Chapter Text
Tokiomi Tohsaka sighed as his bones and muscles started complaining from all the weight he was carrying. He really was getting too old.
But still, someone had to fix his private study.
After he had used a Command Spell to get Archer out of trouble, he had expected the King of Heroes’ usual arrogance and irritation. Instead, he had been met with a confused Gilgamesh mutterring to himself before he suddenly burst into action. Namely, locking himself in his Master’s private study and ruining the place. And it wasn’t even with a tantrum beffiting someone like the Babylonian King, but by tearing through all of his books with an insatiable need. For an hour.
Sighing once more, he bemoaned the lack of normal servants in his manor that could take care of this.
“Whoa. It looks like a hurricane made a visit.”
Tokiomi would never admit he jumped when he heard the voice. He could be in his deathbed but he still refused to say he was surprised by...
Turning to the now unlocked door of his study, Tokiomi raised a browashesaw a paleface with big redeyes hidden by a white, bone maskwith red markings forming the shapes of the moon in it’s many phases. Dressed in a bright whiteraincoatthat loosely stuck to her small body, with numerous child-like drawings, mostly of fishes and other aquatic animals, all in different colors. Slung over her shoulder was a packed and clearly weighted bag that seemingly did nothing to hither her movements. With fingerless gloves and big combat boots of blue and gold, anyone who looked at her woulod be amused by the child that seemed like she wanted to look like a grown-up, but gave up half way through.
With ahuge smile on her face, LilyLadre waved at the Head of the Tohsaka Familydespite him being right in front of her. “Hi Mister Tohsaka!”
The girl walked further in, careful not to step on one of the books, and casually sat one of his plush chouches, directly in front of his desk. She turned back to him with an impatient gazeand a small smile, eliciting a short sigh from him. He smiled like all fathers did when dealing with an overactive child. But in this case she was more like a distant niece, wasn’t she?
Tokiomi picked up his cane that was left standing on it’s own in close proximity. A little trick he had learned in his time. He walked with a straight gait and sat at the couch before his desk, his body sinking into the comfortable cushions. “And just what are you doing here, Lily?”
“The Doctor sent me here to get an update on the War and the state of the catalysts he lent you.” The teenage girl, clearly no older than sixteen but always insisting she was older than she looked, “And also to ask if you wanted to keep them for the next Grail War or if you want to give them back in exchange for something.”
Of course he would, the little brat.Votos Ladre, ‘The Doctor’, was a very eccentric and dangerous man. But most of all, he was an even more annoying pest.If he had not been necessary for the Holy Grail War, Tokiomi would have made sure not to get involved with the man in any way. But no matter what, the Masters needed their catalysts andMystic Codes for the war and, with the right bargaining chip, they could obtain almostany with the Manin The Raincoat.
Pushing such matters aside, he answered the girl truthfully. “The catalyst given for the summoning of Gilgamesh worked perfectly.However, the one that was meant to summon Hassan-I-Sabbah did not meet expectations.”
Taking the pointed barb with grace, the apprentice sighed. “That, I imagine, is another reason why I was sent here.” She took out and rummaged in her bag for a second, before she took out a white bone mask from his coat, laying it on top of the manson wood of his desk. The mask had the form of a skull, though only the top part and it was cracked in places. “Looks like someone managed to get one over the Doctor.”
“Hmm.” The Tohsaka Head leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowing. Don’t lie to me.He secretly thought, careful not to let it slip. You and Votos came to me with that dried-up snake skin and the Wasteland Survival Guide for a reason. He wanteda Knight of the Round Table in the War.He wanted to accuse the man of cheating him out of his wanted Servant, laying his anger on the apprentice in front of him, but he held off. It would, after all, be very imprudent to do so.
To this day, no one knew what happened to the last client who insulted Lily in Votos’ earshot.And he doubted that man wasn’t listening right now.
Taking his silence as righteous anger, the young girl moved to assuage the magus. “Worry not, he was justly reprimanded for the mistake. I promise he won’t screw up like that again.”
Ah. Yes, that is very easy to believe.He had met with Votos before, and had seen the relationship he had with his apprentice and the other two women he worked with. While one of them would likely just let him off with a (literal) slap on the wrist, the other one would likely have waterboarded him for hours after she realized his fumble.
She was scary like that.
Loudly slamming her hands on his desk, Lilysmiled as his attention came back to her. She leaned forward, pushing into his personal space, excitedly asking, “Anyway! How’s the war chugging along, Mister Tohsaka? Are the Servants fighting a lot? Are they as cool as the Doctor said? Did they use their Noble Phantasms?!”
He paused to take a deep breath and waited for the girl to compose herself, before he calmly said, “It has been going well. Gilgamesh’s power is unrivalled, even if he refuses to use the Sword of Rupture. He simply doesn’t see anyone worthy of it. And Assassin...” He paused as he remembered the feeling of standing in the same room as that hateful spirit’s glare. Pushing it down, he continued, “For as much of a surprise it was, he has served a very useful purpose. With his Noble Phantasm, we have been able to find most of the Masters involved in the war, with the exception of the Einzbern’s and Rider’s Master.”
