in other legends and she is known for the footrace in the latter part of her legend, the only thing other things that are repeatedly mentioned are that she was abandoned as a baby for being born a woman, her chastity, and her incredible skills as a huntress. The latter two do make it so that since she's trying to follow her goddess' example, she's allowed to utilize an np that is more tied to her patron than herself." Jeanne explained. This explanation seemed to satisfy everyone and Yoruichi spoke up.

"You mentioned that she has an np similar to Vladd's Dracula np. So what's the other one?" asked Yoruichi.

"Agrius Metamorphosis: Boar of Divine Punishment. It's a B rank and anti-unit self np. This np is the pelt of the Calydonian Boar, the Magical Beast of Calydon that was let loose upon the earth by Artemis and was brought down with the help of Atalanta. The boar itself was dispatched as a divine punishment by the angry goddess when the king of the city-state of Calydon forgot to make offerings to her in a harvest festival. It was a large and brutal beast that completely destroyed the crops of Calydon. During the Calydonian Boar Hunt, it rampaged without pause, killing many Greek heroes who came from all over the country specifically to slay it. The hero Meleager, who was also in love with Atalanta at the time, was the one who ultimately finished it off, but surrendered the merit to Atalanta on account of the fact that she was the first one to actually wound the beast. But this brought great discord to the country in doing so. Now it's a cursed np where Atalanta possesses the power of the Magical Beast by wearing the pelt on her body. Rather than becoming a Monstrous Beast herself, wearing the pelt causes Atalanta to become a Monstrous Human. In exchange for sealing Phoebus Catastrophe, all parameters except for Luck rise, and she gets a condition almost equivalent to a Berserker that possesses A Rank Mad Enhancement and an A Rank Shapeshift Skill, able to bestow various characteristics depending on the environment. She has the ability to transform the pelt into bird wings and fuse with her bow to shoot arrows weaved from spirit energy. By shouting Tauropolos: Bow of Heaven, she can use an attack similar to Phoebus Catastrophe, except it is not dedicated to either Artemis or Apollo. It is unknown if this is another np or just a general attack to act as an extension of the pelt. The power is gained in exchange for losing her reason, and it can be possible for her to even become unable to discern the identity of her Master in certain situations. It can be said to equal self-destruction of the Servant if it is used, so, as it is impossible to utilize in a regular Holy Grail War, it can be said Phoebus Catastrophe is her only practical np. It's for this np that she does have the classification to become a Berserker when summoned. When Atalanta is summoned as one, she is wearing the pelt by default though once the pelt is peeled off, she will revert to her normal Archer self. In other words, it can be removed but only at great personal risks either for the Master or for other Servants if they choose to simply remove it." Explained Jeanne.

"Is that all?" asked Kisuke. Jeanne nodded. "Alright so in summation we have a 6th seated officer level Servant who's a burst fighter as well as long ranged. She's put all she's got into Archery but only has 1 practical np and the other turns her into a powerful Berserker but it's almost guaranteed suicide should she use it and puts even her Master at risk. While both nps are near bankai levels they are still classified as shikais due to their rank. Overall, I'd say that she can be effective as a fighter but unless she can end the fight quickly or from a distance and due to her not having a very diverse skill set, I don't see her making it past the halfway point of the war. So that's now 4 out of 6 Servants not counting the Saber of White since they weren't summoned so who's next?" asked Kisuke.

"That would be Rider of White with his True name being Perseus. King of Argos, Founder and king of Mycenae, and finally Slayer of Medusa and Cetus of Greek Mythology." Said Jeanne. Everyone looked to Byakuya once again.

"His titles more or less speak for themselves. But I'll elaborate briefly. Due to a prophecy that his grandfather would die by Perseus' hands, Perseus was nearly killed with his mother as an infant and the two of them ended up on an island kingdom but the king saw his mother as a potential wife due to how young and beautiful she was though she had no interest. Out of love for his mother and wanting to protect her, he chose to embark on a quest that meant that he had to slay the creature known as Medusa which we already know is the Rider of Blue currently. He was successful and on the way back he saw a princess named Andromeda chained to a rock and was about to be sacrificed to the sea specifically to the creature called Cetus. The Cetus is a sea monster in ancient Greek mythology, often depicted as a giant sea serpent. This creature was sent as punishment to Andromeda's kingdom. But that's not relevant to Perseus. What is relevant is that he decided to intervene and save her and also defeated it using the severed head of Medusa. Then the pair departed to save his mother which he did by turning both the king and Perseus' grandfather to stone to protect her. Though the latter was killed unwittingly by Perseus it did fulfill the prophecy that kicked off the entire legend in the first place." Said Byakuya.

"Now that's truly ironic." Said Kisuke. He looked at Jeanne. "So what are his parameters?" he asked.

"Parameters are as follows: Strength is D, Endurance is E, Agility is B, Mana is B, Luck is A, and NP is C." Jeanne rattled off.

"And since he's Greek he's already got worldwide fame. But for due diligence, without boosts his overall power level is B- rank or a 10th seat at best and with boosts his overall power level is A- rank or a very low lieutenant at best." Calculated Kisuke. "Anything extra we need to know?" he asked.

"Just that he has 6 nps in total of varying ranks but he has a limit that allows him to use only one at a time, making him one of the Servants that has the most nps for a single Servant so far second only to Gilgamesh." Said Jeanne. That got a few raised eyebrows from the Reapers.

"I see. What about his skills?" asked Toshiro.

"He has 3 Class skills. Magic resistance which is B rank, Divinity which is B rank, and finally Riding which is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"We've seen all these skills at these levels before. My only question is how he gets the Divinity skill?" asked Jushiro.

"Because he was a demi-god with his father being Zues, king of the Greek gods." answered Jeanne. Jushiro nodded in acceptance at the answer. "As for his Personal skills he has 2 of them. One is Blessing of the Gods which is A rank and Medusa Slayer which is EX rank." She said.

"The latter is self-explanatory. But what about the first skill?" asked Yoruichi.

"He's one of the only Heroes of Greek Mythology that both had a happy ending and despite being a son of Zues, he never had to suffer from the whims of the gods including Hera. Almost all of his nps were gifts from the gods hence why he has this Skill." Explained Jeanne.

"So he has 6 nps. Could you elaborate on them?" asked Toshiro. Jeanne nodded.

"The first np is Bellerophon. It is the same as Medusa's Bellerophon, a Pegasus-handling bridle. Even the rank and type are the same being A rank and Anti-army." Said Jeanne.

"In that case no need to further elaborate on that particular np." Said Jushiro.

"The others?" asked Renji.

"I'll go by rank for the other nps from highest to lowest to make it simpler. I'll start with Kibisis: Bag of Barrier Inversion. It's an A rank and anti-sealing np. This np is the sack used by Perseus to defeat the Gorgon Medusa and hold her head after it was severed. It distorts the concept of the world through a mirror world-type Bounded Field that places the inside of the pouch on the outside and the outside of the pouch in the inside. In his legend, it inflated and swallowed Perseus, creating a fold in space that placed the outside world into the inside of the bag, and Medusa's Breaker Gorgon, which affected only what was inside, was reflected back, making Medusa look upon herself as if reflected in a mirror, allowing him to slay her with another np Harpe while she was immobilized. When used against other Servants that are not Medusa, I will say that it will trap them but it won't harm them making it useful but not really lethal to anyone other than Medusa. The next np is Harpe: Immortal Slaying Scythe. It's a B rank and anti-unit np. It's a divine blade from Greek Mythology used by Perseus to kill the Gorgon Medusa It is described as a monster-killing Holy Weapon with a special shape similar to a scythe, having the cutting edge on the inside of the blade. Its true strength is its trait of Refraction of Longevity, which is a divine ability that nullifies the "undying attribute" of immortals and inflicts wounds that cannot be restored by any methods other than healing in accordance to the natural laws. Harpe's anti-immortality was originally a disruptor for use in interstellar combat, a function to break apart atomic bonds. It was an Authority of Zeus which he used in his battle with Typhon, and Typhon stole it from him. It was given by Hermes, and as it was returned to him once the task was completed, it can be called an "Anti-Medusa" weapon. As a final note Medusa herself can wield this np due to her connection with that weapon." Finished Jeanne.

"Again that's ironic." Commented Kisuke. "So that's 3 out of 6 nps. What are his last 3?" he asked.

"The last 3 nps are actually tools that Perseus used in order to help him in his quest to slay Medusa. The next np is actually his mantle and mask but it's true name is Hades's Cap of Invisibility. It's a C rank and an anti-unit self np. These were granted to him by the Greek gods. Originally a helmet that granted invisibility in the legend, it is now a mantle and mask that allows for him to alter between changing his appearance at will, invisibility, or just hiding his information and True name from those like myself with such a discernment skill. While fighting as a Servant, he can use it to hide his true form and location from his opponent. The only weakness is that in order to utilize any of his other nps is that he has to discard this np in the process. The next np is his bronze mirror-shield. It's a D rank and anti-unit self np. Again, this np was granted to him by the Greek gods in this case by Athena. It's a bronze shield polished to bear a mirror-like reflection. Unlike how it is recorded in legend, Perseus did not reflect Medusa's petrifying eyes back at her with this np. In addition to being used as a regular shield, it can also act like a sort of detector that possesses sonar and radar functionality. It reflects the surroundings onto itself, showing the layout of an area and the heartbeats of any life present in the location. Perseus can use the projected information to find his opponents' location and battle them while avoiding having to look upon them just like he did with Medusa. Finally, his last np is his winged sandals. It's an E rank and anti-unit self np. Like his other tool nps these were granted to him by the Greek gods. This np allows him to freely fly through the air when he wants to use a less mana consumptive np than Bellerophon. In the legend, he used them to deftly avoid Medusa's killing blows as he desperately searched for a way to slay her. And that's the last of his nps." Finished Jeanne.

"Damn. That's a lot of nps just for a single Servant not counting that Gilgamesh guy." Commented Renji.

"Yes, but half of them are merely tools that assisted him in his quest to kill Medusa. Though that makes me wonder how things will play out considering that both him and Medusa are now summoned into the same Grail war." Stated Byakuya.

"So, in summation we've got a low lieutenant level Servant who's a demi-god and who's skills and nps are all focused on him killing Medusa. Not to mention more than half of his nps are either at the sealed zanpakuto level or lower while the other half is either at the shikai or bankai level. Interesting that his slaying of the Cetus is almost an afterthought but then again, he used the same tools to slay that creature as well. And I can see him doing the same for battling other Servants. I can see that versatility carrying him through to the halfway point of this war." Summarized Kisuke. "Well we're down to the last of the White Faction Servants so let's get to it."

"And this time I actually got a picture of this one." Said Yoruichi as she fiddled with her phone and sent the photo to everyone. Most of the reactions were raised eyebrows.

"What's with the weird get-up?" asked Ichigo

"I'll get to that in a minute. The last Servant of White is Caster of White with his True Name being Avicebron or more formally Solomon ibn Gabirol." Said Jeanne. Everyone gave a raised eyebrow at that as neither names sounded familiar, then looked at Byakuya.

"Sadly, this is one name that I've never heard of until right now. So, I can't help on this one." He admitted.

"That's fine as there isn't much on him to begin with. In life this Servant was born as Solomon ibn Gabirol an eleventh-century Jewish poet and philosopher. In fact, his other name Avicebron is actually his pen name that he used when publishing his poetry. He was born in Malaga, Spain, during the Jewish Golden Age in Moorish Spain." Said Jeanne.

"Moorish?" asked Toshiro confused.

"The term moor was meant to distinct people on religious and racial lines during the early Middle Ages. For religion it was referring to anyone practicing Islam and for race it was referring to anyone with Dark Skin." Byakuya elaborated on.

"Huh. So that's what Shakespeare meant, calling Othello the Moor of Venice. It was referring to the fact that he was dark skinned." Said Ichigo coming to this realization.

"But what was the Jewish Golden Age of Spain?" asked Rukia curious.

"In brief, between the years 711 to 1492, Spain was under the control of the Islamic Caliphate but they were moderates who saw Jews and Christians as potential citizens due to their shared beliefs and for Jews especially this is the time when Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life flourished and all three monotheistic religions were able to peacefully coexist with each other though Muslims were the ones that were ultimately the decision makers of the country. This all came to end in 1492 when the Christian King and queen ousted the Muslims from Spain and began the Spanish Inquisition which was meant to convert everyone including Jews to Christianity either willingly or by force or simply kill them." Byakuya elaborated. Then he looked at Jeanne. "You said this Avicebron existed during this time period?" he asked Jeanne nodded.

"Yes Avicebron existed right around the height of the Golden age between 1022 to 1058 or 1070 and although he did not have the glory of a knight or king or the recognition of having produced works of art that would prosper for thousands of years, in addition to being a poet and philosopher he was also an accomplished golemancer and he coined the name of an entire thaumaturgical or magecraft system, Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism and was one of the starting points of the process that lead up to the European Renaissance through bringing Greco-Arabic and Jewish lore and enlightenment to the cultural circles of Europe. He is recognized as a "hero" who heavily influenced both the history of the world and the world of thaumaturgy or magecraft." Finished Jeanne.

"Interesting. Well before we get sidetracked any further let's quickly go over his parameters, shall we?" asked Kisuke.

