Deep in the Underworld, the Dread Queen sits on her throne, and listens to the screams of the Damned.
Once, the realm she reigns over was very different than this pit of ceaseless suffering kept quiescent only through her endless vigilance. There were fields of flower where weary souls could rest, finding a peace deeper and truer than anything they ever knew in life. Mighty strongholds where heroic shades continued to train in the arts of war, in preparation for the day their services might be needed to help defend the World. And a palace from which the ruling House made its will known to every corner of the realm.
But all that ended in the same war which cost the Dread Queen her husband, her family, and her name. Now, only the prison and its monstrous inmates remain, and she is its warden. And no longer is she the Lady of Spring, whose return from the depths heralded Winter's end in the early days of the World. She is as she once was before finding love in the most unexpected place : a monarch in her own right, beautiful and terrible to behold.
Behind her ever-present mourning veil, the Dread Queen's gaze is sharp and merciless as it moves across her realm, scouring the essence of the inmates it falls upon. Her task is to keep those whose freedom would endanger the Gaian Veil imprisoned. It is as vital as that of every member of the Cabal : they are so few that none of them can afford to laze off, even if the Speaker of the Spheres likes to pretend otherwise for some reason the Dread Queen doesn't care to try to understand.
For the first time in an Age, there are new inmates in her prison-realm. The newcomers cry out, raging against their imprisonment, expressing their displeasure in the only way their limited minds are capable of. The chains that bind them are beyond their ability to escape : the knowledge that went into their making acquired over the course of many years, and at great cost.
It is not the first time their little pocket of sanity in a universe long gone mad has come under threat. The horror which brought her family low before being buried deep beneath the earth of Eastern Europe could have caused even more damage than it did, if not for the sacrifice of the Dread Queen's husband. And the Spider, slumbering in the jungles of South America, might very well bring everything to an end if it ever wakes.
But this is different. She has heard the Speaker's fears from the Mistress of Avalon. He believes that the Powers are aware of the Veil's existence now. That secrecy, their greatest asset in protecting Gaia, has been breached, and even now the Archenemy prepares to end all that they know and have protected for so, so very long.
He has reasons for his fears, the Dread Queen knows. They have taken more than mindless fragments of the Great Enemy this time. They have stolen a soul – though it pains the Dread Queen to dignify the Pretender's wretched spirit with that word – of significance to the Ruinous Powers. Its absence will be noticed, sooner or later, if it hasn't already.
It is hard for the Dread Queen to care. Her grief has calcified around her, the salt of her own tears hardening into a rigid shell. She still does her duty, because it is the last connection to her family she has left, and because she refuses to let despair win. But it brings her no joy, for the last of her joy died when she held the crumbling bodies of her children in her arms at Olympiamachia's end.
Even so, she is afraid of what it will mean, if the Magus of Flowers' worries turn out to be true.
December 1st, 2004 – Kumamoto City Airport
To Waver's own surprise, he'd somehow managed to fall asleep during the flight from London to Japan. He could only assume he'd been even more exhausted than he'd thought, given who else had been aboard the plane. That, or his survival instincts had thrown in the towel and given him up as a lost cause, which sounded equally likely.
In the end, it had taken a couple of days for the three of them to get their affairs in order before they could make the trip. Well, more so for Barthomelloi : the Vice-Director of the Mage Association couldn't just go on a journey to the other side of the world at the drop of a hat in normal circumstances, let alone in the wake of a near-disaster like what had almost happened at Fuyuki. The whole of the Moonlit World was still reeling from every oracle suddenly screaming about the approaching doom, while finely tuned instruments across the planet had gone crazy as they detected the brief flash of … whatever it was that had happened for a few seconds.
Waver himself had spent that time reassuring his students that no, the World wasn't going to end, and running around to prevent people from doing something stupid. Fortunately, his assistants had remained calm and able to help him, as had his students, who for some reason seemed to be convinced that, if their teacher wasn't panicking, then everything was going to be alright.
At some point, Barthomelloi had managed to contact Brishan and confirm that her going to Japan wouldn't be regarded as a breach of whatever treaty existed between the Clocktower and the Pillars of the East (whoever that was : Waver certainly had never heard that name before the latest meeting of the Lords, although he could make a guess). With that final check out of the way, they had finally left England.
Procuring a private jet to go to Japan had been the easiest part of the whole affair : Reines had taken care of it with one phone call. Barthomelloi could have handled it just as easily, but neither Waver nor his adopted sister were foolish enough to ask the Vice-Director to perform such a minor chore : if she had wanted them to go to Japan using her family's resources, she would have told them so. In the meantime, using the Archibald assets should draw less attention than those of the Barthomelloi.
The twelve or so hours of the trip had been enough for Waver to more or less recover from his exhaustion. The breakfast he had eaten onboard had also refilled his reserves – he'd been so hungry he had devoured it with almost indecent haste, which was a shame, given the quality of the food.
Gray had woken him up thirty minutes before they had landed, giving him time to wash up and change clothes inside the on-board facilities. And so, as they walked off the plane, Waver felt about as ready to face whatever insanity awaited him on his third trip to Japan as he could be.
It was fortunate this section of the airport had been cleared ahead of their arrival, or their group would have attracted a lot of attention. While Waver himself wouldn't have been notable (except for his long hair, which was somewhat unusual among men in most regions), the rest of their party was definitely eye-catching.
Bazett, being a former Enforcer and well used to international travel, looked the least out of place, wearing as she nearly always did a traditional suit, but her magenta hair was unusual to say the least. Gray's cloak was, at least, suitable for the local weather, and did conceal her unusual features. But even if Reines and Barthomelloi could conceivably be taken for rich European tourists, the maid walking two steps behind Reines couldn't be ignored, even with a small spell disguising her silvery skin under a more ordinary skin tone.
But there weren't any tourists to take pictures of their strange group, partly because of the early hour, and partly because the only people in this part of the airport were the employees, who were being paid extra not to notice anything out of the ordinary. Waver didn't know whether their compliance had been obtained through magical means or just by offering them a lot of cash not to ask questions, though he suspected the latter.