“Wow. Looks like even without Hassan, you still got a pretty good Servant. How neat.” The girl spoke in some strange slang Tokiomi wouldn’t have the hope to understand. For someone as involved in the Moonlit World as he, it was impossible to pick up modern slang. He did catch the sarcasm though. “But “unrivaled”? Archer? Didn’t that Servant back at the docks go and fight off the King of Heroes? He was really cool. Like a knight from a storybook!”
Torquoise eyes sharpened and snapped to the oblivious girl, grinning to nothing as she pumped her arms up and excitedly reenacted the fight as well as she could. Suspicions ran amok through his mind. The fact one Votos Ladre’s agents had been watching and had hidden herself well enough that not even Assassin had found her was a great problem. Greater than any could imagine without the knowledge Tokiomi had.
There was precariously little information about Votos Ladre. No one in the Mages Association or the Holy Church had any idea who he was, where he came from, how he had come to access such precious items, or what he did with the items he took in trade. The oldest written record of him was an excerpt from one of his ancestors who participated in the Third Holy Grail War, before she married into the Tohsaka family, that mentioned ‘the Man in the Yellow Raincoat’.
“I’m fairly certain that he was the Master of Rider. My memory is spotty when it comes to him, but I remember seeing that damned smiled somewhere in the War.He was abrasive, the quickest one to pick a fight and the most careless one in them as well. I can only attribute his success as one of the final Masters to his Servant’s competence.
I thought he would stay out of it after he lost his Servant, but he stuck around pestering the other Masters, almost like he enjoyed ruining their plans.
But when he saw the way my sister got injured... he was more than quick to help. It was so sudden, but he was so serious, his body shaking as he held his hands to her body... and performed what I can only describe as an impossible miracle. She was healed so easily, almost like that damned {IIIIIII} hadn’t nearly taken her head.
But... there was something wrong with it... something... corrupt.
To whoever is reading this, be you Tohsaka or Edelfelt.
Stay away from the Man in the Yellow Raincoat.”
Tokiomi wasn’t the type of idiot that spat on the legacy of his ancestors like Kariya, and had tried to keep a distance from any contact with the man. Untli Votos had been sitting at his dinner table with a dried snake skin inside a wooden box.
Caution was necessary. But winning the war was more important.
“That ‘man’ was rather strong.” He began cautiously, seeing the way the collector beamed at the words. “But I’m afraid he was no Servant at all. Assassin claims that he was one of the Masters. The Master of Caster to be precise.”
Thatshot any unneeded thoughts out of the girl’s head, her grin vanishing into oblivion and clear surprise overtaking his features. Good. I ill need more enemies.
She put a hand on her chin, putting up an overly exagerated thinking pose. He looked at her flatly, not being fooled in the slightest. Especially with the bead of sweat running down her brow.
“Well, I’ll get out of your hair, Mister Tohsaka. Seems like you got a full plate already.” Suddenly pushing off the table, the girl made herway to the door, hiding a small gem at the couch the Tohsaka Head was sat at. Before, she left however, she turned back to the mage with an uncharacteristic deep frown. “Oh and... I should warn you that the serial killer that’s been going around changed their targets.”
The Tohsaka raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of subject and mannerism, but still waved his hand for her to continue. She turned back fully, redeyes staring back with a serious gaze, herhandsclenching into fistsso tight theybled on the floor. “While he seems to still kidnap children and young women... he started exploring the field of people with particularlyhigh magical potential. Some even had semideveloped Magical Circuits. And a lot of them with black hair and blue eyes.”
Lilyclosed hereyes,missing the panicked look on Tokiomi’s face. The mage’s pupils shook in place, his throat clamp and tight as his mind brought up the memory of a photo he kept on his person at all times. One that held the faces of two little girls that had been forced to be separated for the rest of their lives. All because of the rules of the Moonlit World.
“And from what we’ve seen...” She continued, Tokiomi forcing himself to look upon the woman, who held a yellow folder in her hand. A folder that was tossed towards him, laying atop one of his seats. “There was evidence of a man in a white cloak in the crime scene.”
Walking down the stairs as carefully as his sleep-deprived brain could in the middle of the night, Kiritsugu Emiya rubbed his eyes with a fist and he stiffled a yawn with another.
Tonight hadn’t been the best. Not only did the entire Grail War now knew the True Name of his Servant, he had failed on getting rid of the two biggest threats despite having such na easy such at one of them. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t getting frustrated. He was Kiritsugu Emiya, The Magus Killer! He didn’t take pride on the title but screwing up three times in one night wasn’t like him.
Maybe he shouldn’t have rung that alarm. Without the warning maybe they would have died...