"Very well. His parameters are as follows: Strength is E rank, Endurance is E rank, Agility is D rank, Mana is A rank, Luck is B rank and NP is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"And since he his boosts are just from his homeland in Spain, he'll get none here. So that puts his overall power level at C rank or low seated officer level and a 15th seat at best." Calculated Kisuke.

"Anything extra we should know about him before we move onto his skills, Jeanne?" asked Yoruichi.

"You asked why he appears the way he is in the photo. I'll answer that now. In life, Avicebron was weak and feeble due to suffering from many illnesses. In particular, his skin disease was especially serious. So now as a Servant he wears clothes, armor, and even a golden mask to completely cover him up and protect him and keep his interactions with other humans to a minimum. Due to this, his power as a Servant is incredibly low, even some of the mid tier to low rank Servants could take him out in a single hit. He may be the least useful out of all the classes, in the sense that he cannot do anything by himself. He's too weak to fight himself, so his only option is to have golems do so on his behalf. Although his reliability comes from his great domain as a Golem Master, as a mage, he claims to merely be second rate. Avicebron is also able to scry using both magecraft and familiars, he is able to project images from the flame of a Menorah, allowing for live viewing when projected onto a wall in a manner similar to a film. This technique, utilizing airborne golems as a relay, far exceeded the maximum viewing range of the normal remote surveillance magecraft used by magi. He can also communicate telepathically amongst his allies. Beyond that all of his magecraft is geared towards Golemancy which I will elaborate further on when we get to his np." Said Jeanne.

"Okay then let's see about his skills." Said Jushiro.

"He only has two Class Skills. They are Territory creation which is B rankand Item Construction which is B rank." Rattled off Jeanne.

"Given that his magecraft is highly specialized, is there anything of note regarding these two skills? Otherwise, we've seen these skills at these ranks before so unless there is anything to note we can move on." Said Toshiro.

"His specialization does effect these class skills. For Territory Creation, in Avicebron's case, he is able to build a "factory" uniquely specialized in the casting of golems. Although merely building a golem-minting workshop already requires of him enough budget resources, and long hours of work to make an average magus go bankrupt ten times over, the golems that he mints have the same level of power as an E Rank Servant, and he can produce them infinitely as long as the budget and resources lasts. However, once he gets on track, he can create golems for making more golems, so not being too concerned about labor cost is a virtue for him. As for item construction, having assembled the magical foundation of the Kabbalah, he is a Caster specialized in the minting of golems. It is impossible for him to make anything else." Finished Jeanne.

"So yet again an individual who put all his eggs and the whole chicken into a singular basket this one being Golemancy." Commented Yoruichi. "What about his personal Skills?" she asked.

"He has three Personal skills. They are Rapid Casting which is B rank though this is only related to golems, Numerology which is B rank, and finally Tranquil Fig which is EX rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"Rapid Casting we've already had explained previously, and you already mentioned how it deals with his specialization so just the last two need further elaboration." Concluded Jushiro.

"I'll start with Tranquil Fig. It's a skill that corresponds to his legend, where he was killed by a man that was jealous of his poetic gifts and buried under the roots of a fig tree. It was said that people became marveled by the unique sweetness of its fruits, eventually digging it up and exposing the man's sins. The way this skill works is that after he dies it's possible for the Master or at least a skilled mage, regardless of their talents to take command of any golems and mystic codes Avicebron has left behind. So this skill benefits the master more so than Avicebron himself." Explained Jeanne.

"And his last skill?" asked Renji.

"I can field this one somewhat. Why don't you start though, Ms. Jeanne." Suggested Kisuke.

"That would be Numerology. As I said earlier, Avicebron exercises a magecraft system known as Kabbalah which, as a magecraft system at least, combines this with the school called Notarikon." Said Jeanne.

"Before you continue, they need context. So, Numerology is the study of numbers and their supposed significance in people's lives. And the smaller the number the broader effect it has while the larger the number the more specific that effect becomes. Now outside of magecraft numerology is no different from horoscopes where people look up what month or year they were born and see what zodiac sign they have and what traits, stars, or planets are incorporated into it. It's just harmless fun. Since Ichigo is the only one here with a definitive birth date I'll use him as an example for numerology. The numbers 0-9 are known as life path numbers so the final single digit will allegedly determine your path in life and how it will go. So here Ichigo's birthdate being July 15, 1994, or 07151994. You add all those up to get the number 36. Now that has its own meaning in numerology but that's not relevant right now. So, we add the numbers 3 and 6 together and get 9. Now this has multiple meanings given that it's both a prime, cardinal, and sacred number but for the sake of simplicity I'll just give a few highlighted meanings: the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one, journey of growth both in learning, gaining wisdom, and spiritual growth, being associated with the planet Mars and the color red, being thought of as old souls regardless of actual age and finally supposedly known for being very empathetic, compassionate and a strong desire to serve humanity." Kisuke finished.

"Wow. I may not have understood all of that, but those last three traits seem to suit you to a tee, Ichigo." Teased Rukia with a smile.

"Knock it off. It's just coincidence." Said Ichigo acting slightly embarrassed and exasperated.

"What about the other method?" asked Byakuya.

"Notarikon isa method of deriving a word or phrase by using its letters to represent other words, forming a new sentence or idea. This is used in the religious sect of Kabbalah because Hebrew letters have their own meanings even when used to form other words. Similar to Kanji in the Japanese language where each Kanji has their own meaning but can be put together to form another idea or vice versa. For example taking the Kanji for 1,000, book, and cherry blossom gives us 1,000 cherry blossoms. In Hebrew you can take the letters meaning A and that and get fire or in both cases break both down to form other words and ideas." Said Kisuke.

"You said that Kabballah is both a religious sect and a magecraft system. How are both of these methods used in magecraft and how does this pertain to Avicebron?" asked Toshiro.

"Due to Avicebron being the founder of the magecraft system of Kabballah, he is able to combine both schools of numerology and the incantation shortenings from the Notarikon. This allows him to instantly input multiple commands into multiple golems all at the same time." Finished Jeanne.

"Again, let's go back to the Hebrew word for fire and Ichigo's number of 9 which is associated with Mars and therefore has the element of fire as well. If we were to combine both you'd get a powerful fireball equivalent to Soren Sokatsui but could do so silently with no loss of power to said fireball like when such an attack is used silently with Kido. Just carving it into an object and channeling a little bit of spirit energy into it would get that former result. Meaning this method could be used repeatedly with very little cost of energy on the Caster and can get more complex or simple depending on how many letters or numbers are used. With only their knowledge of both schools and their own creativity being the only true limit to this method." Said Kisuke as he was sounding very excited. Yoruichi snapped her fingers in front of his face to get him to focus back on the task at hand. He coughed embarrassed and pulled out his fan to hide his face. "Apologies. Got a little carried away there." He said.

"While a lot of that did kind of fly over my head, I did pick up on the fact that this Avicebron guy seems to be obsessed with golems, but my question is why?" asked Renji.

"It has to do with his faith. Golems comes from the word meaning 'embryo' or 'moulded being'. Therefore, golems are nothing other than an attempt to reproduce the secret mystery of how God created the human Adam. Devoting himself to their creation, he can produce thirty golems in a single day. He uses them to work around his workshop, organizing tools and cleaning as needed. However, the golems that appear during regular combat are temporary articles to be employed in that combat alone and have no endurance at all. They are an incomparable war force able to easily match average magi in combat, though they will never be a match for a strong Servant. Though they lack in numbers, their sheer recklessness utilizing their large bodies and stone fists to destroy their enemies makes up for that. They are still valuable enough as stumbling blocks for Servants, and they have the potential to fight evenly with low-ranking Servants and defeat those unsuited to close combat like Caster or Assassin. He also uses his workshop to design his np, Golem Keter Malkuth which I will get to shortly. Golems are inhuman creations of stone and bronze compared to humanoid homunculi. Their quality is such that a modern mage would barely be able to build a single one of them in a year's time, and they possess fluid movements without a trace of the typical awkwardness displayed by other golems. They come in various shapes and types, both humanoid and non-humanoid. Examples include a slender one made from spirit wood, those in the exact form of humans, those with limbs like spiders, those capable of flight that are modeled after dragonflies, and many others. He uses materials like jewels for organs and parchment for their skin, each at least eight hundred years old, in great quantities. Mercury is used for applying parchment, and the larger models need their joints reinforced when it is applied. Magic Circuits taken from living beings can be inserted for the creation of golems able to perform magecraft. If he had been summoned in the Black Faction he'd be harvesting the Magic Circuits from their homunculi. Upon being destroyed, their remains shortly burst into flame and turn to ash. He can give direct commands to his golems, and he can manipulate ten golems for each finger. The golems can be converted to a fluid form that can coil and shackle around enemies." Finished Jeanne.

"So, they play the same role as the homunculi for the Black Faction in being cannon fodder or slave labor but without the questionable ethics." Said Jushiro. Jeanne nodded.

"Really the only downside seems to be whether one has the resources to supply him with when it comes to making these golems." Yoruichi pointed out. But what separates his np from his regular golems?" asked Yoruichi.

"Avicebron possesses the Golem Keter Malkuth: Royal Crown - the Light of Wisdom, it's an incomplete np that he was unable to create in his lifetime. It's also an A rank anti-army np. It's an autonomous Reality Marble. His wish in participating in the Holy Grail War is the golem's completion or rather he wishes to reproduce God's miracle in the creation of life, bringing forth a copy of the Primordial Human, Adam and for it to become a supreme golem that will act as a "great king who would lead humans filled with hardship and suffering to the Garden of Eden once more." It will continue to repaint the world into the paradise Eden so long as it exists. Just by stepping on the ground, it is endlessly supplied with spirit energy, and at the same time, it encroaches on the surrounding land and turns it into "Eden". Furthermore, it is able to receive the blessing of the earth so that as long as its feet are on the earth, it cannot be destroyed with any means. As the span of Eden expands, the giant's size, which starts at 15 meters at best will change and multiply until it finally exceeds a thousand meters, its largest size. It's able to double its size in one-hour intervals from the moment it is born. It is said that "a fifteen-meter-sized giant could be easily defeated by even a Servant with average C Rank stats", but as expected, one at the size of a thousand meters would be impossible to kill without a group of first-rate Servants. However, due to it being incomplete it requires raw materials that exist in reality - just like all of his other golems. Even if the creator Avicebron perishes, the np will continue moving without it mattering. In addition, it requires a single mage or homunculi in its central section to act as a reactor core, this giant's strength will vary in accordance with the strength and compatibility of said reactor core. Eventually, this giant will probably become paradise itself and transform the entire world into a gentle, peaceful place. Although Servants are fundamentally omitted as candidates for the reactor core, Avicebron himself is the only Servant able to become the core due to him being its creator and a golemancer though whether he would given that he hates humans as a whole is another matter entirely." Finished Jeanne.

"Is that it?" asked Byakuya. Jeanne nodded.

"So, in summation we got probably the weakest Servant of this faction and one who put everything into making golems and all his skills and np are all tied to that. Not much else to say about him other than his only real standout bit is his np which is at a high bankai level. But that's it. A bit of an underwhelming end for this faction." Summarized Kisuke.

"Since we know that this Faction only has one Master and that as long as we don't interfere with her goals than she won't target civilians and will leave Jeanne to do her job so with that stipulation the white Faction really doesn't pose a threat to Jeanne. As for the Factions' chances of making it to the halfway point, given how they are starting handicapped with no Saber, the remaining 6 only have 2 that are at lieutenant level or captain level, those being Rider and Berserker respectively. Of the remaining 4, all of which are seated officer level, 2 of them are specialists, Archer and Caster respectively but if they step outside their specialty or face an opponent meant to challenge them outside of their specialty they would be done for. Even if Archer of White is a 6th seat level while Caster is the weakest at a 15th seat level. While Assassin does have a bit more versatility in his abilities and is a 3rd seat level, making him the highest of the seated officer levels of this faction, I don't know if he'd make it to the halfway point. The only one I can see of these 4 making it to the halfway point for sure along with Rider and Berserker is Lancer of White. Despite being only at a 5th seat level, we know that his skills and nps allow for him to hit above his weight class. So I can see Rider, Lancer, and Berserker making it to the halfway point with possibly Assassin also making it as well but that's it." Finished Kisuke.

"So of the 5 we have all the info on, Blue, Silver, and Gold are still the ones who make it to the halfway point of the war with their Factions still intact while Black and White either lose half or more by that time." Noted Ichigo.

"So all that left is the Red Faction. And while we'll have to get photos tomorrow for the 3 that we don't have we still will have at least half the Servants tonight and we can assess the threat level of the Masters before calling it a night, right?" asked Rukia. Kisuke once again fiddled with his phone a bit.

"Alright so here's a photo of the Saber of Red." Said Kisuke. Everyone looked at the photo but Jeanne looked disappointed.

"I'm afraid I don't know who this is." Said Jeanne aloud.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed everyone.

"You all remember how Berserker of White had an np that obscured his identity until he drew his sword and then I was able to see all of his abilities, well that's most likely what's happening here. No information is coming to mind other than she's the Saber of the Red Faction her parameters and even her class skills but that's it." Explained Jeanne.

"Well, she declared herself to be Mordred bastard child of King Arthur." Said Kisuke.

"WHAT?!" exclaimed the ones who already knew the Arthurian legend.

"Unless she shows me her sword while I encounter her directly, or you have a photo of her holding her sword then even if I encounter her tomorrow, I can't give you anymore information." Said Jeanne sadly. Kisuke was in thought for a moment before smiling slyly.