A tall, gruff man in a leather jacket waited for them inside the building, looking very out of place in these pristine surroundings. To his surprise, Waver recognized him.
"Hello, Ladies, Velvet," he greeted the five of them with a nod as they approached. "For the two of you who don't know me already, I am Kairi Sisigou, Necromancer and Spellcaster for hire. I have been recruited by the Mihashira Conglomerate to escort you to Fuyuki and act as a representative for the Conglomerate in your talks with Emiya and his allies."
The Mihashira Conglomerate, huh. Well, that confirmed Waver's theory as to the identity of the 'Pillars of the East' Brishan had mentioned. The fact that a supernatural faction powerful enough to be on speaking terms with the Department of Folklore was also operating a multi-billion dollars corporation still boggled his mind. The Association's Noble families might have access to that kind of wealth as well, but theirs was hidden away in bank accounts and byzantine enterprises which would make the most dedicated taxman weep in despair, not publicly traded on the stock exchange.
"You know this man, brother ?" asked Reines.
"Yes," he replied. "We have met before, during that business at the Marburry Workshop."
That had been a mess and a half, and had ended in a way that hadn't made anyone happy, but at least they had all survived it. Well, except for the brother of the defunct (but not, as it had turned out, fully departed) Head of the House, but really, the man had been asking for it by rummaging through Magecraft equipment looking for stuff he could sell for a quick buck. That had really been proving the rest of his family right to have all but cast him out and chosen his brother as heir instead.
"Hello, old man," said Bazett, smiling.
"Hello, Fraga. That arm of yours still working alright ?"
"Oh yeah," Waver's bodyguard swung her artificial arm in demonstration. "The boss' students did a bang-up job with it."
"Good, good." Sisigou turned his gaze to Waver's student. "And hello to you as well, kiddo. Your teacher is treating you well, I trust ?"
"Of course !" replied Gray, sounding offended at the mere suggestion.
"Glad to hear it." Sisigou's smile was surprisingly gentle for a man of his gruff bearing, but he quickly recentred himself as he turned his gaze back to the two Lords and the Heiress of the group. "If you will all follow me, there's a car waiting for us outside."
The car in question was a black limousine, which didn't surprise Waver : if he had been tasked with welcoming a party of Magi from London including the Vice-Director and Head of the Barthomelloi, he would have made sure to send the most expensive car he could get his hands on too. A discreet check as they entered told him that the car had been reinforced with a set of wards – minor stuff by the Association's standards, but enough to ensure nobody would think to take pictures of the vehicle or question its presence, from curious civilians to police patrols. In addition, the vehicle was well-appointed : someone had clearly gone through the effort of making sure the Barthomelloi Head would have no reason to complain about their hospitality. There was plenty of space for everyone
The chauffeur was also very good at his job, making a point of staying focused on the road as he drove them out of the airport, separated from the passengers by a thick, soundproof window (with a speaker that could be turned on if they needed to tell him something, of course). That didn't exclude the possibility of listening devices, either mundane or Thaumaturgic, but Waver was reasonably certain the Conglomerate wouldn't be that stupid with the Vice-Director here, especially since Sisigou was in the car with them.
The first ten minutes of the drive were quiet, but Waver knew that couldn't last. Predictably, as soon as they hit the major highway, Barthomelloi spoke up :
"Sisigou. What do you know of the events in Fuyuki ?"
"I know the situation has been handled, thank God," replied the mercenary, sounding remarkably at ease for someone talking to the leader of the Aristocratic Faction. "I have seen a lot of bad stuff in my career, but that one took the cake."
"You were there yourself ?" asked Reines curiously.
"Yep," the mercenary nodded. "I got deployed along with a bunch of Conglomerate's spooks, later reinforced by some people from London." He inclined his head toward Barthomelloi before continuing : "We didn't engage the Servants, of course, that would have been stupid." Having seen what Heroic Spirits were capable of with his own eyes, Waver agreed whole-heartedly. Maybe some of the most arrogant Magi of the Association would have scoffed and looked down at Sisigou for admitting it so easily, but none of them would have survived even being close to a Grail War. "But we kept the city clean of all the nasties that were drawn to it by the War."
"'Nasties' ?" Barthomelloi repeated, the word sounding completely out of place coming from her mouth.
"Human serial killers, Onis, Magic Beasts, Vampires, and the likes," Sisigou listed. "A whole menagerie of the Moonlit World's less reputable customers, all called by the corruption in the Grail responsible for things going so wrong in the last War and this one."
Nobody missed the way the Head of the Barthomelloi family tensed at the last item on the list, but nobody mentioned it either. The hatred of her House for Dead Apostles was well-known, while that of the Vice-Director bordered on the obsessive. The reason for the latter was a matter of some speculation in the Clocktower. Waver was fairly certain he had figured it out, but knew better than to ever give voice to his suspicions.
"I encountered and dispatched a bunch of Dead Apostles myself," said Sisigou, having picked up on Barthomelloi's interest. "And I know others were sighted and destroyed around the perimeter."
"Strange," the Vice-Director frowned. "Dead Apostles are rarely capable of reason, not long enough to travel far, and if there were so many Vampires close to Fuyuki we would have heard something before now. Do you have more details about what drew them to Fuyuki ?"
Waver hoped she wasn't thinking about using whatever it had been to draw more Dead Apostles into a killing ground. Much as he approved of anything which led to more dead bloodsuckers in principle, anything related to the mess in Fuyuki should be left well alone in his opinion.
"Actually, one of them did say something about that, just before it died," said Sisigou. "Something about hearing an angel's song, if I recall correctly."
"Well, that's both frustratingly vague and terrifying at the same time," Waver deadpanned.
The concept of 'angels' was fairly widespread in Magecraft, but it could signify any number of things. He hadn't heard of it being associated to the Dead Apostles before, however.
"Then, of course, there is what happened on the final night of the War," Sisigou continued. "It made our previous battles look like minor skirmishes, and the enemies we fought made the Vampires look like angry rats."