He stopped in the middle of the hallway. That thought. It was the kind of necessary action he needed to take in order to win the War. And yet, the thought made him sick. So sick he actually needed time to quell his stomach lest he throw up again. He was growing soft.
He returned to walking, his gait both aimless yet with a purpose only his subconcious knew. His waking mind, what little of it was functioning, unfortunately returned to the strange vision he had... when he was faced with that terrible sword.
He hadn’t been able to make sense of anything he saw in it. It was like grainy footage from a corrupted tape; it was hard to make out any details. It was easier to understand the sounds he had heard, however. They were sounds he was slitghly more familiar with. Screams of pain, of death. The howls of those that were inflicted a pain that they never should have experienced. He felt what little food remained in his stomach start to rise when he remembered those screams.
There were only two things he saw and heard perfectly in that vision... And a third, a feeling that he couldn’t escape.
Red eyes staring at him with hatred. “Why?”The question rung in his head.
And the feeling that it was all his fault.
In the hours after, when he returned to the Einzbern Mansion, he poured over various books on cursed swords and what little information he had about magi who were selling or had sold cursed Mystic Codes. He had thought the sword a weapon with the effect to poison anopponent’s mind, believing it so strongly to the point of asking Irisviel to check him for suchcurses, but after Maiya gave him a much calmer report(and his panicked mind had more time to process it), he threw the idea away. There was no point in buying, or even making, a Mystic Code like that if it was going to affect the user just as badly as the target.
He had then thought that Caster was attempting to betray her Master, but forsook that theory too. She had been friendly with him, even if her words were lightly biting. He expected the two to be at each other’s throats all the time considering their first encounter, but now he imagined that had been some kind of scheme to throw other Masters off their game, like it did with him. Strange that they would go so far as expend a Command Seal. Those things are priceless.
He was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a pleasent aroma tickle his senses. He looked around, noticing that one of the rooms, the one that led directly to the front entrance, had it’s lights on. A trail of steam came from it, the source of the smell from earlier. His head tilted as he looked at it, utterly bewildered. Who was cooking at this hour?
It couldn’t be Irisviel; she wass such a disaster in the kitchen he, Illya and surprisingly Jubstacheit, had all banned her from ever approaching the kitchen. And it couldn’t be Maiya either, she had raided the refrigerator and locked herself in her room. Last time he checked she was passed out over numerous books. Seems like she had the same idea as him.
He put his hand on the handle of his Thompson Contender, ready to whip it out in a moment’s notice. He looked inside the room only to find a mop of blonde hair busy at the stove. His confusion grew as he stared, his brain trying to rebbot after seeing Lancer of all people cooking.
“Rough time sleeping, Master?” She suddenly asked, making him jump in place. She had noticed him? Not only was he soft, looks like he was getting old too. BUt maybe he was expecting too much from himself; a Servant’s senses were much better than a humans. She turned around with a flat look, holding up a plate of steaming food. “Care for a taste? Sleeping on na empty stomach is bound to end in trouble.”
“What... are you even doing ? I thought Servants didn’t need to eat?”
“Well, the night hasn’t been what I would call productive. Even more so I would call it infuriating.” Her eye twitched as she spoke, before she took a deep breath and plastered a fake smile on her face. “So I decided to see what I could whip up in the kitchen. I found out later in life that creating something, even if it is to be devoured later, can be quite calming.” Her body suddenly shivered. “And because when Sir Gawain was on kitchen duty, you had to learn to make your own meals to survive.”
Kiritsugu pulled a chair for himself, giving her a raised eyebrow. “Was the man that bad of a cook?”
“Yes. He only ever made mashed potatoes.” He raised na eyebrow at that, moving to point out the inconsistency of her words, only to be stopped by her hand. “And before you say it Master, yes, I am aware Britain didn’t have potatoes back then. It’s simply that Gawain was such a disaster that anything he made inevatably ended up looking like mashed potatoes.”
The two sat in silence for a time, simply acknowledging each other’s presence and appreaciating the chance to eat good food with company. Eating alone was a sordid affair, Kiritsugu knew, even if he didn’t avoid it too much. It was still pretty good to have someone around. Sometimes, depending on who it was, the taste of the dish could be improved simply for them being there.
It wasn’t really the case between the two of them. One was a weapon for the other, even if they weren’t as antagonistic as both expected at the beginning of the war. Kiritsugu nodded his head as he took another bite, raising his head towards Lancer. “These are pretty good.”
“Thank you. While they aren’t to the point I would like, I simply didn’t have time to practice like Jaune did.”
“The Knight of Compassion?” Kiritsugu asked, remembering the real name of the man. Leaning back on his seat, he sighed as he brought both hands up and started counting off with his fingers. “So, he was a miracle healer, one of the strongerKnights of The Round Table, your boyfriend-” -‘Emiya I’ll stab you’-“and a cook that could top this? What the hell was that man?”