"Let me try something." He said. He fiddled with his phone, and he showed on hers that he had sent her a video. She watched and her eyes widened as she saw Saber declare herself her True Name and materialize her weapon. Jeanne looked at him in shock and his smile turned smug. "It worked didn't it?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"How did you know?" Jeanne asked.

"Honestly, I didn't but when I felt Gilles appear on the scene I came over as quickly as possible but remained hidden and observed. I also decided to record a small video on the off chance that I couldn't get individual photos. I just didn't get around to deleting it yet. Now I'm glad I still have it." He said.

"Does this mean that you can give us information on this Servant after all?" asked Toshiro. Jeanne nodded.

"Saber of Red's True name is Mordred knight of Rebellion and bastard child of King Arthur. I also need to emphasize that this one is the child of this world's version being Artoria's child." Said Jeanne.

"Let's go over her parameters first before we get into this one's background. And since Mordred is part of Arthurian legend, we can safely say she's sporting worldwide fame." Said Yoruichi.

"Saber of Red's parameters are as follows: Strength is B rank, Endurance is A rank, Agility is B rank, Mana is B rank, Luck is D rank, and NP is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"So without boosts, that puts her overall power level at B rank around a 6th seat at best. With boosts her overall power level is at A rank or a mid-level lieutenant." Calculated Kisuke. "So, anything extra you want to tell us about Mordred?" he asked.

"Uh . . .how about informing those of us not in the know who Mordred is first?" suggested Renji.

"Mordred is the bastard child of King Arthur born of an incestuous relation between Arthur and his sister and the one who repeatedly tried to overthrow him, Morgan le fay. After their night together she had the child and raised them in secret with the expressed purpose of overthrowing King Arthur. Depending on the version, Mordred is either a willing accomplice or a coerced victim of their fate. Either way Mordred stirred up a rebellion against King Arthur that eventually led to the battle of Camlann and while they died at the hands of King Arthur, they mortally wounded the King in turn which led to Arthur disappearing from the legend. And with no heir and most of the nobles dead, Camelot essentially fell and its people scattered to the winds seeking refuge elsewhere with only the legends to comfort them." Replied Byakuya. Jeanne nodded.

That's more or less correct. The only thing that is different for this version is due to Mordred being her gender and her being a homunculus child as it was due to magic shenanigans that allowed for two sisters to conceive a child. Also since homunculi have accelerated growth, she could have the knowledge of people twice her age even though in reality she's technically only about 10 years old." Explained Jeanne.

"Wait so you're saying that while she looks and acts like someone in their late teens to early 20s her actual age is only 10?" asked Ichigo surprised. Again Jeanne nodded.

"She also has the aspects of a dragon and fae due to her heritage from her parents. So she's pretty much not human at all unlike her parents who were at least partially human if only in blood. As for her abilities, being a Knight of the Round Table, Mordred is one of the greatest knights to ever live and a hero sang of in legends. As such, when summoned as a Servant, she boasts indisputable fame and strength. Being a first-class servant, Mordred possesses power worthy of the Saber class, the one said to be the greatest among the seven servants. Although Mordred possesses the high parameters and attack power of her class, making her unlikely to lose to any other servant, when comparing them to her father's, the King of Knights, Mordred's specs are understandably overall lower. The difference between the two is such, that her contemporary Gawain once claimed that he'd normally be able to defeat Mordred without breaking a sweat, even at night, when he's three times weaker than during midday, whereas he's considered to be an equal to King Arthur by some. Nevertheless, Mordred is an incredibly powerful servant due to possessing incomparable strength, but in exchange, she consumes an incredible amount of spirit energy. Mordred's fighting style is focused on obeying her Instincts and optimizing her fighting habits with the greatest efficiency. During battle, Mordred shows a truly superior competence, and due to her doctrine to "make things right", she would peruse deliberately even unfair tactics as long as she was victorious at the end of a fight. She does not move with the elegance of a knight or display the refinement of swordsmanship but instead fights with abandon like a Berserker or a wild beast. Normally the very heart and soul of the knight, she views swordsmanship as only another means of victory, and she is willing to punch, kick, or bite even go as far as throwing her sword should it grant her victory over her opponent. Her strikes are superhuman attacks that transcend the domain of humans due to her heritage, as I said earlier." Explained Jeanne.

"Can't really disagree with that logic as we do whatever it takes to kill Hollows due to how much of a threat they are to others." Noted Renji.

"As long as she doesn't endanger civilians, I don't care how she fights." Said Ichigo agreeing with the sentiment. "Anything else

"Even without using her full strength, Mordred is capable of moving as solid metal mass blitzing around like a cannonball. Aside from her overall abilities, Mordred's defensive capabilities are also considerably high thanks to the armor that she normally wears as a Servant. To put this into perspective with her armor on, she can survive something like Frankenstein's fully-powered attack which can be strengthened further by a Command Spell which would bolster that np to A rank. It could even theoretically deflect Chiron's arrows which can definitely kill everything in its path. However, no matter the toughness of Mordred's armor, it amounted to nothing before King Arthur's Rhongomyniad, which pierced her chest, killing her." Explained Jeanne.

"So she's tanky, fast, and incredibly strong physically, but overall pales in comparison to her . . .well . . .father." said Kisuke ending a little awkwardly near the end.

"What about her skills?" asked Yoruichi.

"She has two class skills. Magic resistance and Riding both at B rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"We've seen these two skills at these ranks before so let's move onto her personal skills." Said Toshiro.

"She has 4 personal skills. They are Instinct which is B rank, Mana Burst which is A rank, Battle Continuation which is B rank, and finally Charisma which is C- rank." Jeanne rattled off again.

"Well I think we've seen all of these skills before though maybe not at these ranks. I think the only one we can really skip over is mana burst. But what about the other 3?" asked Jushiro.

"Instinct is just a downgraded version of the Radiant Road skill that her Father has but it's still a very effective skill. Her battle continuation is not as strong as Cu Chulainn due to her lasting only long enough to deliver a mortal wound to Arthur after being fatally stabbed herself while he, Cu Chulainn that is, lasted 3 days after being mortally wounded by comparison. And her Charisma is higher than Gawain's but lower than an actual monarch on account of the fact that she was never named a royal heir but did have the natural talent to lead armies due to her status as a Knight of the Round Table and her successfully rallying the people to rebel against Arthur during the twilight days of Camelot. But that's it for her skills." Explained Jeanne.

"So now we move onto her nps. How many does she have?" asked Rukia.

"Practically speaking she has two but technically speaking she has 3. They are her sword Clarent which is a C rank anti-unit np, it's beam attack called Clarent Blood Arthur which is A rank and an Anti-army np and finally her armor which is C rank and an anti-unit self np." Said Jeanne.

"Let's start with her armor and then we'll look at her sword." Said Yoruichi.

"The armor np is called Secret of Pedigree: Helm of Hidden Infidelity. While technically referring to her helmet it's actually all of her armor. This set was given to her by Morgan along with the words "You must not remove". She was told to wear it at all times in order to keep her identity and lineage a secret. Manifesting from the fact that it was never once removed in public until her final fight with King Arthur, it hides certain sections of her parameters, even from her own Master, making it hard to discern even her gender when coupled with her full body armor. Her basic parameters and even Class Skills can be seen, but status information pertaining to her personality and True Name as a Heroic Spirit, innate Skills, and data on her nps are hidden and cannot be read. Her statistics and data are only released upon "taking off" the helmet while it is "set" in her armor. She can remove both the helmet and her armor and clothe herself in modern attire while still hiding her identity. The concealment will continue to function even without the helmet so long as she does not hold her weapon hence my constant insistence that she be seen holding it. The helmet can be removed at will when utilized in battle, splitting in two down the middle and merging into her armor. Removal of the helmet is required for the use of Clarent Blood Arthur, so she must reveal her face should she wish to utilize it. She can also remove the helmet to improve her Mana Burst even further, allowing the utilization of her Crimson Lightning attack, or explosively accelerate herself by releasing all her mana in an instant." Explained Jeanne.

"This is the np that was making it difficult for you to use your ability, correct?" Asked Rukia with a small smile.

"So the only one left is her sword right?" asked Renji. Jeanne nodded to both of them.

"Her sword, Clarent: Brilliantly Shining Royal Sword. The best way to think of this np is the same as Siegfried's sword Balmung, in that they have a base sword form and an ability to launch an energy attack with it." Explained Jeanne.

"What makes this sword stand out from Balmung then?" asked Yoruichi.

"Clarent was originally stored away by Artoria Pendragon in the armory of Camelot. Described as "more dazzling than any silver", it is an ornate, sparkling white silver sword adorned with splendid decorations, acting as a symbol of kingship denoting the right of succession of the throne. It is a treasured sword that has worth equal to, if not exceeding, Caliburn, the original sword in the stone that amplifies the authority of the king. Other version of the legend has it revealed as the brother sword to Florent, wielded by Lucius Tiberius. It is also said that Clarent indicated the King's rule over Gallia in contrast to Florent indicating the Emperor's rule over all the people of the continent. Due to such a pedigree, it thus would've raised the owner's physical parameters by one rank and grant and raise the rank of the Skill Charisma in it's original state." Said Jeanne.

"Original state?" asked Ichigo curious.

"Mordred was never acknowledged as king or even heir, so the sword itself is lowered by one rank and she cannot acquire any bonuses while wielding it. She obtained it by breaking into the vaults of Camelot upon temporarily claiming the throne during her rebellion after inciting the incidents that drove her father to lead an expedition after the traitorous Lancelot. This is the action that caused its lower rank and lesser performance. She still came to favor utilizing it due to it being a sword that symbolizes royalty and can still utilize its ability of amplification. Which leads to her final np. That being Clarent Blood Arthur: Rebellion Against My Beautiful Father. Simply put it is the full power, released form of Clarent utilized by Mordred, a transformation into an evil sword of hatred upon the condition of her holding it. It is not a property of the sword itself, but a manifestation of the episode in Mordred's legend where she used it to deal a fatal blow to her father out of hatred. The attack is achieved by Mordred combining her Mana Burst skill with Clarent's ability to amplify her spirit energy and her hate for her father, manifesting red lightning that she directs at her enemy and when utilized as, for lack of better description, a sword beam allows her to cut down most Servants in a single slash. Compared to the pride felt by other Heroic Spirits, it being crowned with the name of her father makes it more akin to a grudge in Mordred's case. As such the weapon possesses a "curse‐like glory", not allowing Mordred herself to be defeated by anyone who is not her father, and even more so, not permitting for the sword that delivered a fatal blow to her father to fail in killing an opponent. Should she make peace with her discord towards her father, even one-sidedly however, she can still launch the attack regardless of her feelings towards her father as an innate talent inherited from the blood of the King of Knights. As an aside she can utilize the crimson lightning separately from Blood Arthur calling it up at will as long as she possesses the sword and use it to strike at her enemies as normal attacks giving her range but it's most effective and powerful at close quarters given her Class. But upon utilizing Blood Arthur, she takes a stance while removing her helmet, Secret of Pedigree, due to the requirement of it being released before she can use the attack thus revealing who she is to her opponent. The space around her and the sword becomes stained with dark red blood, and the blade of the sword, enveloped by the radiance of blood, gives off strange, violent and furious sounds and begins to transform. Changing from Clarent's normally pure and beautiful form, her great hatred transfigures the sword into a sinister and wicked blade befitting a demon. Upon raising the sword, she releases the blood radiance upon the enemy as a flash of light, a surging wave with the simple purpose of destruction. It releases a straight line of crimson lightning from the tip of her sword, destroying all in its path. The biggest drawback when using Blood Arthur is that it takes a great deal of energy, giving her intense pain throughout her body. And if used in quick succession could leave her in a paralyzed state and thus vulnerable to her enemies." Finished Jeanne.

"Okay so in summation we've got basically a discount version of King Arthur but who holds such a grudge that it's become their main weapon against them but it comes at the cost that if it doesn't kill the Servant in one hit she'll be vulnerable to counterattack and she has another np that just hides who she is to everyone but she's still a powerful Servant in her own right. Not to mention all 3 of her nps Are at each state for a zanpakuto: sealed, shikai, and bankai levels." Said Kisuke. "And now both of them are summoned to the same war. Not sure if I want to be there when that reunion takes place." He said with a slight worry.

"That's more or less correct so the last Servant for the night is Lancer of Red and then we'll be done with the individual Servants." Said Jeanne with a relieved smile.

"Actually, we will need to have you assassed as well, Jeanne. The Head Captain will no doubt want to know about you so we may as well assess you along with the others. Even though we are working with you." Said Jushiro. Jeanne looked a little disappointed but agreed. Kisuke reached for his phone and sent the last photo of the servant of red to the others.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for this guy aside from his green hair." Commented Renji.

"That video you sent me earlier showed all those Servants with Saber of Red so I also saw Lancer of red as well who you are looking at currently. His True name is none other than Achilles." She said.

"WHAT?!" asked everyone as that name sounded familiar even to the ones who knew nothing of the myths. Jeanne smiled at this.

"This is the hero that inspired the term, Achilles heel or the Achilles tendon in medicine." She said playfully.

"I'll admit to hearing the former term and even used it when speaking in tactics. But what about the hero who inspired it?" asked Toshiro. Byakuya sighed tiredly.