"The disruption was felt worldwide," said the Vice-Director. "Nobody I spoke to could give me a straight answer as to what exactly happened, though. What did it look like from the ground ?"
Sisigou went uncharacteristically quiet, his expression distant. That surprised Waver : in all their previous encounters, the Spellcaster had maintained a relaxed facade, even when their lives had been in imminent danger.
"I am still not sure," the mercenary said at last. "I know the Masters went to confront the threat in a cavern beneath the local mountain, where the mechanisms of the Grail were put. We were told to defend the city while they dealt with the root of the problem, but … something went wrong. We all felt it. It only lasted for an instant, thank God, but that was enough to seriously spook us. And then, the monsters came. Things I can hardly describe, looking like they had come straight out of someone's drug-fuelled nightmare. Whatever they were, I had never faced anything like them, and my Necromancy didn't affect them at all. They could talk – in fact, some of them wouldn't shut up. The best thing I can say about them is that they didn't leave bodies behind when killed, which at least made clean-up easier."
The Spellcaster emptied his glass of alcohol in one gulp, before refilling it from a bottle of a brand Waver didn't recognize but was certain was far too expensive for its contents to be treated so cavalierly.
"From what my boss told me, the Masters know more about what exactly went down," he concluded. "You will have to ask them for more details."
"I most certainly will," said Barthomelloi.
"Please remember that we are guests here, Vice-Director," Waver warned.
The Head of the Barthomelloi didn't quite glare at him, but it was a close thing. "I am perfectly able of being courteous, Lord El-Melloi."
Recognizing a battle that couldn't be won and shouldn't be fought, Waver kept his mouth shut, ignoring the small grin on Reines' face at the sight of his discomfort.
He could only hope that the rest of this trip to Japan would be less stressful, but he had a feeling he was going to be disappointed.
Shirou had initially proposed to host the meeting with the Association's representatives in his house, but Rin and Illya had both looked at him with a mix of pity and horror when he had made the suggestion. Apparently, his home wasn't fit to welcome the Vice-Director of the Clocktower, which since it'd been fine for one of the Twelve Lords, he didn't really understand, but the two of them were better at this formal stuff than him, so he had followed their lead.
Instead, the Mihashira Conglomerate had rented a room for them in one of the buildings of Fuyuki's business districts. Well, strictly speaking it had rented an entire floor, to make sure they weren't disturbed. Shirou and his group had arrived first, as the mere thought of making their visitors wait had nearly made Rin have a panic attack.
He was dressed in a suit Rin had bought for him the day before, after dragging him outside so that he wouldn't embarrass her at the meeting. Knowing better than to argue, he had gone along with it : she needed to relax, and she knew more about these things than him (even if most of it was theoretical, as she'd had little opportunities to practice her social skills outside of highschool). Shirou did have some inherited memories from Corswain about meetings with people (and things pretending to be people) of far greater power and influence than even the Clocktower's Vice-Director, but he was fairly certain drawing on them for guidelines would be a horrible mistake, so he intended to follow his girlfriend's lead.
After some back and forth, they had agreed to bring four people each to the meeting. On their side, there was Rin, Illya, Saber, and Shirou, while on the other, there was Vice-Director Lorelei Barthomelloi, Lord El-Melloi II, Reines El-Melloi Archisorte – who was apparently the Archibald Heiress, destined to take over from Waver Velvet when she came of age – and Enforcer Bazett Fraga McRemitz.
The rest of their respective groups was waiting outside, although thanks to their mental network, they could still monitor the talks and chime in if they had something to contribute. After a long discussion, Archer and Assassin had stayed home, along with Illya's maids. It wasn't likely that someone would try to sneak in while they were busy talking with the Association's higher-ups, but not impossible, and despite their lack of raw firepower compared to the other Servants, Medusa's sisters were more than capable of dealing with modern Magi. The fact that nobody trusted them not to say something provoking during the meeting just for the fun of it had been left carefully unsaid.
This meeting was already going to be tense enough without the Clocktower thinking Shirou was a sexual deviant, after all.
Objectively speaking, between Saber's presence and Shirou's gifts, the balance of power was wildly in their favor if it came to a fight. Oh, Shirou didn't doubt for a moment that the Vice-Director was dangerous, and Waver Velvet hadn't survived a Grail War and gained the reputation he had in the Clocktower by being useless in a fight, to say nothing of McRemitz's known prowess and the fact that the Archibald Heiress wouldn't have gotten that title by being useless at Magecraft.
But after facing the likes of Gilgamesh and Kor Phaeron, modern Magi worried him a lot less when it came to direct confrontations.
Still, if the meeting did turn violent, then everything would have gone catastrophically wrong, and the entire building would be a lost cause at the very least. Also, Rin would skin Shirou alive, wait for Avalon to heal him, and do it again. He knew this because she had told him as much yesterday, with an angelic smile that had sent shivers down his spine, and not the good kind.
Not that Shirou needed to be threatened to be polite.
The Mihashira Conglomerate was also represented, with Sisigou-san looking distinctly out of place as he sat at the head of the rectangular table around which the two groups were seated.
"Before we begin," said Sisigou, "there is someone else who would like to join us."
The mercenary placed a phone of a model Shirou didn't recognize on the table, with the speakers turned on.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," a familiar voice came out. "I am Kodai, and I will speak for the Pillars of the East in this discussion."
"Is this meeting not important enough to warrant your presence in person ?" asked Barthomelloi, frowning. Shirou had a feeling she frowned a lot.
"I'm afraid that I have many duties which require my continued presence in the capital," replied Kodai without any sign of fear – but then, given the influence of the Conglomerate and the fact he was hundreds of kilometers away from the Vice-Director and thus, presumably, safe from her wrath, that made sense. "It has been quite some time since I was able to leave the region."
"Is this line secure, at least ?"
"Of course, Vice-Director. We aren't amateurs."
Mentally, Shirou raised his evaluation of Barthomelloi's threat level. The fact that she even knew phone calls could be intercepted put her above a lot of Magi when it came to understanding technology – it had taken a long time for Rin to stop breaking every appliance in his home whenever she touched them, and she was a teenager who went to a public high school, not the child of a reclusive family cut off from the mundane world almost entirely.