“A Heroic Spirit from another dimension.” Lancer said casually, putting down the knife she had aimed at him.
...
...
Kiritsugu blinked. Had he heard her right? A Heroic Spirit? From another dimension? That couldn’t be right. Not even the Holy Grail could summon beings from another world. Leaning forward with shock on his face, he incredulously asked, “What?”
Lancer paused right as she brought the spoon to her mouth. She raised a brow at his face, confusedly asking, “Did I not tell you?”
“No. No, you didn’t tell me he was a bloody Servant! And from another dimension?! HOW?!”
Artoria held up a hand to stop him, her eyes closed as she waited for him to even out his breathing and sit back down. Only when she heard him doing so, and after checking with her own eyes, coming face to face with his desire to understand the mystery, did she begin her explanation. “When I decided to take up Caliburn and my destiny as King, I thought myself certain that I could make any sacrifice for my people. I believed that I could make any decision without hesitation. Anything, for the kingdom.”
“But I was wrong. When my hand reached for Caliburn, I hesitated. Because I was afraid. Merlin, that pansy, smelled blood in the water and immediately jumped on it.” She shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips, amused by the memory of her mentor. “He brought out a scroll and a pair of magical stones that could summon all manners of things. Merlin used one of them to summon some gelatinous dish that would better be called a biological weapon. I used the other... to summon a Heroic Spirit who could understand my heart.”
Kiritsugu found himself enthralled by the tales she told him. Of how even during his summoning, Jaune Arc was already mirred with trouble, somehow bringing with him a weird soul-eating ghost along when he was summoned. Not na allied familiar, but a monster that had been attempting to kill a friend of the knight. The worst part was, the man didn’t even agree to the summoning! He just got dragged in!
She procceded to tell him of her time with the man, of how he told her of various other worlds, where dragons raided the skies, where mutants walked on desert wastelands. She told him of so many strange things, some so ludicrous he even began to doubt her. She must have been messing with him, there was no way a man could die and just start hopping between dimensions like that!
Without even meaning to, the two started arguing, Artoria insisting in the validity of her familiar’s life story and Kiritsugu contemplating ifhis Servant was either insane or far more gullible than he first thought. He paused when she began discussing the people Jaune Arc surrounded himself with. Primarily because of one person, the first partner he allegedly made when he first Jumped.
The Dohvakiin; Dragonborn. A blonde woman who could destroy mountains with her voice alone.
Before he could ask her to elaborate, they were interrupted.
Entering the room, Maiya immediately called for their attention. “Kiritsugu. There’s something you’ll want to hear. It’s from the church.”
“I assume you haven’t seen the news recently, Tokiomi.”
“In an underground bunker buried deep in my home’s basem*nt? Getting a signal down here would be quite difficult Risei.” Tokiomi chucled to his own little joke. Risei’s brow creased as he noticed the light panic in his voice, in the way he spoke a bit too fast. Something seemed to have shaken the man. “Just what is the issue, my friend?”
Risei turned to the other man standing behind him, the older priest stepping aside to make space. “Kirei.”
The hidden Master of Assassin stepped forward, emotionless eyes peering into the equipment that would send his message to his mentor. “The Master of Caster has been drawing much attention. He and his Servant have been extremely careless, with him doing not only this Shielder of Fuyuki act but also his actions tonight. You know of him destroying the warehouse district, but he also done much more.”
“Not only did he break the rules and somehow summon an extra Servant-” Tokiomi jumped in his chair when he heard that, almost interrupting Kirei with a loud yell- “Both the new Servant and he publiclyused magecraft, he falling from a building and walking it off like it was nothing. Many news channels are already theorising what he could be and calling him a super-soldier or an alien.”
“It won’t be long before someone from the Mages’ Association takes notice of this.” Risei stepped into the conversation, his stren voice making Tokiomi straighten out his back out of reflex. “If an Enforcer Squad gets involved, they may attempt to stop the Holy Grail War in order to deal with him, derailing everything and putting untold amounts of pressure on both of our backs. We must deal with this fool as soon as possible.”
There was a long silence from the other end of the line. They waited as the man seemed to fume, anger radiating from him as he mulled over the report. Tokiomi was a gentleman, composed even in the worst of times, but even he had a limit. A thousand little things happening at once were more than enough to tip him over the edge. To make him asct hastily. To make a mistake.
“He’s not even trying to hide...” He released a hot puff of air, pushing his stress down to the best of his abilities, before turning back to the gramophone. “Very well. As one of those meant to protect the secrets of magecraft, I cannot allow for this to continue. Especially considering what she told me...”
Kirei’s eyes narrowed as the gramophone caught Tokiomi’s somber muttering at the end. Who told him what? Considering the context it had to be something to do with the Master of Caster. But what could it be?
Was it about those pretty flames that showed up when he faced Kiritsugu Emiya?