"This will be fairly extensive, but I will try to stay to only the highlights. Achilles is one of the most famous heroes in the Trojan War. He was born from the nereid or sea nymph Thetis and the hero Peleus, who was counted among the Argonauts and one of Atalanta's contemporaries. Achilles himself was blessed by the gods from birth due to a prophecy that stated that Thetis would give birth to a son who would be greater than his father. Thetis, having greatly loved her son, after suffering from several miscarriages previously had both dipped him in the river Styx and warmed him within holy flames in order to try and make him immortal. But her husband Peleus had opposed it, saying "That would destroy Achilles as a human", and in the end Achilles grew up while only a certain part of him remained human, his heel. Shortly after this, Thetis returned to her home at the bottom of the sea, due to discord with his father Peleus. Chiron, who had raised many heroes, was an old friend of Peleus due to his assistance in helping Achilles' parents get married. Peleus requested Chiron to train his son and Chiron happily accepted the role of mentoring Achilles for nine years. He finished at the age of 10." Explained Byakuya.

"I wonder if he was in Soul Reaper Academy how quickly would he accelerate through the curriculum? If he was able to be trained by someone like Chiron in nine years, . . .though it might be safe to assume that his training probably didn't start until he was probably 7 to 8 years old given that people back then had shorter lifespans, so childhood didn't last as long as it does today." Kisuke thought aloud. He looked at Byakuya. "Sorry continue."

"Eventually, when war broke out between Troia and Achaea due to one man stealing another man's wife, Achilles was asked the following by his mother Thetis: "Do you wish to live a long and peaceful life without having your name recognized by the masses? Or do you wish to live the short life of a hero with brilliant achievements in battle?" Given his youth, Achilles' choice went without saying. Personally I always wondered if he'd been asked that question later in his life if his answer would've been different. But getting back to the legend, his mother felt pride in his decision, but she also felt heartbreakingly sad, because his fate had been predetermined since he was born that he would die at the gates of Troy. If he lived as a hero, he would have a short life, as if sprinting through it at full speed. It's been debated on how old Achilles was when war broke out, but they estimate that he was anywhere from 15-18 years old. He participated in the Trojan War as part of the Achaean army acting as a commander in place of his father and continued achieving many great feats. He was a human with an invincible body, blessed by all the gods so he could never receive any wounds, but his heel alone was this hero's vital weak point. This is how things went for 9 long years." Byakuya continued.

"A war that went on for 9 full years, Captain. We've technically been at war with Aizen for not even a full year yet and many want to see it end as soon as possible. I can't imagine being at war for 9 years." Said Renji astonished.

"That's because the soul society has technically been at peace for more than half of a millennium for sure. The concept of war, while still taught and prepared for at the academy, is still new for many of the current batch of soul reapers. But during Achilles time war was much more common almost to the point of being expected and peace never lasted for very long." Pointed out Yoruichi.

"If I may, I'd like to finish as we still have to get to his skills." Said Byakuya. When no one objected, he continued. "On the 10th year, when it's believed that he was between the age of 25-28 years old, he got into an argument over a woman with his commanding officer which led to him choosing to sit out the next few battles. During that time Hector another one of the greatest heroes in the Trojan War on the side of the Trojans this time, being equal in strength and skill with Achilles, even without his weak point being exposed, killed Achilles' friend Patroclus. Achilles, enraged with his friend's death, challenged Hector in a one-on-one fight. Even after killing Hector, the way Achilles insulted him by dragging his corpse around with his chariot was a foolish and intolerable act. As a result, he incurred the displeasure of the sun god Apollo. During this time, he was challenged by Penthesilea, ally to the Trojans and queen of the Amazons, who he easily defeated and as he saw her face he was smitten by her which only enraged the queen and started to curse him and the spear he wielded, but despite being repeatedly warned to restrain himself, Achilles continued slaughtering the Trojan army. So the enraged Apollo aided the Trojan army's bow expert Paris, who ironically started the whole war by kidnapping the wife of one of the Greek kings who were commanding the Greek army because he personally fancied her, and Apollo guided him to shoot Achilles' only weak point—that is, his heel. Then after it was pierced, so then was his heart by arrows one after another. Achilles sensing his own death, continued fiercely fighting and using all his strength to kill the soldiers of the Trojan army around him until he died in front of the gates to the city of Troy as had been prophesied. Just as predicted, he had a short life, but his legend as a hero was carved into the world." Said Byakuya.

"And that's the highlighted version, Captain?" asked Renji astonished. Byakuya nodded.

"Seems so wasteful the latter part of his legend. All that due to one teenager unable to control his lust and either not realizing or caring about the consequences of his actions." Said Jushiro sadly. On this no one argued.

"Alright then let's look into his parameters. We already know that he'll get worldwide fame boosts." Said Yoruichi trying to get back on track.

"His parameters are as follows: Strength is B rank, Endurance is A rank, Agility is A rank, Mana is C rank Luck is D rank, and his NP is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"So, without boosts that puts his overall power level at a high seated officer level perhaps a 5th to 4th seat at best. But with boosts his power level is at high lieutenant level almost at a Captain level." Calculated Kisuke. "Any extra abilities we should know about before we move onto his skills?" he asked. Jeanne took a deep breath and began.

"It's quite extensive. Having once been a powerful and exceptional hero whose level was exceedingly close to that of the gods, Achilles is known as one of the greatest heroes in history, with numerous legends befitting his fame. He is without a doubt, a first-rate Servant, as he is not only as top rank as a Heroic Spirit can conceivably be, but he also boasts of worldwide‐class fame as you all are aware. There are probably less than ten heroes, including him, whose names are known on that scale. He is a hero who boasts the most outstanding popularity in Greek mythology, which definitely equals that of the legendary Greek hero, Heracles. After all as some of you pointed out earlier, his name is attached to one of the vital points of the human body." She said.

"Considering how close the two of them are in power did the two of them ever meet?" asked Toshiro in curiosity.

"No but Heracles was counted among the Argonauts, so he most likely knew Peleus who probably told Achilles about him when the latter was still a child." Said Byakuya.

"It's very likely. Among the many Servants from Greek Mythology, his power ranks next to that of Heracles. He's an extremely overpowered Lancer. I estimate that Achilles possesses power and ability that rivals the likes of Karna, Cu Chulainn, Heracles, and even Gilgamesh and King Arthur. He even possesses the strength necessary to oppose Vlad III, even within Romania. This is because Achilles' great fame is comparable to Vlad's, even within Romania. Even so, if the two were to fight, I think that Vlad III would still have some degree of advantage over him. Additionally, besides the Lancer class, Achilles possesses the qualifications to be summoned as a Rider, Berserker and, quite unusually, a Shielder. His complement of nps is slightly different in each of the other classes. For instance, as a Lancer, he usually would lose his chariot, but instead, his spear would gain the secondary as Diarmuid Gae Buidhe in that the wounds could not be healed from." Said Jeanne.

"Usually. AS in that's not applicable for this current scenario?" asked Toshiro. Jeanne nodded.

"I'll elaborate on this when we get to his actual skills. Naturally, due to Achilles' abnormally abundant number of nps, he is a Servant who would instantly run out of spirit energy if he used them in a normal Holy Grail War. In particular, the consumption of energy for his chariot is uncommonly harsh, and only a first rate Master could fully utilize him. Then there is his actual combat prowess. Being a natural-born warrior, Achilles grew up becoming quite powerful. The way he behaved and held himself, both as a hero and in a royal court, was perfect. He was also extremely knowledgeable, of course. In the wild, he can find edible plants and fruits with a single glance, and he knows the way to treat injuries both with natural remedies and through healing magecraft though not the same extent that his teacher Chiron can. Most surprising of all, Achilles was barely ten years old when he had accomplished all of this. He was such a figure, that by this age he was told by Chiron that there was already nothing left for him to teach him. Although his physical prowess is abnormal, it is not an impossible standard for a Servant. Even taking that into account, his speed still greatly stands out, as he has been recorded in history as the fastest hero among all humanity, lauded for his great valor and prowess in the Trojan War. During that war, Achilles found a worthy adversary in Hector, who, as Captain Kuchiki stated earlier was his equal in strength and skill. Achilles was able to kill him in a one-on-one duel thanks to a paper-thin difference in skill. Chiron, his teacher could possibly be able to match him in combat. In the beginning, Achilles was taught the basics by his teacher Chiron. Therefore, it is only natural that when fighting his mentor, Chiron would see through all his body's movements and habits. Achilles usually fights his opponents using basic techniques and trying to overwhelm them with his overwhelming speed. He can change up his fighting-style with tricky moves in the middle of their fight. Achilles ran through numerous battlefields, after all. He had crossed blades, fought to the death, and exchanged friendships of the soul with many heroes. It was true that he had learned the basics from Chiron, but the corpses that Achilles had piled up in battle—are also another truth for him. Achilles most common fighting style is called the 'poisonous serpent' stance with his spear, an effective style where he holds the middle part of the handle and in order to use quick thrusts while warding off the enemies attacks. Achilles can also throw his spear fast enough to surpass the Sound barrier. Furthermore, Achilles has a sword that he can use in conjunction with his spear, in order to fight hordes of enemies. By detecting just the swirl of spirit energy and slight disturbance in the air, Achilles is able to react to arrows being fired at him by allowing him to swiftly turn his head to face the incoming attacks. Achilles is even able to catch and crush arrows between his teeth by predicting those aimed for his forehead and, instead of avoiding it, can stop it head on. Due to being trained by Chiron in the world's oldest mixed martial art, Pankration, which combines boxing and wrestling techniques, Achilles is also very skilled in unarmed combat, utilizing powerful punches, elbows, and kicks to overwhelm his opponent with his sheer power and speed. A single kick could crush an opponent's eye and another able to send them flying. He can perform throws and locks as well, to slam an opponent to the ground or break their neck. If he's in a barehanded duel, his punches are thought to not be inferior to an np in their own right. Of the Servants that could be comparable to him, I would say that Karna and Cú Chulainn are the most capable of fighting Achilles to a draw." Jeanne finished.

"Damn so like those two while technically not a Captain his sheer versatility with hand to hand, magic, a sword, or spear skills allow him to hit well above his weight class. And we haven't even touched on his skills yet." Noted Kisuke with wide eyes.

"Well, what are his skills then?" asked Rukia.

"He has two Class Skills: Magic resistance which is C rank and Riding which is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"We've seen these two skills before at these levels already so no need to go into detail on them. What about his Personal Skills?" asked Toshiro.

"He has 5 Personal skills. One is Battle Continuation which is A rank, the same as Cu Chulainn and Heracles, Divinity which is C rank, Double Summon which is B rank, Valor which is A rank and finally Affections of the Goddess which is B rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"3 out of 5 of these skills we've seen before and at these ranks. The only questions I have is, is the double summon the reason for why his spear has lost some of its abilities and why only C rank for divinity when all the others were B rank or higher?" asked Yoruichi.

"Yes to the first question as somehow the double summoned skill has been applied here as well giving him access to nps that normally would only be available to a Rider or Lancer but due to this skill he gets both sets but at the cost that his spear is modified to not give his enemies unhealable wounds." Jeanne answered the first question.

Ichigo gave her a deadpanned stare. "Unless your name is Kenpachi or Heracles, I don't know too many people who are going to survive getting hit by a spear that's breaking the sound barrier much less care whether the wounds they'd get are unhealable." He said in the same deadpanned tone.

"And my 2nd question?" asked Yoruichi.

"The reason for the lower rank is due to the fact that Thetis is simply lower on the totem pole of the Greek pantheon. She's not part of the main 12 and doesn't represent a particular aspect other than she was a sea goddess. So, while she did command water to a degree it wasn't on the same level as Poseidon. But he was a demigod, nonetheless hence his green hair marking him as one. And just like Cu Chulainn and Karna with their divine parents, due to his heritage of being the son of a sea goddess, if he's near a body of water of some kind, whether that's puddles during or after a rainstorm, a lake, or even by a beach next to the ocean, he can manipulate that body of water on a whim almost instinctively. No incantations, runes, or any stimulation from magecraft at all. With only a thought or a simple hand gesture he can use the water, offensively, defensively, or if he's standing in it or with an ally, he can use the water to heal himself or both him and his ally." answered Jeanne.

"If those three can utilize their parents' heritage by utilizing the aspects their parents ruled over why can't Heracles?" asked Toshiro.

"Simply because of his current class. He's too insane to be able to utilize that authority over lightning. If he were summoned into a different class then that would be a completely different story." answered Jeanne.

"So, the only skills left to explain are Valor and Affections of the Goddess." Noted Renji.

"Valor is a Skill that allows Achilles to nullify mental interference such as coercion, confusion, and glamours or illusions. Also damage in his hand-to-hand combat is also increased significantly." Explained Jeanne.

"Wait it can nullify illusions for him?" asked Kisuke looking intrigued.

"I won't say if that counts Aizen's illusionary powers but in terms of Servants or mages he's virtually untouchable when this skill is combined with his magic resistance skill as well. And finally, his last skill is Affection of the Goddess. This is the skill that represents the affection from his mother, Thetis. When he steps onto the battlefield, other than Mana and Luck, all of his parameters are increased by one rank." Explained Jeanne.

"Wait. So on top of getting boosts from worldwide fame, he also gets extra boosts the moment he steps onto a battlefield?!" asked Ichigo shocked. Jeanne nodded. "So what is his power level when he steps onto the battlefield?" he asked.