"Fine, then," said Barthomelloi. "Now, let us get to business. El-Melloi ?"
"As you agreed when we talked over the phone two days ago, Miss Tohsaka, I have shared everything I knew with Vice-Director Barthomelloi and Reines," said El-Melloi. "They are aware of the corruption of the Grail, the irregular summoning of a Pretender-Class Servant from an alternative timeline, the survival of the Archer-Class Servant from the previous Grail War, the fact that multiple versions of King Arthur were summoned … everything you told me."
"It was quite the story," said Reines Archisorte, smiling as she spoke. "Your group has achieved a great deal."
"Call us the Emiya Clan," said Rin. "It will make things easier."
Shirou had tried to argue against the name, only for everyone else to look at him with a look that told him he was being an idiot.
"Before we get to the more important matters, the children of the Ainsworth family asked me to pass along their thanks for the destruction of their Founder," said El-Melloi. "I contacted them after you informed me of their Head's demise, and they confirmed your story about his body-hopping for as long as the family has existed."
"I see. Please give them my condolences, and my apologies that I wasn't able to rescue their father." Shirou paused. "If it's any consolation, I believe he was able to fight back against his usurper in the end."
"They will be happy to hear it, I think."
"Yes, yes, how very nice," Barthomelloi interrupted. "Now, start explaining what happened."
"To start at the beginning, my father became aware of the corruption of the Grail ten years ago, during the Fourth Grail War," Shirou began. His explanation had been carefully rehearsed under Rin's and Illya's guidance to make sure he didn't let anything slip they needed to keep secret. "It was the summoning of Gilles de Rais as Caster, with a serial killer as his Master, which first aroused his suspicions, but it wasn't until the end of the War, when the Grail manifested, that the taint became obvious."
"And Kiritsugu Emiya didn't think to warn others about the existence of a clear and present threat to the World in Fuyuki ?" asked Barthomelloi icily.
"He believed his sabotage of the ley lines would suffice to starve it out," replied Shirou levelly. "And I suspect that he did inform the Einzbern about it, only for his warnings to be ignored. More to the point, I am pretty sure he thought that, should the Association at large become aware that a god had manifested into the Grail, even a God of Evil like Angra Mainyu, there would be a lot of fools rushing to make use of it, heedless of the risks. It was his mess, and my father wanted to clean it up."
There was a moment of silence, until El-Melloi sighed.
"Much as I would like to believe nobody would be that foolish, I have too much experience dealing with precisely that kind of lunatic to deny the possibility," the Lord of the Clocktower said drily.
"The proper authorities should still have been informed," said Barthomelloi between gritted teeth.
"They were," said Kodai.
"You knew about this ?" asked El-Melloi.
"The Conglomerate was aware that something had gone catastrophically wrong during the previous Grail War, yes. We would hardly have been doing our job as Pillars of the East if we hadn't noticed the near-manifestation of an Evil God. But, like Kiritsugu Emiya, we believed the situation had been successfully contained by the end of the Fourth War. Hearing from Emiya-san that the Fifth Grail War had started decades ahead of schedule took us completely by surprise."
"And what of the Church ?" asked Reines. "Who, by the way, won't be happy to be kept from this meeting."
"Given that their chosen representative and Overseer turned out to be in thrall to the Grail's corruption for the last ten years and they didn't notice, they will have to live with the disappointment," said Rin, with a voice drier than the Sahara Desert. "I imagine he fed them reports that everything was fine, and that the Fourth War's cataclysmic end was just the result of clashing Noble Phantasms destroying the Grail – the same story which was told to the rest of the Moonlit World, in other words."
"What exactly happened to Kirei Kotomine ?" asked Barthomelloi. "He was one of the Church's most talented Executors, and shouldn't have gone down easily."
"Pretender turned him into a Lesser Grail after he tried and failed to kill Rin and Sakura," replied Shirou. "When we last saw him, he had transformed into a giant pile of mutating flesh, swollen with the prana of Gilgamesh and all the energy Pretender could gather."
"We also know that he was responsible for murdering my father during the Fourth War," added Rin coldly. "And that Kiritsugu Emiya shot him in the heart right before the War's end. Our best guess is that the corruption brought him back to life when Saber destroyed the manifested Grail at her Master's command, both to keep itself hidden until the next War, and to provide an anchor for the corrupted Gilgamesh."
Even now, they didn't know exactly when Kirei had fallen under the influence of Angra Mainyu. His murder of Rin's father (and Sakura's, but Shirou's first lover had renounced Tokiomi Tohsaka just as he had renounced her) was likely done after his corruption, considering the man had been his teacher and had trusted him enough to rely on him as an allied Master as well as entrust him with his daughter's education in Magecraft after his death, but they weren't sure. What details Shirou had been able to extract from the Azoth Dagger with which the murder had been committed were too vague to be certain, and, ultimately, it didn't really matter.
"This 'Pretender'," asked Barthomelloi. "What can you tell us about him ?"
"Pretender was a priest of an alternative version of Angra Mainyu," explained Rin. Given Angra Mainyu's title as All The World's Evils, and the nature of the Primordial Annihilator to which Kor Phaeron had dedicated himself, that wasn't technically a lie.
They had decided to keep the details of the alternate timeline (not an alternate, not an alternate at all, a fearful voice gibbered in Shirou's head which he forced himself to ignore) from which Kor Phaeron had come a secret. If Shirou's fears were wrong, then he was the only remnant of that timeline on the planet. If he wasn't … well, they needed to be very careful with that information, at least until they knew more about the situation.
"The Grail's corruption located him using the elements of the Second Magic built into the Greater Grail's system and combined him with the Spirit Graph of Solomon when Lord Animusphere attempted to summon the King of Mages," Rin continued. "He used the missing corpses from the Animusphere Castle massacre to create powerful Familiars."
"Did you manage to recover any of the bodies ?" asked El-Melloi.
"We destroyed all that remained after the battles were done," said Saber bluntly. "Their taint had to be expunged."