“As Overseer of The Holy Grail War, I have the ability of bending the rules by a bit.” RIsei informed after a quick pause. “We will make the other Masters take them down. The very fact he summoned an extra Servant despite hisalready grandstrength should make the others panic enough to go after him.”
“A suggestion, Risei.” The two turned back to the gramophone, Risei listening intently. “Tell them that Caster and her Master have been involved in the recent kidnappings and murders. Knowing how noble some Servants tend to be, that should be more than enough to have them frothing at the mouth.”
The priests could admit to some surprise when hearing the suggestion, but they held off their questions. Risei left to come up with an appropriate story to tell the other Masters and a way to get in contact with them. Kirei wished a good night of sleep for his mentor before going to his room, his mind filled with questions.
Tokiomi was acting strange. His tone had been somber the entire time and even for him coming up with a lie like that was unusual. It could be explained away with his desire to win the War but he still found himself suspicious. Piled with his witness to the battles of Caster’s team, and the strange phenomena Shielder’s sword had when they faced Kiritsugu Emiya, Kirei found himself strangely more... excited.
Before his usual admonishments could resurface, he heard light chatter coming from a door close to him. He looked at it, his eyebrow rising when he noted it was his room. Father should be on the other side of the church at the moment, and no one else should have gotten this far inside without permission. Then he heard the voice of Assassin and grew even more confused. He couldn’t be talking to the Hound Knights, they didn’t have their own voices to talk back.
Trusting that Assassin would have taken care of any intruders, he entered his office. Immediately, he came to the sight of a large crack on the wall, like a spiderweb that went to and fro the bottom and top of the wall. He blinked a few times as he stared at it, completely confused. Turning to the side, he saw Archer lounging on his sofa with a half-empty tall glass of wine in his hand, and Assassin in a seat beside the King of Heroes, nursing his own drink.
The Servant of the Bow was grinning from ear to ear, his pose relaxed as could be, as he sat surrounded by wine bottles carefully placed on the floor. The Servant saluted the priest with his hand, saying, “This may be a smaller collection than Tokiomi’s own, but these bottles are certainly of higher quality. Are you really the apprentice here?”
“Ah.” Kirei exclaimed, coming to the conclusion the two had had a fight in the middle of his office before they found his stash of wine. He walked forward, picking up a few bottles before asking, “And what exactly happened here?”
“I arrived to deal with an intruder. Once I saw Archer, we just traded some barbs and nothing more. Though the wall was something else entirely.” Assassin spoke up, Gilgamesh looking annoyed and mocking him by making that ‘blah-blah’gesture. Assassin clearly saw it, his right eye twitching for a second before he pushed through and ignored it. “Speaking of other matters, what happened to the Hounds I sent after you? I lost contact with them and the only thing I got was giberrish.”
“It would seem that your dogs really are nothing more than stupid animals.”
“Shut up, Archer.”
“Your security detail was massacred.” Kirei interrupted firmly, using his words to shock the two and prevent any fighting. It worked, thankfully, bringing Archer’s and Assassin’s respectively lazy and sharp gazes to him. He continued, puttin the empty bottles away. “After I confronted someone, we were interrupted by Caster. It seems seeing your mother was enough for their Madness... Enhancement...”
Kirei trailed off, his body freezing as he felt a familiar pressure. He didn’t even have to turn around to know what was happening, but turn around he did, mainly because he was curious what exactly he would see. Assassin’s face, overtaken by fury, galring into his eyes. Just like the first time he was summoned and told his wish for the Grail would be ignored for the sake of anothers. The way he glared, the way the room’s temperature dropped to the bottom as he restrained himself from just destroying whatever it was that angered him. It seems even mentioning Morgan is enough to drive him up the wall. Maybe his own Madness Enhancement will pop up now.
For as much as Kirei lightly chuckled in his head when seeing those eyes again, he wondered just what Command Seal was going to save him this time.
“Oh?” Archer perked up. Grinning like the cat that caught the canary, he turned to Kirei. “My, oh my, It seems someone has quite a bit of free time in their hands. Going out, quite late at that, without the church’s precious protection? Could it be you are becoming dissatisfied with Tokiomi’s orders, little priest?”
“Are you?” Kirei asked, just trying to get the heat off his back.
“Who wouldn’t?” Archer lazily threw one hand to the air, bemoaning, “The man thinks himself a scheming mastermind, and while I admit his offerings to summon me were intresting, he is such a bore. All he is useful to his to be an anchor tying me to this world.”
“Despite my works with the man,” Anothervoice, one that didn’t belong to either Gilgamesh or Assassin, spoke with a cheerful tone that paradoxically sent a chill down Kirei’s spine. He froze and, with a startle, realized he had not noticed anyone else on the room. “I too have to admit to falling asleep during his many lectures.”