"Well with a quick calculation, his overall power level with this skill active, and not boosting mana and luck, and the fame boosts that puts him at a mid-Captain level easily." Calculated Kisuke. "So, all that's left are his nps and you already alluded to the fact that he has quite a few on him. How many exactly?" he asked.

"Technically he has 6 but practically he can only use 5 of them in his current state." Answered Jeanne.

"So, like Rider of White. Okay so let's start with the one he can't use and then get to the ones that he can use since we can get through that one faster." Said Toshiro.

"Divine Steel Armor: Creation of the Forger God. It's an A rank anti-unit self np. This armor is a Divine Construct which was forged by Hephaestus the Greek god of the Forge at the request of Achilles' mother Thetis. Achilles' armor, was made from the Divine Steel Adamant, the most durable material in Greek Mythology and which is said to be invincible. In a normal Holy Grail War, if he was summoned in his home country of Greece, he would possess this golden cloth-like armor due to the geographical boost. But while he has fame boosts, since we aren't in Greece he doesn't have access to this np." Explained Jeanne.

"If this is the one he doesn't have access to what about the ones he does?" asked Renji getting a feeling of dread.

"I'll start with his weakest np and work up to his strongest np. The np that holds the lowest ranked np for Achilles is Andreias Amarantos: Amaranth of the Brave. Its B ranked and an anti-unit self np. It's also a continuously active np and is Achilles' gift of immortality from having been blessed by the Olympian Gods, protecting him from all ill will and killing intent. His heel is the sole, vital weak-point for the otherwise invincible hero. Any type of attack against him is nullified, including physical damage, the "normal attacks" of Servants, and even great nps like the A ranked Balmung. It cannot be pierced by power alone, but it does have three weaknesses. The first is that only those who possess the blood of a god within their veins are permitted to harm him. It can only be fully negated by those with possessing some connection to the divine through either having a Divine Construct or having the Divinity Skill both either equaling or surpassing Achilles' C-rank Divinity, so those possessing D-rank Divinity will have their attacks reduced to 75% of their total damage and those of E-rank Divinity will have their attacks reduced to 50% of their total damage. Those without Divinity but in possession of Divine Constructs can deal damage so long as the Divine Construct is being used to attack, and the damage will be based upon the weapon's rank in the same way as Divinity." Explained Jeanne.

"Before we continue, I would like to ask what constitutes as a Divine Construct and more importantly do our zanpakutos count?" asked Jushiro looking concerned.

"Divine Constructs are armaments not crafted by human hands, but rather crafted by Gods or beings of comparable power, such extensions of the Planet otherwise known as the fae." Said Jeanne.

"As for whether our zanpakutos count, technically yes but without proof not sure. Since we are classified as souls not humans and souls are the only part of humanity that would be considered divine across various cultures and since our zanpakutos are forged from ourselves, then yes, they were made technically not by human hands and are therefore divine, but their rank would be equivalent to E rank at best and would remain that way in all 3 forms. So, any attack we would use be it Shikai or Bankai would have the damage potential be reduced by 50%. Though I need to make this clear that this is speculation and theory as we've not had to actually face Achilles head on in a fight." Said Kisuke cautiously.

"How many Servants fit within those two requirements?" asked Byakuya.

"15 Servants out of 42 either have Divine blood or possess a weapon that would be counted as a Divine Construct. This is both counting myself but keeping in mind that we still have 3 Servants unaccounted for." Answered Jeanne.

"What are the other weaknesses to this np?" asked Rukia.

"The second weakness is that his invincibility does not apply to acts that display friendship. If a comrade were to give him a slap on the back meant to be done in jest so then his body will respond by making part of himself weak in response to that gesture. The third and final weakness is of course damaging his heel. The act of having his heel hit negates his immortality, allowing for his heart to be pierced after by some other attack such as with numerous arrows as he made his last charge against the Trojan army in life. Even if he weren't killed immediately after getting his heel hit, he would no longer be able to make use of Andreias Amarantos for the rest of the time that he was summoned. And his overall speed would be reduced by 70%." Finished Jeanne.

"And this is the weakest of his nps? I dread finding out what the strongest one will be." Said Renji deadpanned as he scrubbed his face with his hand. "Alright so what's the next one?" he asked in a tired tone.

"That would be Diatrekhōn Astēr Lonkhē: Spear-tip of the Star Traversing the Skies. It's a B rank and anti-unit np. This is a spear given to him by his father Peleus, and previously given to Peleus as a wedding gift by Chiron. It's a simple spear with sturdy workmanship that is well designed for close combat. While he can use it for close quarters, he holds it lightly in one hand as a means of using it for its original purpose as a throwing weapon. As mentioned earlier if he was summoned only as a Lancer, this spear would also gain abilities similar to Gáe Buidhe, in which wounds inflicted by this spear cannot be healed as long as it exists. But he wouldn't have access to his chariot. Instead, he would wield this spear with divine speed while dashing around the battlefield on his feet for mobility, so he is an unmanageable threat in either class. But thanks to his double summon skill he does get access to his chariot but loses this aspect to his spear. He also can only use this spear to it's fullest potential when he steps out of said chariot which I will get to shortly otherwise he can only use it as a melee weapon. That full potential comes into play when he invokes the spear's True Name and it shows it's true nature. It can create an arena similar to a reality marble to cut off from all of the surrounding environment and time, which isn't released until one of the combatants is defeated. It also negates "flukes" caused by things like divine blessings or luck, allowing fellow Heroic Spirits to engage with Achilles in a one-on-one match, where outside help is impossible. Achilles can only use this np against male opponents he wishes to fight and who have enough courage and skill to respond to his challenge. If the opponent is weaker than him or they refuse his challenge, it's the only time that the arena will disappear with both combatants still alive. The opponents can either fight barehanded or they can use weapons while in the arena. As a final note, he will not invoke the True Name against female opponents due to him carrying an awful amount of regret from killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea with this spear." Explained Jeanne.

"So, the reality marble aspect is just to weaken him to the same level as his opponents so they can have a fair fight, am I understanding that correctly?" asked Byakuya. Jeanne nodded.

"So, of the 5 of us here in Romania, only Ichigo might be the only one Achilles would challenge to a fight as three of us are women and Kisuke fights dirty. Shame I would've liked to compare notes on hand-to-hand combat techniques and see which one is superior." Said Yoruichi sounding disappointed. "Even discounting that reality marble like ability he's still a deadly opponent with that spear. Well let's move onto the next np." she said with finality.

"His next np would be Troias Tragōidia: Tempestuous Immortal Chariot. It's an A rank and Anti-army np. It's, unsurprisingly, his chariot that he would otherwise only get access to if he was only summoned as a Rider class Servant but his double summon skill grants him access to it despite his official class being a Lancer. Summoned by whistling with two fingers in his mouth, it can appear from the sky, controlled by reigns on the driver's stand. It is drawn by three strong-muscled horses, two immortal divine horses bestowed by the Greek sea god Poseidon to Achilles' father, Peleus, as a wedding gift, Xanthos and Balius, and lesser than the other two, a "fine and famous" great horse pillaged from a city during the Trojan War, Pedasos. Xanthos and Balius serve as the chariot's central pivot while Pedasos has a more supportive role. As divine horses received from Poseidon, Xanthus and Balius were clearly stated to have both been immortal in the original texts. After being summoned as a Servant's np, they aren't quite immortal, but at the very least, they can be considered as tough as Servants themselves. This chariot can be ridden both on land and in the sky. The great acceleration of this np pierces the Sound barrier in a mere instant and allows Achilles to trample down the battlefield with godspeed. The increase in speed is also proportional to the increase in damage dealt. Due to moving at the Speed of light, this chariot is impossible to avoid and impossible to defend against, and its charging power is tremendous. It can be likened to a "giant galloping lawnmower" at its highest speed. However, it is harsh in energy consumption, where in its worst-case scenario, it is estimated that it can consume enough energy to summon another Servant besides Achilles." Explained Jeanne.

"So, he has a chariot that can fly and is as fast as the speed of light and can literally mow down enemies without too much trouble. The only true downside it that it takes up a lot of energy to maintain that only either a soul reaper with lieutenant or captain level spiritual pressure can maintain or at least a first-class mage but only by just supporting Achilles." Noted Kisuke. "Alright I need to ask how fast is godspeed and how does it compare to other fast movement techniques that we have?" he asked.

"Before I answer that I may as well get into his 4th np as that is his speed. Then we can compare notes on the different speeds." Said Jeanne. When everyone nodded in agreement, she continued. "Very well. His next np is called Dromeus Komētēs: Comet form. It's an A rank and anti-unit self np. Like his immortality it's a Continuously Active-Type np and is his speed, that is normally triggered by stepping out of his chariot, Troias Tragōidia. It's the embodiment of Achilles' legend that he is the fastest among all the heroes of all eras. He can run through a giant battlefield in one breath and obstacles on the field will not slow him down. Although Achilles' physical prowess is high, it is not an impossible standard for a Servant, but his speed greatly stands out. That speed is equated to instantaneous movement, and for everything that enters into his field of vision, the distance between Achilles and his target can be closed instantly. Even if an enemy can see through all his attacks, they are unable to completely avoid or block all of them. Its usage requires that his weak-point, the Achilles Heel, be exposed, but there are not many Heroic Spirits that can keep up with his speed." Explained Jeanne.

"Okay so we need some context for speed just to understand how fast Achilles is by comparison. We on our end have three types to compare it to Flashstep for soul reapers, Sonído for Hollows, and finally Hirenkyaku for Quincies. I'll start with the slowest and work our way up to the fastest. Hirenkyaku is a technique where the practitioner gathers Reishi or mana under their feet and rides them to the desired location. This means that this method is more energy-efficient to use than Sonído or Flashsteps. But this requires years of training before mastery can occur and keep in mind that the user will often be using this in conjunction with some other technique requiring them to be multi-tasking and they are still utilizing their human bodies so there's a limit to how much stress the body can take. As a result this technique is the slowest allowing the user to be as fast as the speed of sound if they're just traveling from point A to point B, but in a combat scenario then it's just under that due to the multi-tasking bit and the potential G-forces that the human body is subjected to. Sonído, according to my studies, appears to be more instinctual, seemingly requiring no previous knowledge to perform. By not exerting any Reiatsu or prana during use, it makes the user more difficult to detect when they're moving. What they do is gather the mana or Reishi around them and convert it into Hollow reishi and use that as a launchpad to boost their speed when they move hence why they don't need to use Reiatsu. Due to this, Sonído is more practical for hit-and-run tactics. It also produces a sound hence the name Sonído. It makes a booming or static noise. That is because Hollows are breaking the sound barrier every time they use these launchpads to move so it's a safe bet that they are traveling at or faster than the speed of sound. Finally us soul reapers mix our reiatsu with the reishi around us and we use the same launchpad technique but because we are exerting our reiatsu in the process we are continuously mixing the two together and therefore aren't fighting against things like friction. As a result we can move faster than the eye can follow though not as fast as the speed of light, just under that. So with that context how fast can Servants move without boosts from a command seal?" asked Kisuke looking intrigued.

"Human Servants can only move as fast as other humans if slightly faster. But once they start having the blood of other beings in them then their speed increases dramatically. Those with non-divine blood but perhaps have say blood of the fae can move, at least for short bursts, at the same speed as soul reapers. But those who do possess divine blood can move at or faster than that at the speed of light on a regular basis. But because Achilles is recorded to be the fastest hero in all eras, in order to make that true Achilles is able to bend time and space so that he is able to be faster than the other person if need be even if he's only faster than them by a step. So if you pitted him against say Karna or Cu Chulainn, who would be the closest comparisons, than to make the statement that he's the fastest hero true, time and space will bend so that he's faster than them." Jeanne explained. Everyone looked at her with shocked expressions.

"So anyone with divine blood would be faster than our fastest flashstep users. And Achilles can if need be, bend time and space to ensure that he's the fastest. That's terrifying." Said Jushiro looking a bit shaken.

"Yes but remember if he's hit in his heel not only does he lose his immortality his speed drops by 70%" Jeanne reminded them.

"But how fast would that be?" asked Byakuya.

"My best educated guess is either he would then be moving slower than your fastest users of Flashstep but either as fast or faster than the speed of sound. At least that's the range he would be at with only 30% of his original speed." Jeanne estimated. By now several were pinching the bridges of their noses to stave off headaches.

"Alright. I'm almost afraid to ask but what's his final np?" Ichigo asked with a look of dread on his face.

"His final np is called Akhilleus Kosmos: The Miniature World Enclosed by the Azure Sky. It's an A rank and Barrier type np and Achilles ultimate trump card. It's his shield, a Divine Construct forged by the Greek smithing god Hephaestus. While he can use it like a regular shield, its True power comes from invoking its True Name. When that happens, the shield protects the wielder by deploying a miniature world and can block nearly any attack, whether it be from an Anti-Unit, Anti-Army, Anti-Fortress, Anti-Country or even Anti-Divine nps. However, due to this np's nature, it is weak against Anti-World nps. Described within a hundred lines of text in Book 18 of the Iliad, it is the world Achilles lived in that was reproduced by Hephaestus into a miniature form in the shield, featuring swirling ocean currents on the outer circumference due to the sea god. Achilles boasts that once the shield is activated, it can fend off any manner of attack be it from a man, army, castle, or even a god. It is said that "to oppose this shield is the same as making the world your opponent". Achilles is also able to use this shield to "attack" as well. After deploying the np, he would aim to crush the enemy with that miniature world by continuously pushing forward. Most likely, Hephaestus never thought of such a method of using it. It doesn't require considerable skill and power to invoke its true name though so should this be given away, another Servant could, theoretically use it but only defensively." finished Jeanne. This caused everyone to groan in frustration.