"Understandable," El-Melloi sighed. "But while Marisbury was smart enough to transfer his Family Crest to his heir before attempting the summoning ritual, there were members of lesser branches with their own Crests among the victims. Their loss will diminish the family's influence even more."
"Trust me, attempting to recover the Magic Crests from the Familiars would have been a spectacularly bad idea," said Shirou, wincing at the mental image of entire Magi bloodlines being turned into latent agents of Chaos, the corruption in their bodies waiting only for the right trigger to transform them into Demon Pillars. In Corswain's memories, entire worlds had been lost to Ruin with far lesser footholds – some of which as a result of the Archduke's own schemes. Better to remove the temptation entirely.
"On our way here, Mister Sisigou mentioned that one of the Dead Apostles drawn to the Grail said something about an 'angel's song' before it was destroyed," Barthomelloi said in the silence that had followed Shirou's remark. "Do you know anything about that ?"
There was a pause, as Shirou briefly consulted the others through their mental network. They hadn't expected that question, because they hadn't encountered any of the Dead Apostles summoned by the corrupted Grail.
"There were Vampires in Kor Phaeron's reality," he said, carefully wording his reply to avoid any outright falsehood. Keeping secrets from the Clocktower was one thing : if anything, it was expected of them. But he knew enough about the Vice-Director to realize that lying to her about something related to the Dead Apostles was a bad idea. "I believe the Grail used this to draw them under its influence."
"And what of that 'angel' ?" Barthomelloi insisted.
"Some kind of Vampire lord native to that timeline, I assume," said El-Melloi, and Shirou was grateful for his intervention. "If, as we believe, the Age of the Gods never ended in it, then the advent of the Crimson Moon would have unfolded very differently."
A horrific thought suddenly came upon Shirou as he contemplated the older man's words. If his fears about the reality of Corswain's galaxy of origins were unfounded, then El-Melloi was likely correct, and the Grail had used the Blood Angels as a model for its call.
On the other hand, if his fears were founded, then the abrupt descent of Brunestud, the Ultimate One of the Moon, into madness, suddenly became a lot easier to explain. Symbols were even more powerful in Chaos Sorcery than in Magecraft, after all.
There were few memories of the Ninth Legion in the recollections Shirou had inherited from Corswain, and based on their contents, that was probably for the best. Out of all the Traitor Legions, the sons of Sanguinius had perhaps fallen hardest and furthest from grace, with their Primarch's act of fratricide during the Siege of Terra leaving deep psychic scars upon the Warp.
He put that theory aside for later, and sent a pulse of reassurance to Saber, who had picked up on his sudden spike of worry and was on the verge of summoning her armor, thinking they might be about to be attacked.
"Earlier, you said that Kirei was used by the Grail to anchor Gilgamesh, the Archer of the Fourth Grail War," said El-Melloi. "When I was a Master myself, I witnessed the King of Heroes' power when he slew my own Servant. How did you deal with him ?"
"Superior numbers, taking advantage of his arrogance, and the fact I'm fairly sure his intellect was lost when the corruption turned him," replied Shirou. "He didn't behave rationally, and the corruption manipulated his perceptions directly to keep him from realizing it."
The more Shirou thought back on that fight, the more convinced he became that if the Alter Ego-Class Servant had fought smart instead of showboating, they couldn't have beaten him without significant losses at best.
"I drew his attention on me and held him at bay long enough for Lancer to charge her Noble Phantasm and blast him from the sky," he continued. "At which point Archer finished him off."
There was another brief pause, then Reines asked :
"You fought Gilgamesh directly ?"
"I did," he confirmed. "Despite his madness and how brief the fight was, I came entirely too close to death for comfort."
"Where did the Magus Killer find you ?" asked Barthomelloi.
"In the middle of the ruin at the Fourth Grail War's end," replied Shirou. "He was searching for survivors, and found only me. Even if it was to save the World, my father still felt guilty for the destruction his orders to his Servant caused."
"He didn't intend for you to succeed him ?" The Vice-Director made no attempt to hide her doubts.
"He wanted me to live, nothing more," Shirou corrected her. "I chose to pursue Magecraft against his wishes, and he did his best to teach me what he knew."
"Given what you have achieved, he must have been a great teacher," remarked Reines.
Shirou couldn't help himself. He chuckled.
"Oh, no," he corrected the Archibald heiress. "Kiritsugu was a terrible teacher. His initial explanation of how Magic Circuits worked was so bad, I thought I needed to create one using my nervous system every time I wanted to use Magecraft."
"What ?" El-Melloi sounded horrified, and the other three Magi didn't look much better. "That's … inefficiency aside, I can only imagine the pain that would cause, to say nothing of how easily you could cripple yourself doing that !"
"I thought the pain was normal at the time," Shirou shrugged, ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone at the table, including those on his side. Belatedly, he realized that while he had already told that story to Rin, Illya and Saber hadn't known about it before. "In any case, Kiritsugu caught it early and showed me the proper way of activating my Circuits, but as I said, his theoretical knowledge of Magecraft left much to be desired, as did his teaching skills."
"Then I can only imagine what you would be capable of, had you been given a proper education in Magecraft."
"I was," he replied, smiling. "Rin made sure of that once we became allies following the extinction of the Matou bloodline."
There was an awkward pause, eventually broken by El-Melloi :
"During my last visit to this city, you told me you had no intention of studying at the Clocktower or joining the Association. Has any of that changed ?"
"No, Lord. I have no interest in the affairs of the Association, and I believe that my presence in London would only cause unnecessary chaos."
"Hmm, that's probably for the best, yes." El-Melloi's poker face was good, but Shirou could still see the suppressed wince : clearly the Lord thought the same about having Shirou mingle with the arrogant, self-centered Magi who frequented the Clocktower as everyone else in his circle. "And what about you, Miss Tohsaka ? Back then, you asked for my recommendation should you petition to study in London."
"In a few years, once things have settled down and I have taken care of my business in Japan, maybe. But not anytime soon."