“Ah, yes.” Archer smiled widely as he released an amused breath. Raising his flute in toast to the unseen man, the King of Heroes “It would seem we forgot, but you were telling me of a delightful story. Would mind to continue? It is hilarious.”
“What?” Kirei turned his head, catching sight of the man sitting behind him. The man had dark-blonde hair tied into a ponytail, sliding down his nape. He had a bright yellow raincoat on, but despite the rain outside, there wasn’t a drop of water on him. Despite having his eyes closed, he waved directly at Kirei’s confused self, with a smile on his face. “Who... are you?”
“Ah man. Don’t tell me Toki never told you about me.” The blonde shook his head with an amused smile, a long sigh leaving him. He brought one hand and pointed to himself with his thumb, grinning smugly. “I’m the guy that got you the catalyst to summon Assassin. Came here to apologize for not getting you one for Hassan, but it seems like your Servant’s still pretty cool. Name’s Ladre, by the way. Votos Ladre.”
“Now, now, let’s not forget your story.” Archer spoke out, calling attention to what he wanted like an impatient child. “I will admit to some interest to this... Quincy, you called him?”
“Heh. Yeah, it was his race, though I don’t know if he used to be human. It’s a whole different world so sh*t’s weird.” He waved his hand like the existance of an undiscovered dimensionwas a minor inconvenience. Strangely enough, Kirei felt that it was to the man. An unimportant detail. “One day he decidedthe worldsdidn’tdeserve to existand he would collide the human and Shinigami worlds together and make a new home for his children,the Quincy, and to hell with everyone ese.”
“A typical maniac, just like a magus.” Assassin spat, his eyes darkening even more. His whole body rattled in place, the glass in his hand cracking from the sudden pressure. He growled in a gravely voice; “Torturing and killing his own compatriots for his own goals, or just because they annoyed him.” His dark eyes suddenly lowered, sukken and despaired as he muttered, “But perhaps I shouldn’t be the one to speak up.”
“No. You shouldn’t.” Votos said, his voice low, his tone frigid, as he looked at Assassin. Kirei actually thought he would jump and strike at Assassin, the sudden pressure on the room and the tightness of the walls making him breathe heavily. Ladre was all smiles in the next second, turning to the man trapped in their discourse. “That should be left to the Holy man among us.”
“What do you say Kirei?” The priest jumped, suddenly on the spot as the two Servants and strange man turned to look at him with expectant and amused gazes. Almost as if in on a joke that had been told before he had arrived. “About a man that would manipulate his subordinates for his ambition, betray their trust when they outlived their usefullness, and kill them without a hint of remorse?”
“What about his silly little ‘Holy Selection’?” Archer cut in before Kirei could form a thought on the matter, much less get over the shock of learning so many warcrimes comited by one man. “Taking away the powers and life forceof his soldiersto strengthenhimself and his elite. Turning those he deemed weak and tainted into nothing but bone. What suffering they must have gone through? The pain of dying so abruptly, of having the skin and flesh seared from your bones...”
“The pain of being betrayed by the King and Father they all trusted.” “Such... suffering...”
“That’s...” Kirei stopped to think over what he just heard, carefull to not blurt out anything that might offend anyone present. Assassin might feel daring with Kirei’s dwindling Command Seals, Archer was far too trigger happy and Ladre... he got the feeling that man could put him down like a dog. “Those are the actions of an evil man corrupted by the devil’s work. He is... a monster...”
“They are. Even if Yhwach’s motive was reasonable after what happened to the Soul King, the lengths we went to made it near impossible to call him anything but.”He took a sip of his drink before turnig to look at Kirei, his eyes still closed yet peering uncomfortably deep in the man. With a grin, Ladre asked,“But you know what happened to him at the end?”
“He was stopped, I imagine.” Kirei spewed the same rethoric he had always heard; that no matter the evils that assail humanity, God would save them. “God must have blessed someone in order to st-”
“He won.” The priest’s words were cruelly cut off by a cold voicedelivered by a mouth set into a snake-like grin, filled with malicious satisfaction.“The only man that could stop himdied by Yhwach’s own hands.”
Sudden silence consumed the room, as the three absorved the information, the fact that, in this story, the monster had come out on top.That a man had destroyed the world without The Lord stopping him. Kirei didn’t know- didn’t understandwhy he suddenly began breathing as heavily as he was now. Was it because of the loss of life? The thousands,no, billionsthat would have died due to one man’s ambition? Or was it the fear that the god he had put his hopes on would simply...
“Wait.” Kirei suddenly said, bringing attention back to him. The sudden thought he had managed to calm him down, though not by much. He was still gripping his cross with a grip so tight it could break the symbol of The Son of God. “If those worlds truly did collapse, if this ‘Yhwach’ truly succeded... then how come we aren’t suffering any repercussions for his act? If entire worlds were destroyed and a new one built on their ashes then-”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Ladre laughed, stopping the priest in his tracks. The blonde man leaned back in his seat with a light chuckle. “Alaya made sure to get rid of that world.”