"So, he has the ultimate shield that can only be destroyed by something meant to destroy worlds and he can use it offensively by basically throwing a planet at your face if all else fails, is that the correct understanding?" asked Renji exasperated.

"If we became trapped in that world, would our powers cease to exist and would be trapped there indefinitely?" asked Kisuke looking intrigued.

"No to both. Your powers would still work normally, and should Achilles decide to return the shield to its melee weapon state, you would return to the real world without an issue. And yes, to you lieutenant Abarai, that is the correct understanding." Answered Jeanne.

"Okay so assessing this last one is a doozy. This Servant is normally near a Captain level, is extremely versatile and skilled in all forms of combat including water magic if he's near a body of water, has skills that either cover him from magical retaliation or augment his current power to a mid-captain level, and has five noble phantasms that have both a melee form and a magical or supernatural form that he can pick and choose where and when to use though each come with conditions and considering how intelligent he is will be able to judge when each can be used to his best advantage. It also doesn't help that all of his nps are at Shikai level or higher. These all allow him to hit well above his weight class. Aside from his heel is there any other known weaknesses? Because from what I can tell even if we hit his heel and negate 1 np and reduce another, he goes from being near unkillable to just barely so." Kisuke pointed out.

"The only other weakness that I can give you is that he craves fighting opponents that can bypass his immortality, so he leaves himself open to attacks deliberately in the hopes he'll find a worthy opponent. So, his guard will be down, and he'll want to have a good fight. But if something he cares about is threatened or harmed then he'll pull out all the stops to eliminate that threat as soon as possible as ruthlessly as possible. That's really all I can give you for any real weaknesses. But don't forget that Achilles has Battle Continuation so even if he's hit with a fatal wound that would kill an ordinary human, he'll last for another hour fighting the enemy for as long and hard as he can and taking as many of them with him as he can." Finished Jeanne.

"I say that we never introduce this guy to Kenpachi but now I wonder what would happen if those two were to ever clash?" said Ichigo genuinely curious.

"Well, we still have Ms. Jeanne herself to look into but should we do an overall faction assessment since we only have three Servants unaccounted for, but we now have an idea of the Masters of Red?" asked Toshiro.

"I'd say that half of the Red Faction we can assess as there is a schism forming so for the 4 Masters that are on one side with Saber, Archer, Lancer and Rider we can say that they have 2 lieutenant level Servants though one can get boosted to Captain, those being Saber and Lancer respectively. Then they have 2 high seated officer level Servants, Archer being a 3rd seat and Rider being a 6th seat. Given how all their respective Masters have worked together in the past or at least know one another I can see this actually helping to carry their group at least to the halfway point of the War. As for threat to Ruler while some of the Masters of this group I would say are questionable their leader seems to have their respect and will follow him and while their seems to be bad blood between him and Gordes he was quite cordial when he interacted with her. Now that I think about it in some of the black Faction files there was mentions of secession movement from the Association and considering how closely tied the Red Faction is to it through nearly all it's members it could be that their actual goal is to take out the Black Faction and take the Grail for themselves to stamp out the Secession." Theorized Kisuke.

"Even if you're right what does that have to do with whether this part of the Red Faction is a threat to Jeanne or not?" asked Rukia.

"It means that they're whole purpose is to go after the Black Faction and therefore they would be no threat to Jeanne since she's meant to serve as a neutral party." Answered Yoruichi.

"So the other half of Red with the Priest and two missing Masters and the three unknown Servants are the only ones left that we can't fully assess yet but the priest especially since we aren't even sure what his motives are at this point." Said Ichigo looking concerned.

"So do we want to discuss counter classing now or after we've assessed Jeanne herself?" asked Renji.

"Let's do so after and just keep in mind to not consider her as she's just meant to play the role of mediator." Said Yoruichi.

"Very well. I'll do this like I have all the others since while some of you know my skills or abilities, not everyone is on the same page. So my True Name is Jeanne D'arc the Saint of Orleans though I never personally saw myself as a saint." Said Jeanne looking embarrassed.

"Almost all of us here know of her story and considering Captain Kuchiki's knowledge I think it's safe to say that he is well aware of who you are so really the only one I'm not sure on is Captain Ukitake." Said Toshiro looking at the said Captain.

"No need to worry as I actually do know who she is." Said Jushiro. At everyone's surprised looks he elaborated. "During my bouts of illness, even before I was a Captain, I would often be tended to by members of squad 4 who's jurisdiction in the world of the living is in Western Europe including France and while they would help me recover, they would regale me tales of things they had seen and witnessed in the world of the living. I would often request that they not try to sanitize things for my sake so I would hear both tales of great deeds and great tragedies. I do recall hearing your name several times years ago. Some were about great battles you led, the crowning of a monarch, and then of course your trial and execution. So, my knowledge comes from eyewitness accounts of you from the time that you were actually alive." Said Jushiro with a slight chuckle.

"Well at the very least it saves us time and we can move onto her parameters." Said Byakuya.

"Very well. My parameters are as follows: Strength is B rank, Endurance is B rank, Agility is A rank, Mana is A rank, luck is C rank and NP is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"And considering everyone's reactions back in Karakura town we know that you get boosts from worldwide fame. So, without the boosts that puts your power level at a B rank so high seated officer level of about a 3rd seat almost a lieutenant. And with the boosts that puts you at an A rank so high lieutenant almost a Captain level Servant." Calculated Kisuke.

"So any extra abilities that we should know about?" Toshiro asked.

"As a Heroic Spirit, I have qualifications to be summoned in the Ruler, Lancer, and Saber Classes. Under the Ruler class, I am an unusual Heroic Spirit due to being summoned by the Holy Grail itself to act as the administrator of the Holy Grail War. Any Servants participating in the Holy Grail War can learn identity and information, however information on the Ruler is strictly confidential unless I give my True name to others. I have a unique ability that allows me to scan around my position from a wide range within a 10 kilometers radius. The scan allows me to search for servants' positions which can even overcome Assassin's Presence Concealment ability. One of the many privileges afforded to the manager of the War is the function of locating Servants. I also have an ability that when I dip my right hand into holy water and casts it into the air the water gives a dim glow and then begins to smoothly draw a three-dimensional map. But that's it for extra abilities." Admitted Jeanne.

"You never showed us that little trick." Said Kisuke pouting.

"None of you are carrying holy water and I had other pressing matters to worry about like making sure that the other Factions were aware of Hollows and to not engage with them if it could be avoided." Countered Jeanne.

"Well maybe if we go to a church you can show us." Suggested Rukia.

"I'm not opposed to the idea." Jeanne admitted.

"Alright let's move onto your skills." Urged Byakuya.

"I have 3 class skills. They are magic resistance, which is EX, True name Discernment which is B rank, and God's Resolution which is A rank." Jeanne rattled off.

"The 2nd skill we know very well now but may as well explain the other two." Said Yoruichi.

"My magic resistance comes from being summoned into the knight classes and my unwavering piety in life. But what you need to understand is that this skill for me at least doesn't negate any magic or supernatural based attacks rather it redirects them away from me. That's why when I was hit by Rukia's Shikai ability it looked like she had scored a decisive hit. In reality my magic resistance redirected her attacks on the area around me but left me alone. Hence why I could break out of it after her attack finished. But it's only good against magic and supernatural attacks but in exchange not even the magic from the age of gods can harm me. Against melee though it's no good. As for my God's resolution skill, It's the fact that as a Ruler Class Servant I get two command seals for every Servant in the Grail War but those seals are tied to the specific Servant. If one falls I lose both seals even if I never used them on that Servant and I can't repurpose them for a different Servant if I use up others hence why they are to be used sparingly and are deemed extremely precious to mages as bargaining chips in this War." Said Jeanne.

"These seals apparently usually appear as a red tattoo on the back on one's hand or in Ruler's case on her back due to the sheer number of Servants. Masters get three while she gets two. The reason is so that the last seal will be for the Master to still have a contract with their Servant even if they lose two out of three." Kisuke elaborated further.

"But leave her vulnerable to any Master who seeks to harm her." Concluded Jushiro worriedly. "Alright what about her personal skills?" he asked.

"I have 3 Personal skills. Revelation, which is A rank, Charisma which is C rank, and finally Saint which is B rank. For elaboration Revelation is my ability to see visions of the future though how far is hard for me to say. If I have visions related to Servants, tied with my perception ability and my True name discernment skill I can make some safe assumptions and be able to utilize them to some extent to make my next move. But for anyone who isn't a Servant I would have no context and while it would be something to investigate later on I really couldn't do anything about it as there would be to many unknowns to try and puzzle through. Charisma we've talked about previously, so I'll skip over that one. The last skill Saint is one that was granted to me due to my being acknowledged as one. As a Servant it allows me several abilities that I can use for short periods of time though not one after the other and not all at once. One is bolstering my charisma skill which if I then issued a command be it as a command seal or verbal command to others that they would follow, it acts like a pseudo-blessing giving them enhancements for a short duration, I can raise the effectiveness of sacraments like Black keys of the church which since those are living world equivalents to zanpakutos as you pointed out earlier, Mr. Urahara-" Jeanne lead before Kisuke followed.

"Which would act as a blessing on the swords themselves and could be applicable to us. But wait. How long will the blessing last?" he asked.

"That blessing will last for as long as the blade does. The same is true for my production of a holy shroud ability where I can bless cloth to give it magic or supernatural properties due to my status as a saint. That's due to the fact that anything that was used by saints or even pieces of the saints themselves in religion especially in Catholicism is venerated and deemed sacred to the point that people will travel to foreign churches just to see or touch these objects believing that it will bless them with good fortune in some way. It's the ability to bless cloth with this skill that will last for a short amount of time before I can use that ability again but the Blessing itself will last for as long as the cloth does. And while the blessing on the blade will enhance the offensive capabilities against spiritual beings, due to my defensive and support abilities the blessing will also increase the defensive abilities as well as will the cloth that I bless." Jeanne explained.

"What will those offensive and defensive capabilities be?" asked Byakuya.

"Well separately for defense both will make the wearer or wielder immune to curses like the unhealable wounds caused by blades like Gae Bolg and should cancel out blades used by other spiritual beings like the Arrancar you told me about as given their ability to corrupt reishi their zanpakutos would act like cursed swords though I'm not sure of the quincies as those would count as magic attacks or at least supernatural attacks yet when I sparred with Ichigo's friends I did physically deflect arrows shot at me." Said Jeanne

"Yes, though that might have been more a reflex of yours than actually letting your magic resistance actually deflect the projectiles. Same with when you rolled out of the way of Chad's attack. That might've been due to reflex, or it was just the better strategy to move out of the way rather than take the hit and risk getting hurt if your intuition was wrong. Keep in mind that Rukia successfully got you in a Kido due to catching you off guard. But once you were aware, you were able to break out of it within seconds without any lasting harm. I think the same can be true for quincies as they often use reishi based spirit weapons so their reishi arrows should count as a magic or supernatural attacks." Kisuke theorized.

"That's true. It gives me something to think about but getting back to the subject at hand, should actual blades or physical projectiles that aren't reishi based be used then those can easily cut the cloth without any issues and you'll have to fall back on your swordsmanship skills to fend them off. As for the offensive, once you've drawn your weapon the divinity level and the blade's durability of it will increase by one rank and since they're apart of you that blessing will extend to the wielder personally. So, cutting a Hollow will be far more lethal to them than it was previously. And that lethality will extend to your Shikais and Bankais. So, if my understanding is correct by raising the divinity rank from E to D given what soul reapers are and sealed zanpakutos are considered C rank nps already then in this instance when you draw your blade, the rank would be risen to B rank for sealed zanpakutos, A rank for Shikais and EX rank for Bankai but would match the higher level Bankai of Captains who already achieved that level on their own without the blessings." Explained Jeanne. This left the Reapers and Ichigo shocked.

"Hold on. You're saying that, say something like my Zabimaru, which we already know means I have Captain level reiatsu but I've only had my Bankai for less than a year, would with this Blessing be able to utilize more effectively against Hollows, be able to dispel curses and magic or supernatural attacks, and could hold it's own and compete with Bankais of Captains that have had their Bankai for centuries and have had time to hone and perfect their skill with their merits? Am I understanding you correctly?" asked Renji looking flabbergasted.

"I can't say with certainty on that last one though that is my speculation but the rest, yes that would happen. Also due to the increase in durability, a D rank divine construct would last longer than an E rank one and could, in a prolonged fight, even wear the latter down to the point of breaking it. And this Blessing would last until either you died or your blade was destroyed." Said Jeanne.

"But raising the divinity rank doesn't happen with Servants. Why would that happen to us?" asked Toshiro coming out of his stupor.

"You're not recorded onto the throne nor are any of you descendants from a God so you're not at that stop gap as we Servants are. So you can use my blessings to continue to grow stronger as a result. That's why that would work with you but not for Servants. Though granted that would only work against other spiritual beings and once you sheathe your blade the rank will decrease back to normal." Said Jeanne with a sad smile.

"And if the defensive capabilities are used in tandem?" asked Rukia cautiously.