The fact that Rin, who had been so driven to restore her family's name and influence when they had first met with their respective masks down, was willing to delay her education in order to help the rest of their group, warmed Shirou's heart. His second lover had grown a lot since knocking on his door asking what he had done to Sakura, exactly two years ago.
"Even if you aren't part of the Association, being able to fight on a Servant's level would be reason enough for a Sealing Designation," said Barthomelloi, her tone so neutral the words nearly didn't register as a threat.
"You could certainly try," replied Shirou with a polite smile that, for some reason, made two of the three Magi on the other side of the table flinch. "But aside from the Conglomerate's response to such a violation of their accords with the Association, let me assure you that you wouldn't enjoy the result of provoking us."
"And in any case," Kodai cut in, "I don't believe the Director would allow it in the first place."
From what little Shirou knew of the Clocktower, its Director was more of an urban legend than an actual person with an office, administrative duties, and the kind of things that came with being the leader of an organization that, despite Magi being infamously self-centered and focused on their research to a frankly unhealthy degree, still wielded global influence in the Moonlit World. Still, Barthomelloi clearly took the warning seriously. Then again, if anyone would know the truth, it would be the Lords of the Clocktower.
"I had no intention of actually doing it myself," she said, and Shirou wasn't good enough at reading people to know whether she was lying or not. "But there will be those who argue for it regardless if word gets out, and who'll try to get their hands on you as a test subject when they are rejected."
"Then, if they won't listen to reason, they will die," said Shirou bluntly.
He still didn't like killing people, and would much rather avoid it, but he wasn't a fool. The kind of Magi willing to cross the world to kidnap and experiment on him despite being forbidden from doing so by the Clocktower would be the same kind of people as Darius Ainsworth, and he wouldn't regret their deaths.
Barthomelloi stared at him for a long minute, her expression unreadable. Then, she abruptly changed subjects :
"Alright. Let's move on to the main event, so to speak. What happened on the final night of the War ?"
"Pretender almost won," replied Saber. "We launched our assault on the Greater Grail, and encountered more of his familiars, created from captured civilians. We rescued them, but had to split up due to the hostile conditions deeper into the cavern, which only I and my Master could resist. When we engaged Pretender, along with the creature Kirei Kotomine had become by that stage, he enacted a ritual to force the Grail's activation in order to open a portal between his reality of origin and this one. He briefly succeeded, causing the disturbance you felt and unleashing a host of horrors upon the city which the rest of our party fought alongside the Conglomerate and Association forces while my Master and I fought Kor Phaeron."
"What exactly do you mean by 'briefly succeeded' ?" pressed the Vice-Director.
"At first, Saber and I were overwhelmed," Shirou admitted. "But fortunately for all of us, a Reflection of Wizard-Marshall Zelretch manifested and helped us figure out how to contain the overwriting of the World's textures."
They weren't going to tell the Clocktower about his Reality Marble, that much had been obvious from the start. While there was precedent for humans to achieve one, unlike the strange spiritual alchemy which had fused Shirou's soul to the tattered remains of Corswain's essence, it would still add yet another target on his back, and the Grail War had already put far too many there already.
"The Wizard-Marshall ?" Barthomelloi repeated, an expression of awe on her face for the first time.
Given that Zelretch had stopped Brunestud, the progenitor of all Dead Apostles on Gaia, and prevented the end of the world at the fangs of a horde of bloodthirsty undead, Shirou felt that respect was more than warranted.
"Yes. With his help, we stopped the ritual and killed Kor Phaeron, and I used a Command Seal to empower Saber's Noble Phantasm in order to destroy the Greater Grail once and for all, as even without Kor Phaeron to direct it, the corruption inside it still threatened to overflow."
"I see," said Barthomelloi. "I think I understand what happened. But before we move onto the aftermath, I have one question. The Greater Grail was destroyed, so why are the Servants still here ?"
Now was time for the reveal which had the greatest chance of making things go wrong.
"Because of this," said Shirou, raising the hand with Solomon's ring on it.
"Is that what I think it is ?" El-Melloi choked, eyes wide in recognition.
"If you are thinking it's one of the rings of Solomon," said Rin with just enough sarcasm not to be obvious to anyone who didn't know her as well as Shirou did. "It appeared on Shirou's finger after Pretender's defeat, and appears to be sustaining the Servants since."
"A case could be made that the ring rightfully belongs to the Animusphere family," said El-Melloi blandly. "As the current guardian of that family's heiress until she comes of age, it would be remiss of me not to mention that."
"Let's say that we agree to give it to her, and that by some miracle it does reach her hands." Which was closer to insinuating a Lord of the Clocktower would steal from his charge than Shirou was comfortable with, but with how valuable the ring was, it needed to be said. "How long do you think she could keep it ?"
"Not long at all," replied El-Melloi immediately, wincing. "Young Olga Marie is smart for her age, but not that smart. And I really don't want to have to deal with the kind of attention it would bring; my classroom is already more than enough trouble on its own. But as I said, I am her guardian. I have to look out for her interests."
"To go back to the matter at hand, we need to make sure that none of the monsters called by the Grail remain in the area," said Kodai. "Any who were close enough threw themselves into the fray on the final night, but there might be others who were too far away to make it and escaped when the Grail was destroyed and its call was silenced."
"If you need assistance, don't hesitate to contact us," said Shirou. "Your people helped protect this city, and we won't forget it."
"Thank you. And once the clean-up is finished, what are the plans of the Emiya Clan ?" asked Kodai.
"We intend to visit the Einzbern family in the future," replied Rin. "Both to take them to task for their inaction about the Grail's corruption, and because we require their advanced knowledge of homunculus creation."
"Why do you …" began El-Melloi, before his gaze suddenly sharpened as he looked at Illya. "Ah. I see."
"Please explain, dear brother," said Reines sweetly.
El-Melloi visibly shivered.