“It’s what it does. Yhwach created a world where humanity no longer feared death, and so, they stagnated. There was no greed or ambition to make people want to reach new heights, especially with the Father of Quincy making sure no one went against his rule. So The Counter Force just went there and-” He manifested out a pair of scissors in his hand and- “Snipped it out of existance. One of the few times I agreed with the decision.”
Kirei stared at the man, his spirit rattled by the words, his eyes searchign for any sign of deceit from the blonde. But he found nothing. No lie, no trickery, only cold, hard truth. A truth not learned from others, but one experienced by the self. He swallowed a lump as he asked, “What are you-”
“Doing here?” He interrupted Kirei again, knowing damn well what the priest was going to ask. “You could say I was curious. I heard Tokiomi’s aprrentice got chosen for the Holy Grail War, yet I can’t feel a drop of desire from you.” He got up from his seat, circling Kirei like a shark, before leaning on the wall with a grin on his face. “So, what is this selfless wish I can’t even feel that you have, Kirei Kotomine?”
“I...” Kirei hesitated. Part of him wanted to further question the man, but he felt that it would be a bad idea. Maybe if they had a private conversation, but there was the chance that Archer could relay all this to Tokiomi. So, in order to fool his mentor(wait, why would he?) Kirei went with the truth. “I do not have one. I have no ideals or desires, an as such, I cannot comprehend why I was chosen for the battlefield...”
“No wishes or ideals?” Archer scoffed. “Why not just wish for pleasure?”
Anger rose inside the man with hollow eyes. With a frown on his face that his eyes did not agree with, he spoke out, “Absurd. Pleasure is a blasphemy, an affront to The Lord. You would ask me, a scholar of God to ask for something so heinous and sinful?”
“Blasphemy? Heinous and sinful?” Assassin looked at him with a questioning look, almost as if trying to figure out the man who had summoned him. His narrowing eyes said he did not enjoy the idea he was forming of his Master. With a dangerous tone, he asked, “Why would you even associate pleasure with sin?”
Kirei chocked, trying to defend himself, trying to explain the whys and hows to his ‘philosophy’. Yet, he couldn’t. He couldn’t utter a word. Because he knew just why he did so. Why plesure eluded him. Or why he eluded it.
“Well, it is true that a few idiots drive pleasure from sinful acts.” Ladre shrugged, his relaxed demeanor not faltering even a bit. “But there’s also people that derive pleasure from good deeds. Take King Gilgamesh, for example.”
Literally everyone, including Gilgamesh, gave the man an incredulous look for that one. He just chuckled at it. “For all his bluster and big words, he’s still a King. The progress of his nation, the prosperity of his people, it would bring him pleasure. Uruk lived it’s greatest golden age during his times. And because such things were due to his actions, even if it was later in life after-” Archer gave him a dangerous look- “you-know-what, his pride over his subjects would still turn to pleasure. A good kind, considering he would feel it due to his nation’s flourishment. Something we can all agree is good.”
“But such pleasure would still come from pride. One of the Seven Greatest Sins of humanity.” Kirei pointed out, sitting on the chair that was recently unoccupied. “As such, it still sinful.”
Ladre simply tutted. “Kirei, Kirei. Sin isn’t a bad thing. And not having it isn’t a good thing either.” Approaching slowly, the man stood behind Kirei’s chair, his hands settling on the priest’s shoulders when he tried to rise and pushingdown. “Just look at you. The man who never sinned. Lost, without any idea of what to do with his life. Not a hint of desire. Other than...” His head lowered, his mouth whispering in Kirei’s ear, “Kiritsugu Emiya.”
Once more, the occupants fell silent. Two were grinning, one was contemplating the obvious things he had somehow missed, and the last sat tense on his chair, griping the armrests so tightly they could all hear the way the wood creaked and splintered.
“Why don’t we play a game?” Ladre chuckled, slapping Kirei’s shoulders. Taking out a glass of wine from God knows where, he sipped it before explaining, “Tokiomi’s orders for you in this Grail War are obvious. With Assassin, you would learn the strategies and skills of the other Masters. So do yourself a favor and find out their reasons for fighting in the war. Maybe that can help you realize just whythe Grail chose someone with presumably no need for it to fight in the war. Do so and tell me those later.”
“It would do me a great favor if I were to hear such reports as well.” Archer cut in.
Assassin didn’t respond. He simply left the room, entering his Spirit Form. Though not without shooting one last look towards his Master. One that seemed to agree with the requests.
“That is... feasible.” Kirei looked between the two blondes that grinned expectantly at him. “But why do you two want to know so badly? What is it that interests you so badly?”
“Humans are joy to observe.” Archer said, taking a sip from his glass. “At least one or two must be interesting. If only when compared to Tokiomi.”