"Then they would work similarly to my magic resistance EX where any cursed, magic based or supernatural based attack would be redirected around the person to the areas surrounding them. But as I said earlier, if their opponent is using a non-pure reishi weapon like a bow with physical arrows not those composed of reishi, a sword, or a spear or are just using straight up hand to hand combat then neither the shroud or sacrament could be used in that manner to defend the one using them and the person will have to use other means of defending themselves." Said Jeanne.

"That's definitely giving me some ideas" said Kisuke with an excited expression though his tone was mild.

"Does this skill allow you to use any other ability before we move on?" asked Yoruichi.

"There's one final ability that I can use with this skill should I choose to use it and that is I can automatically heal and recover from any injury, or I can grant that to an ally. But only once and then I have to wait an hour before I can use it again. If the wound is cursed, then I can use this ability to remove the curse but then someone skilled in healing would have to take care of the actual wound otherwise the only thing I can't heal cursed or not is a decapitation but anything else I can." Said Jeanne.

"Is the hour delay applicable to all these abilities this skill grants you?" asked Kisuke.

"No, the healing one takes the most energy to use so it has the longest wait period between uses. Granting blessings doesn't take nearly as much effort neither does issuing commands so there's only a 15-minute wait period between uses." Jeanne clarified.

"Alright so all that's left is your nps, right?" asked Renji. Jeanne nodded.

"Technically I have two but practically I have 1." Answered Jeanne.

"Let's start with the one you can actually use." Suggested Byakuya.

"My main np is called Luminosité Eternelle: God is Here With Me. It's an A rank barrier type np. It's the holy battle flag that I kept by my side all my life." She then stood up and held out her hand and in a shower of golden particles her flag materialized.

"Fascinating. So, you absorb reishi particles but then shape it into your weapon and then infuse and constantly feed your own spiritual pressure into it to give it a physical shape and since it's taking a form familiar to you it takes on all the qualities of that np. Is it safe to assume that once you stop feeding it your spiritual pressure it disperses back into reishi?" asked Jushiro eyeing her flag. Jeanne nodded. "Well what can this np do then?" he asked looking a bit excited.

"I use this flag mostly to attack in battle. "There's a spear-point at the tip, so it's a divine sign that this flag should be used to strike the enemy" after all. It is my main weapon, kept in place of a sword on the battlefield, still potent enough to easily block strikes from enemy Servants, and pierce through obstacles with its tip. The flag had inspired and uplifted soldiers who had believed a saint walked amongst them, it continually protected me as I ran ahead in battle as the vanguard. This flag is the crystallization of my legend as Jeanne d'Arc as I waved my flag on the battlefield and fighting to the very end with hardly any wounds. By planting it into the ground, tightly grasping it, and activating my flag as an np, it converts my EX-rank Magic Resistance into protection but then extends that protection against all harm, both physical, magical, and spiritual." Explained Jeanne.

"Wait. Back at the shop you didn't mention that part. You said that it functioned the same way as your Magic resistance but extended to your allies." Said Toshiro.

"And when I sent Zabimaru to physically attack you it broke through your barrier. Though I will admit that it took some effort, but it did eventually break through." Renji pointed out.

"I'll admit that was my fault for not clarifying the difference between my Magic resistance skill and my np back in Karakura town. I was more focused on convincing you to help me with mediating this war than I was with clarifying my abilities at the time and for that I apologize for my mistake." Said Jeanne bowing in apology. "As for you destroying my barrier with a physical attack, lieutenant Abarai, keep in mind that I was running on little to no food or sleep for almost 2 days and was using up my reserves of spirit energy to keep myself in peak condition. Throw in the fact that I was then utilizing my skills to fight Ichigo's friends and then blocking 3 Bankais combined and along with holding off your Bankai physically and is it any wonder that I ran out of energy and my barrier gave way from your attack?" asked Jeanne.

"That's true." Renji conceded.

"So in other words while Servants my have some truly impressive abilities, they could be rendered useless if they don't have the energy to use them or sustain them." Concluded Byakuya. "Anything else we should know about this particular noble phantasm, or do we move onto the other one?" he asked.

"I'll finish up this one. The protection of my np is initiated by an angel's blessing, and it is centered around the flag within a range of 10 meters. It brings about a light that completely isolates anyone within it and cuts them off from their surroundings, much like the divided water from the myth of Moses splitting the Red Sea. The downside to the ability is that the damage accumulates within my flag, causing it to begin to tear as I use it, so naturally, I can't withstand an Anti-Fortress np multiple times in a row. Also, as a final note for this np, only Heroic Spirits who had witnessed my legend in life—in other words, only Gilles, in his past form as a Marshal of France, or as his Saber Class self, can use this np besides myself." Explained Jeanne.

"Will he be able to use it as he is currently?" asked Ichigo. Jeanne shook her head sadly.

"So your last one. You gave us some information back in Karakura but for the sake of the two Captains may as well go over things in full." Said Kisuke.

"Very well. My final np is called La Pucelle: The Crimson Holy Maiden. It's a suicide-type np that is C rank as a blade but Ex rank upon activating it's flames. It's dormant state is the Sword of St. Catherine, which I never swung once in my lifetime in anger." Said Jeanne.

"Which St. Catherine are you referring to? Catherine was a pretty common name during your time and there are quite a number of saints with that name." Kisuke pointed out.

"The Catherine that was tied to my sword was Catherine-de-Fierbois of central France." Explained Jeanne.

"Fear boys?" asked Renji confused.

"Fierbois which means wild woods in my native french. So, she was Catherine of the wild woods. She was the patron saint of soldiers and my personal patron saint. After a victory in that area a man by the name of Charles Martel ordered the construction of a sanctuary in her name, and therein buried his sword as an offering. That is the sword that I found thanks to my visions and kept it with me as a sign of my title La Pucelle. Now as an np, while I can use it for melee combat it's real worth lies in the fact that it's a crystallized Conceptual Weapon that acts as an offensive interpretation of my burning at the stake. I use the sword as a catalyst and manifest the flames which once burned me to death by saying "O' Lord, I entrust this body to you—", a line from a death poem, as an activation incantation. By using this np, I lose my own life after the battle. But in exchange for my life, I can annihilate anything in existence no matter how powerful they are. These flames only destroy that which I think must be destroyed. In other words, this np cannot be used against simply a strong enemy or out of emotions like hate." Explained Jeanne.

"Is there really no way for you to survive using this np? And what will happen to Laeticia?" asked Rukia.

"The np would only affect me and my Spirit Origin, my soul core if you will. So it would remove me from Laeticia's body allowing her to regain full autonomy once again. So there is no need to worry for her safety." Said Jeanne trying to reassure them.

"And my first question?" asked Rukia.

"The only way for me to survive using this np would be either with Ichigo's gift of granting me a 2nd life after I've used it or if I used my contract with the Holy Grail to wish to live at the same time that I use this np, then it is possible for me to survive it by returning my Spirit Origin to its status from before I activated the np. But this is irrelevant to our discussion so best not to dwell on false hopes. Afterall the whole point of my summoning as a Ruler is that I have nothing that I would want to wish for on the Grail. It's what grants me impartiality." Said Jeanne not noticing the concerned looks on everyone's faces as she refocused on the task. "I've relayed you all the info I have on all the Servants that we were to get ahold of tonight. So we've assessed all but one part of the Servants of Red and we've assessed all the Servants and Factions to the best of our abilities and their threat level to me so what's left to discuss?" she asked.

"Just counter classing, plans for tomorrow concerning this next meeting and any other housekeeping before we call it a night." Said Yoruichi.

"What time is it anyway?" asked Ichigo as he checked his watched and his eyes widened in shock. "7:30 pm? We've been at this for 4 hours?!" he asked in astonishment.

"It's about 1:30 am over here for us." Said Jushiro with a small smirk. "So the sooner we get on with the last of our discussions this evening, the sooner we finish and either eat or get some much needed rest." He said as he stifled a yawn.

"Alright so for counter classing we're not counting Jeanne and there are the three Red Servants that we don't have anything on right?" asked Renji.

"That's correct but we're analyzing everyone else of the Servants. I think that for all classes any Servants that are low seated officers or lower in power we should be highly consider as not making it past the halfway point simply because even if they have gimmicks that could render several top tier Servants dead, due to the sheer volume of Servants that are higher ranked would most likely kill them before they make it to the end." Said. Byakuya. On this no one argued.

"Let's start with the Berserkers then. Of the 4 that we do have I would say that Berserkers of White and Silver could last the longest of them. Berserker of Black may make it past the halfway point but considering her limitations, I highly doubt she'd make it to the end and the less we say of Berserker of Blue the better. So for the Assassin, Caster, and Rider triads, Silver has the strongest trio with the strongest being near a Captain level and the weakest one being a 6th seat, while white and gold are tired for weakest due to the latter comprising of nothing but Casters and the highest level being a mid-lieutenant and the weakest is an unseated officer, while white's strongest is a lieutenant and the weakest is a 15th seated officer." Said Toshiro.

"So who would make it to the halfway point with Berserkers of White, Black, and Silver?" asked Ichigo.

"The most likely ones to make it past the hallway point with those three would most likely be Rider and Caster of Blue, Caster and Assassin of Black, Rider, Caster, and Assassin of Silver, Merlin of the Gold Faction, Rider of Red and finally Rider and Assassin of White. I also am pretty confident Shielder would make it past the halfway point as well. So, then we have the Saber, Archer, Lancer trio and this time we have all info for all factions. With Gold only having Sabers, this trio is actually pretty powerful with a Captain and two near captains in their group. White is missing their Saber but has two seated officers so technically they're the weakest with one missing Servant. As for the proper triads, Blue is the strongest with a Captain and 2 lieutenants and Black is the overall weakest of the proper triads with a lieutenant as their strongest and a 10th seat as their weakest." Said Toshiro.

"And which ones do you think will make it past the halfway mark?" asked Jushiro.

"Saber, Archer, and Lancer of Blue, Archer and Lancer of Black, Saber and Lancer of Silver, All 3 gold Sabers, Archer and Lancer of White, and Saber, Archer, and Lancer of Red." Said Toshiro.

"That's odd even if we factor in just those at high seated officer or higher that still leaves us with 29 Servants total. More than I expected." Said Jeanne.

Well we already know that of the three Berserkers of Silver and White will last the longest of their class, of the Knight triads Lancer and Archer of Red would survive along with Saber of Silver and Saber and Lancer of Blue, and Archer of Black but barely." Said Kisuke.

"None for gold?" asked Renji.

"They'd probably let themselves get killed by their king out of sheer loyalty. I think the same could be said for Shielder as well." Said Jeanne.

"I see. What about the Calvary Triad?" asked Byakuya.

"The only ones that would come out on top would be Casters of Blue and Black, Merlin of Gold, and Riders of Red and Silver." Said Kisuke.

"So now we have a grand total of 13 Servants left." Said Yoruichi.

"Of those remaining the only ones left That I can see making it to the end would be Archer of Red, Saber of Silver, Merlin of Gold, and Lancer of Blue and from there I either see stalemate or everyone left gangs up on Archer and then Merlin returns to Avalon out of respect for his King and then only Lancer and Saber being left and from there it could go either way but that's the best we can estimate for the effects of counter classing A little different in how we get to that point but aside from a few additions almost the same outcome." Concluded Kisuke.

(Heavy dialogue is finally finished)

=Soul Society – Serietei – Toshiro's office – same time – 1:45 am Tokyo time (7:30 pm Romanian time)

"So, is that it?" asked Rukia.

"Just some housekeeping and we'll call it a night. So, on our end here in Romania we're going to visit the red Faction or rather Jeanne and Kisuke are. I'm going to sneak over to the church in Bucharest and scout around looking the 3 remaining Servants and see if I can get a picture of them." Said Yoruichi.

"Should Rukia and I go over to the church as well? Under the guise of fairness and share info about the Hollows to the priest?" asked Ichigo.

"That could work. And it would distract him from me while I go about the church." Said Yoruichi.

"And Kaien?" asked Rukia in concern.

"I'll call Tessai later tonight and I'll start putting together the Senkaiodan gate. I already have the things needed to set them up on both ends for the gate. I just need them assembled and then we'll test them to see if they work. If things are successful then come daybreak on our end I'll send Kaien over to Karakura where he'll be safe and both Noba and Ririn will freely be at your disposal. Worst case scenario is that Ririn will have to stay and babysit Kaien again and we'll have to try sometime before tomorrow night or the day after tomorrow." Said Kisuke. "And on your end?" he asked looking at the other 4 Reapers.

"I'll be helping Captain Hitsuguya with his research as there were some interesting findings we came across during earlier research as all the items that I need to send over won't be able to until I get my member from squad 4 and this Senkaiodan gate get set up." Said Jushiro.

"As for myself and Renji, all that's left is in addition to researching further on the Berserker, Assassin, and Caster of Red, or Eric Bloodaxe, Semiramis, and William Shakespeare as you helpfully provided, we'll also look into how the Rider, Assassin and Archer of White or Perseus, Robin Hood, and Atalanta respectively also died." Said Byakuya.

"I should also point out that on our end after sunset is when the fighting will most likely begin. So unless we can get back and start our meeting about as early as we did today then we should get everything in place for all of you. But if not then we might not be able to talk until the day after tomorrow." Said Jeanne.

"As I said earlier if we don't hear anything from anyone after nightfall on our end due to the time difference tomorrow then we'll wait until 48 hours from when we end our discussion tonight. After that, I don't think we can put this off any longer and we'll have to present what we have to the Head Captain." Said Toshiro.