"Miss Einzbern – sorry, is it Miss Emiya now ?" Illya nodded, looking very pleased at the name, and the Clocktower Lord continued : "Miss Emiya is, unless I miss my guess, the daughter of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern. During the Fourth Grail War, I believed Irisviel was the Einzbern representative and Master of Saber, but she was actually a homunculus created by the Einzbern family in order to serve as the Lesser Grail of the Heaven's Feel ritual. In other words, a human sacrifice, meant to host the prana of slain Servants and turn into the Grail itself upon the war's completion. I assume that Miss Emiya was intended for a similar role by the Einzbern family, despite being a half-homunculus, which would require, well, numerous adjustments to her body, none of which I imagine were pleasant."
"After you figured out Sakura's background so quickly, I shouldn't be surprised," said Rin. "And yet. You've truly earned your nickname as the Clocktower's Sherlock Holmes, sir. Yes, that's correct. We have handled Illya's health issues for the moment, but we need the Einzbern's knowledge to solve them completely."
"I tried to get in touch with the Einzbern before coming here," said Barthomelloi. "There was no response to any of my attempts, and they pulled all their members back to their estate in Germany before the start of the Grail War."
"That's … worrying, to say the least," said Rin.
"Maybe they are grumpy about losing the Grail War again and hiding to sulk in peace without compromising their precious dignity ?" asked Illya, a rather vicious smile on her face.
Shirou would like to say that was unlikely, but given how poorly the Einzbern had reacted to losing the Fourth Grail War and how pettily they'd reacted to Kiritsugu's attempts to warn them about the Grail's corruption, he couldn't dismiss the possibility out of hand.
"There is another, more disquieting possibility," said Kodai. "We know the Einzbern messed with the summoning system during the Third War : that is how we ended up with Angra Mainyu being summoned in the first place. That means they have some means of accessing the Greater Grail from Germany. Given what happened to the Greater Grail …"
"Oh, brilliant," sighed Illya. "So the whole castle might have blown up when Saber destroyed the Grail."
Shirou didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but consider that one of the best case scenarios, if the silence of the Einzbern was truly due to their backdoor to the Greater Grail reacting to its destruction.
"Our influence in Europe is limited," said Kodai. "Lady Barthomelloi, do you have assets you could mobilize ?"
"Of course," the Vice-Director scowled. "But moving them into position is another matter. The Einzbern are one of the oldest and wealthiest Magi families of the Association, as well as one of the most secretive. Politically, I cannot just send the Enforcers in, even if the wards protecting the area weren't a concern."
"We can deal with the wards," said Shirou, glancing at Illya to imply that was because of her presence rather than because he could cut through Magecraft with his sword.
"I would rather you not destroy another ancient Magus family," Barthomelloi said drily. "Especially if you want to continue claiming you aren't the Magus Killer's successor."
"If the Einzbern are willing to be reasonable, they have only a little to fear," smiled Illya.
Nobody missed the fact that she hadn't said they had nothing to fear. But nobody brought attention to it either.
To describe the atmosphere of the waiting room as 'awkward' would have been to do the word a great disservice. And as someone who had accompanied Sir to a number of high-society functions, where rich and powerful magi snipped at one another (and, almost inevitably, one of the guests ended up killing another one using some Mystery they were certain would let them get away with it, forcing Sir to find the culprit to keep things from turning into an open battle), Gray knew a lot about awkward situations.
They were all sitting in a waiting room outside the doors behind which the meeting was taking place. Her teacher had tried to get her to seat in on the meeting too, but Reines had pointed out that the Fuyuki Masters had only four members in the room, and bringing more people could be regarded as weakness.
Gray was almost certain her friend had said that just so that she would be stuck here with the rest of the local group, with Trimmau as her only companion. Even Mister Sisigou had gone inside.
Reines could be mean like that sometimes, even if she always claimed it was for Gray's own good.
From the depths of her hood, she sneaked looks at the three other people in the room. Only one of them was human : Sakura Matou, the purple-haired young girl Gray had met during her last visit to Fuyuki with Sir and who registered as a Master to her mystical perceptions, while the other two were obviously Servants – Ghost Liners, spirits of the dead brought into a liminal half-light by the power of the Grail and anchored to Gaia by their link to their Master.
Gray could also detect one additional presence, but it lacked a physical form. She assumed it was an additional Servant, who was remaining in Spirit Form for one reason or another. That would be worrying, if not for the fact that any of the Servants could beat her all by themselves, and Miss Matou still had a pair of Command Seals glowing on her hand.
However, Gray was more preoccupied by the two manifested Servants. Both of them were adult women wearing modern clothes, and were almost identical if not for a slight difference in the color of their skin, hair and eyes. Their faces looked like the one Gray had been stuck with since ten years ago, except older and more obviously feminine.
They had also been staring at her since she had entered the room with the rest of the party from London, and it was really starting to get to her. Eventually, the one with blue eyes stood up and walked toward her.
"Hello, Gray," she said, her voice firm but gentle. "I am Servant Lancer, also known as Artoria Pendragon."
"Y-you know who I am ?" Gray asked.
"Yes. Shirou told us about you when it was decided Lord El-Melloi II would come here to discuss what happened. He told us about what happened with Miss McRemitz," Lancer's expression briefly hardened as she spoke the former Enforcer's name. "And he also told me that you are the current wielder of the spear I once had the honor of carrying, and whose replica I still bear." The regal knight patted the rapier that hung from her belt.
"How did he know that ?" Gray squeaked.
"There isn't much that Senpai's eyes don't see," said Matou, smiling gently.
"Could I see it ?" Lancer asked.
Gray hesitated, before telling herself she was being silly. Lancer already had her own version of Rhongomyniad, and if she decided to take the original from Gray, there was little she could do about it anyway. Reaching under her cloak, she raised Add toward the blond woman. She raised an eyebrow : clearly this wasn't what she had expected.
"Hello, Arty !" said Add. "You're looking good for a dead woman, kekekekekekeke !"
"Add !" Gray hissed, mortified. "Can't you be polite for once !"
Lancer cocked her head to the side, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Kay ?" She whispered. "Is that you ?"
"I, huh. Not really." Suddenly, Add sounded a lot more subdued than usual. "Sorry about that. I am a simulation of his personality, created by the Atlas Institute and installed inside the container for Rhongomyniad."
Gray was well-versed in Arthurian legend, and she knew that Kay had been King Arthur's foster brother, the one to whom she had been squired before taking Caliburn out of the stone in which Merlin had put it.
"I … I see," said Lancer. "I can't say I'm happy that someone used my brother's spirit like that, but I won't blame you for the circumstances of your creation. Glad to make your acquaintance, Add."
"Same here, Arty ! By the way, I gotta ask : what's the deal with your dark twin over there ? Or Emiya's Servant, for that matter ? The pipsqueak was terrified that you would be summoned again when she heard the War had started, but nothing happened, yet here you are !"
"… I'm sorry ?" asked Lancer, looking from Add to Gray, who shrunk in her seat. "What do you mean ? Why would you be afraid of me being summoned ? You were in London at the time, right ?"
Gray didn't want to talk about that. But she knew it was the reason Reines had left her here. So, she forced herself to be brave, just like Sir was when he confronted stronger Magi when they were on a case together.
"It's because when King Arthur was summoned ten years ago, my body changed, and my face turned into this," she began, slowly reaching up with the hand not holding Add to push back her hood. Lancer didn't react to the reveal of a face so similar to her own, but then Emiya had probably already told her about it, which she felt obscurely angry about. "I thought that, if King Arthur was summoned again … nothing would remain of me. I would become him, wholly and completely. But you are here, and I … I am still me."
It had been her nightmare for years. Every time she looked into a mirror, she saw a face that wasn't hers. It had been so long, and she had been so young when it had happened, that she barely even remembered what her true face looked like. When Sir had told her that the Grail war had started decades ahead of schedule, she had been terrified, but then nothing had happened, so she had thought King Arthur hadn't been summoned, only to then learn that not just one, but three versions of the King of Knights were present as Servants.
Needless to say, Gray had been very confused, but with the whole 'potential apocalypse' on the horizon, she had been able to stop thinking about it until now.
"That does sound like something scary," said Matou. "But I think I know why nothing happened to you. You said that the initial transformation happened ten years ago, when Kiritsugu Emiya summoned King Arthur as the Saber-Class Servant of the Fourth Grail War, correct ?
"Yes," Gray nodded hesitantly. "I think the other villagers said that the spell built into our village detected the descent of King Arthur from the Throne of Heroes ?"
"Then that explains it," nodded the purple-haired girl. "You see, the Heroic Spirit of King Arthur wasn't actually summoned again this time. After what happened during the Fourth War, the Grail's access to the Throne was curtailed, and the summoning system had to improvise in order to get all seven Servants needed for the Heaven's Feel ritual."
"What do you mean ?" asked Gray, gesturing at the two manifested Heroic Spirits in the room with them.
"It's complicated, but basically, the Saber summoned during the Fourth Grail War never disappeared. Saber, Lancer and Rider," which at least answered the question of who Lancer's darker twin was, "are both aspects of King Arthur, created from pieces, of the Spirit Graph called into being ten years ago. So there wasn't another summoning from the Throne of Heroes, and the spell which changed your face ten years ago didn't trigger."
"Is-is that true ?"
"As much as I didn't enjoy being told I was only part of King Arthur's legend, it was difficult to argue when three different versions of the Heroic Spirit manifested for the same Grail War, all of them with different skills and memories," said Rider sardonically. "Especially when Saber turned out to still have the memories of the Fourth Grail War, which shouldn't be possible if a fresh version of us had been called forth from the Throne."
Gray nearly collapsed in relief.
"Still, I am curious about how this whole thing came about," said Lancer. "You talked about a spell built into your village ?"
"Oh, yes." Gray nodded. "The whole village is very old, and dedicated to taking care of the cemeteries around it, some of which date all the way back to Camelot's time. Supposedly, the spell was set up by Morgan Le Fay in order to resurrect King Arthur."
Lancer winced, while her darkened version outright groaned, before muttering something that sounded like "dammit, sister" under her breath.
"I don't know what my sister was thinking when she created that Mystery. Even in those memories I have access to, our relationship was … complicated, as you no doubt already know." Lancer was silent for a moment, before continuing : "I only have some of King Arthur's memories, but I know that every version of myself would be appalled at the very idea of stealing a child's life in order to get resurrected. You are your own person, Gray, and I hope that you can reclaim your own face someday."
"Thank-thank you," Gray stammered.
"You are welcome." Lancer's smile was a bit forced, but the warmth in it was genuine. "Now, would you like me to tell you some of the tricks I figured out with Rhongomyniad ?"
When Gray had come down the plane earlier today, she hadn't expected to get combat tips from King Arthur. But she certainly wasn't going to complain about it.
AN : What's this ? Two updates of ABR in the same month ? What manner of sorcery is this ?!
Well, dear readers, the reason is simple. I was pulling the gacha on FGO, ready to spend 300 SQ on the Tlaloc/Kukulcan banner. In my first 10-pulls, I got Tlaloc. Feeling good about it, I launched the second 10-pulls ... and got 2 COPIES OF KUKULCAN.
I haven't bothered to calculate the odds of that happening, but I am certain they are infinitesimal. After going "ALL HAIL THE GACHA GODS" for a moment, I decided that this was a clear sign and swore to finish this chapter by the end of the month. It was a challenge, since it was MORE TALKING, which was a chore to get through even if I think it was necessary for the story, but I managed it in the end.
(Just to be clear, I do not actually believe in the Gacha Gods or any other superstitious rituals to manipulate random chance. I am not crazy. But this was as good a source of motivation as any to write more of this story, and after the prolonged hiatus I'm sure none of you will complain about my obscene luck.)
Also, I have learned that I still need more practice writing dialogue, and that my usual writing process isn't suited for long conversations like that. So, at the very least, I have grown as a writer.
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and look forward to your thoughts and theories. The next one will contain less talking and more action, as our heroes make a trip to Germany and find more than they expected.
Zahariel out.
PS : Given that it's been more than a year, you might want to re-read The Motion of the Spheres Interlude to refresh your memory on that last bit.