"No arguments here. Thankfully we only just have those 3 Servants left so it should, keyword being should, be far shorter than this one and the last one were." Said Kisuke.

"So is there anything else left to discuss?" asked Renji.

"No I believe that's everything. So I guess we'll sign off here and with any luck we'll talk to you all tomorrow night.

"Hey, if we don't, good luck to you guys cause it sounds like you're all going to need it." Said Renji quickly with a small smile.

"Appreciate it, Renji." Said Ichigo returning the smile.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, I know this goes without saying but I expect you to be able to keep my sister, Ms. Jeanne, and her charge safe. Don't disappoint me." Said Byakuya looking at him sternly. Ichigo was hardly phased but returned the look with a serious gaze of his own.

"I wouldn't dream of it, Byakuya." He answered.

"Thank you, Brother." Said Rukia.

"I'll be sure to back them up or bail them out if things get too hairy, little Byakuya." Assured Yoruichi. Byakuya glared at her for that nickname.

"Keep each other safe then." Said Jushiro.

"Be careful, everyone." Said Toshiro.

"Right." Said Jeanne, Ichigo, and Rukia.

"Well hopefully we'll be seeing you all around." Said Urahara and with that the screen went dark.

=Romania – 30 mi outside of Trifas – Ruler's base of operations (Kisuke's homestead) – living room – same time 8 pm Romanian time (2 am Tokyo time)

Ichigo got up and stretched. "I better go see how Kaien's doing as he left awhile ago to prepare food for dinner. I hope he didn't prepare something like a multi-course banquet with how long he's been gone." He said heading for the kitchen.

"I'll go with you. I have nothing better to do." Said Yoruichi getting up to follow him.

"And I'll get my reports done in my room. Let me know when we're ready to eat." Said Rukia getting up and heading for her room. Once Kisuke was alone he picked up the iPhone and hit one of the names in the history section of calls and put it to private call. After a few rings the phone picked up.

"Urahara shop. How may I help you." Said a deep voice on the other end of the line that sounded sleepy.

"Tessai it's me. I know it's late and I'm sorry but I have some instructions for you. I need you to head to my lab and grab the bag labeled Senkaiodan on it and take it to the underground training room. And before you do that, I need you to immediately call Shinji and the other Visoreds and tell them to come over to the shop as quickly as possible as it pertains to things happening in Romania. And have them give me a call once they arrive." Ordered Kisuke.

"Of course, boss. I'll get right on it." Said Tessai now fully awake and alert.

End of Chapter 5

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Authors Notes:

Okay a few notes from this chapter. First I know that there are parts in the heavy dialogue sections and in other groups where I'm repeating myself about certain concepts or information but that's due to multiple parties either finding out or reviewing the same information. Until people start working together this kind of rehashing of ideas or information will continue though I will try to find ways that will either make it interesting like seeing that information from a different perspective or just give indications that these concepts or information was talked about.

I did make the Kurosaki Family Mages instead of Quincies. My reasons for this is 1.) due to the similarities between Mage and Quincy techniques if one looks at their wiki pages of typemoon and bleach wikis respectively the similarities are actually pretty impressive. But my main and 2.) reason for this is that Ichigo's Quincy heritage doesn't play any true role in the cannon story until the Thousand year blood war arc and the only reason for that is that the author wanted Ichigo to have a personal connection with the main villain Yhwach just like he had some kind of personal connection to Aizen although that one was also pretty contrived as well. This is a personal pet peeve of mine with the villains of this story as much as I love Bleach. Honestly, I always wondered why just having Ichigo befriend people who were personally hurt by the villain or the stakes being that everyone he knows and loves being potentially killed by the grand plans of the villain was deemed not to be a good enough reason as the personal connections to either villain feel very contrived and superfluous.

It reminds me of Harry Potter in that for the 1st 4 books Harry's main motivation for stopping Voldemort was survival and vengeance for killing his parents and the threat the villain simply posed to Harry's friends. Then in book 5 they threw in the prophecy to make Harry a chosen one which was really unnecessary as it's never brought up again past book 5 and they instead go and make Harry a Horocrux to deepen the connection between the two which made way more sense than the chosen one prophecy. And I say that as someone who likes the 5th movie of Harry potter.

Getting back to Ichigo he saw both villains either personally harm people that he became close to or the main villain gave orders that were carried out by others to cause harm to people Ichigo cared about and if the villains succeeded everyone he knew or cared about would die in the process, so the personal connection really didn't seem necessary.

So how does changing him from a Quincy to a Mage make this better? Well, the biggest reason is that it doesn't have some big bad villain that Ichigo has to defeat and learn more about himself in the process, it's just a part of his heritage that he can learn on his time if he chooses to. Shirou kotomine even in cannon was never truly a villain even his goal wasn't truly villainous and to him, in my story anyway, Ichigo is currently no different from other Servants or Masters in the War save for right now he can't get any information on him. In other words, being a mage or at least having that as part of his heritage lets Ichigo be like everyone else where they find out something about their heritage and can do further research on it and decide if they want to connect to that side of their heritage or not. In fact his semi participation of this Holy Grail war is now him learning about this side of his heritage and it's many facets without it being a connection to some big villain in the mage world trying to end said world and deciding for himself if he'll want to bother learning more about it once the War with Aizen is over. Another reason is that it keeps the two zangetsus shiro and the old man as they were prior to the thousand year blood war arc was written which was the old man represented his soul reaper powers while shiro represented the hollow powers. The fact that when deicide in the Bleach story happened and Tensa Zangetsu showed up in a younger form is, to me anyway, proof that that was what was going on originally. But then the author wanted to create a connection between ichigo and Yhwach and having the villain bear a passing resemblance to the old man was a deliberate attempt to force that connection. The final reason is that it does exonerate Isshin somewhat of why he never talked to Ichigo about his heritage. True in the cannon story Ichigo did the mature thing in letting his dad tell him on his time about his past but then it's not till another big villain trying to end the world shows up that Isshin finally confesses the truth when he had two years to tell him. Here Isshin thinks his wife is a Quincy but realizing his wife kept secrets from him even after all their time together would put him and Ichigo on more equal footing and Isshin would be more inclined to have the conversation about his heritage way sooner than in cannon and it's now not a life or death situation that requires Ichigo to learn about this side of his heritage.

Also according to math, if Masaki was in high school when she met Ichigo's father Isshin she would be 16-18 years old and since Everything but the Rain happened 20 years prior to the start of Bleach minus the 6 years prior she died in cannon that means that Masaki was about 30-32 years old at the time of her death. So now I've left it that her father tried 3 years before she was born to become a lord though it might be a while before I touch on further information on this thread I've started though I'm not sure yet how long it will be. As for why I made him a 7th generation Mage clan head, while Waver was only a 3rd generation mage who got in on his outstanding abilities as a teacher, I'm not certain about the other heads of the department lineages and thought that it might be a case of the longer the lineage, the more likely they were to become lords of departments in the Clock Tower. But since Kayneth was a 9th generation mage, I figured the lineage had to be substantial but not as long a lineage as his. Just enough to give someone hope.

Medea and Chiron having a connection in the past is something that is never confirmed in myths but due to Medea just disappearing from the record shortly after leaving Jason and Chiron's own wife dying before he did leaves room for tantalizing speculation. I'm choosing to believe that these two might have been past lovers due to both longing for companionship after the death or abandonment of those they loved. Since most of the Argonauts were Chiron's own students Medea most likely heard nothing but praise about him and due to him being a centaur Chiron knew more than most what it felt like to be discriminated against based on reputation or heritage so he would be far more willing to reserve judgement on her than most others would. Then there's the fact that in Fate/Stay night when Medea was given shelter and aid by her master in that series just because he wanted to help her, that was enough for her to do everything she could to win the war so she and her master could become husband and wife properly. Given Chiron's own gentle nature, I can see a similar scenario play out like that in their past but it actually wound up with them being husband and wife in all but legally until his death by Heracles accidently. So it would make sense that now both of them are summoned to the same faction of the same war that Medea would want to pick up where they left off while Chiron wants her to move on from him as he is pretty certain that two servants surviving won't be allowed and he doesn't want to fight her if he can avoid it. Hence he's encouraging her to find happiness elsewhere besides him.

Tried to incorporate more aspects of Achilles legend concerning his father and son as Fate leaves out myths about most other family members for their Servant characters barely even mentioning names of friends or family they had in the past.

Had not expected the Masters to take as long as they had but I felt it was better to cover them now rather than later so the exposition dumps can get out of the way faster especially since once the war gets underway, I'm debating on whether these meetings will continue or should they be done off screen.

The comment on Mayuri getting his own zombie army to fight on his behalf is my little hat tip to what actually happens in the Thousand year Blood war arc for him.

I know in the cannon story Bleach has stated that the soul society has been around for a million years but due to the author's constant problem of scaling time as a whole due to the fact that the world of the living appears to reflect our world even down to several pop culture references, I call bullshit. The fact that there's very little change between things that happened 2,000 years ago and 100 years ago at least on the surface for the latter, and everything seems to reflect the EDO period no matter how old the flashback is supposed to be and that it's only now getting modern technology like cell phones and what not is proof that Kubo used time scaling as a way to give weight to characters that are meant to have authority and have their words have meaning and it makes things seems more impressive the older it is. In my story I'm choosing to have the soul society only be around as long as, if slightly longer, than the Age of man has been around in the Nasu timeline which was dated to have started around 900 bc. So that's 2,900 to 3,000 years ago from the year of 2010 as I'm working under the belief that it took a century to get everything set up and running smoothly before the last of the Gods left for Avalon.

Had to adjust the birth year for Ichigo's birthday so he could 16 in the year of 2010 you can find his original birth year on the bleach wiki if you're interested.

Due to both Cu and Karna both being able to use their godly parents authorities to some extent as Servants, I decided to have it be that in my story all those who have divinity can utilize some of their godly parents authority due to their bloodlines though whether these authorities have any practical use in a fight is up to the individual demigod to decide the exceptions being Heracles on account of being insane and Medusa on account of being cursed. Hence why Achilles can manipulate water. Also the name for his armor from Hephaestus is one I made up as the wiki has it unnamed currently.

Did my best to address all the differences between information given in chapter 2 and this one on Jeanne and her abilities. If there is still confusion please let me know.

Finally here's the cheat sheet to keep track of Faction and Servants and Ruler (bold and Italics means soul reapers now know their identities): also their current power levels

Blue: Saber – Artoria Pendragon Captain, Archer – David lieutenant, Lancer - Cú Chulainn lieutenant, Rider – Medusa lieutenant, Caster – Paracelsus von Hohenheim lieutenant, Assassin – Hassan of Serenity 11th seated officer, Berserker – Jekyll & Hyde 15th seated officer

Black: Saber – Siegfried 10th seated officer, Archer – Chiron lieutenant, Lancer – Vlad III lieutenant (while in his territory) 5th or 6th seat (outside his territory), Rider – Astolfo 14th seated officer, Caster – Medea 5th seated officer, Assassin – Hassan of the Hundred Faces 6th seated officer, Berserker – Frankenstein's monster 6th seated officer

Silver: Saber – Arthur Pendragon Captain, Archer – Arash unseated officer, Lancer – Diarmuid Ua Duibhne 3rd seated officer, Rider – Ozymandias (Rameses II) lieutenant almost a captain level, Caster – Queen of Sheba lieutenant, Assassin – Jack the Ripper 6th seated officer, Berserker – Heracles Captain

Gold: 3 Saber – Gawain Captain, Bedivere lieutenant almost a Captain level, Kay lieutenant almost a Captain level, and 3 Casters - Gilles de Rais unseated almost a 20th seat, Guinevere 11th seated officer, Merlin (alive but hiding true stats) mid-level lieutenant, and Shielder – Galahad Captain.

White: Saber – not summoned, Archer – Atalanta 6th seated officer, Lancer – Karna 5th seated officer, Rider – Perseus lieutenant, Caster – Avicebron 15th seated officer, Assassin – Robin Hood 3rd seat, Berserker – Lancelot du Lac Captain

Red: Saber – Mordred lieutenant, Archer – Gilgamesh 3rd seated officer, Lancer – Achilles lieutenant almost a Captain level, Rider – Iskandar (alexander the great) 6th seated officer, Caster – William Shakespeare, Assassin – Semiramis, Berserker – Eric Bloodaxe

Ruler – Jeanne D'Arc lieutenant almost a Captain level

Quick reference: EX and A rank nps are equivalent to high and low powered Bankais respectively, B rank is equivalent to Shikai, C rank is equivalent to sealed zanpakutos. D and E ranks are weaker than sealed zanpakutos and would be destroyed by them easily.

For kido: Ex- negates all Bakudo kido but #99-#90 Hado kido spells do effect Servants, A- #99-#80 for Bakudo Kido and #89-#80 for Hado Kido, B- #79-#60 Kido, C- #59-#40 Kido, D- #39-#20 Kido, and finally E- #19-#1 Kido.

For power levels: Ex- captain level, A- lieutenant level, B- high seated officer level (3rd- 10th seat), C- low seated officer level (11th-20th seat) D- unseated officer level, and E- non-Soul reapers

Thank you very much for reading this. Hope you all enjoyed it. Hopefully the next chapter won't be nearly as long and I can post the next chapter sooner.

Enjoy and Bye!