“Because you’re boring and lost. And as a Man of The Father, it’s my purpose to lead the lamb...” The answer shocked the two men, Gilgamesh even looking affronted when hearing it. The King of Heroes had no chance to question him, as the man seemed to teleport to the door, looking back with a grin. “I expect good things, little lost lamb.”
And with that, the man dissapeared.
“Hmm.” Gilgamesh stroked his chin as he looked at the spot the man once occupied, turning to particles of golden dust himself. The last of his voice was an unintentional mutter, “Interesting. I have never seen that move before.”
And then, Kirei Kotomine was left alone in his office.
Laying back on his seat, his eyes closed as he ruminated over the conversation. He couldn’t stop himself from muterrin, “My wish for the Grail... It certainly cannot be pleasure.” A part of him squirmed painfully, before his eyes opened again as he stared into nothingness. “But maybe... by learning from them... could I begin to understand myself?”
The walls had no answers for him.
In the dark night of Fuyuki City, a now nearly empty coffe diner was one of the few establishments with lights on. Inside were only two people, a bored waitress at the counter with her head in a linguistics book, and a shady customer she kept an eye in case he tried for a roberry.
Sitting at the corner with his hood drawn up to hide his disfigured face, Kariya could safely say he was extremely nervous.
His last encounter with someone who was obviously some big-shot magus had severy rattled him. No one could really blame him for it. Maybe Tokiomi or Zouken would, but those bastards could die for all he cared. They hadn’t felt what he did.
That pressure on his body, threatening to crush his entire being. He would have believed it was magecraft of some sorts but those usually came with an incantation or something, right? The guy had just opened his eyes a little and he andBerserker hadn’t been able to move a muscle, too busy trying not to pass out. Berserker had even said she had only once felt a feeling like that, and that was when she had faced King Arthur(who turns out was woman, history was weird), and that hadn’t made him feel much better. Thinking that he was standing in the presence of someone with the aura of the legendary King of Knights made his stomach churn.
But the weird part came after the pressure had faded. The man took away his sword, hiding it in his raincoat, before taking Kariya’s hand and shaking it, talking about how he should come to this café and await for a ‘magus-hating compatriot’ to show up.
Apparently, he would see them pretty easily.
“I still think this is a terrible idea. We should have at least gotten some information on why we would even want to come here.”Berserker’s voice rang out in his head. She had been agressively against the ever since the man had essentially disappeared right before their eyes. And to be fair to her, it could have very obviously been a trap.It is essentially suicide to do as that weird guy wanted. “If you agree that this is a bad move, why are we still... Don’t answer that. I’ll try to undestand on my own.”
He winced, even more so when a part of him told him to get up and move away. But he forced himself to stay seated and keep quiet. He refused to respond to his Servant’s (reasonable) ranting, taking her angry words in stride. After all, he couldn’t just up and admit the reason he was taking this risk.
He was afraid.
For as much as Berserker may have held her own against Tokiomi’s Servant, no one would disagree if someone said that the Master of Caster had been the one to best the golden prick. He still believed that beating Archer was possible with his Servant, but going on to beat the strongest of the Knights of The Round Table andKing Arthur was too much for him.
There was no way for his paltry mana to sustain Berserker throughout all that. He would die if he tried.
He couldn’t. He couldn’t die without saving Sakura.
But if there was a way of skipping this whole Holy Grail War nonsense... a way to save Sakura without risk...
Before he could dive deeper into his thoughts or explain himself to his Servant, the bell above the door tinkled. Both his and the waitress’ eyes moved to the newly-arrived customer, the latter widening as a wad of cash was thrown directly at her. She looked to the figure who threw it, who simply motioned for her to be silent. Being too smart for her part-time job, she wisely chose to take her book and study at the back.
Kariya gulped at the obvious show of power, and his anxiety tripled when he realized that he was effectively alone with the accomplice of someone he already thought was trying to put him in a trap. And to be fair the woman’s look didn’t help his fears in anyway. If anything, they surpassed human comprehension.
She, for it was clearly a woman, used a pure-black, open raincoat with numerous square pockets spread all over and arranged in a tatical combatant style. Under it, he could see guns inside leather holsters, the handles pointing to her front, clearly for easy access. Below, a utility belt with even more pockets and a pair of sheathed combat knifes tightly clingedto her slim waist.
Her hair was as white as snow, her face, from the nose below, was covered by a black mask with an airfilter on the side, her eyes hidden by round glasses with thin lenses of gray. It did nothing to hide her piercing glare, that soon landed on him.
He straightened his back as well as he could when the woman approached, her hands inside her jacket’s hand pockets and ready to whip out a gun and shoot him in the head. He was sweating bullets, his only functioning eye wide as could be and locked directly at the form of the grim-reaper-looking mercenary that had probably been hired to kill him. Maybe I should have listened to Berserker.
To his utter surprise, the woman simply threw herself at the seat opposite him. And the word ‘threw’ was accurate; she just jumped into the seat, layed down on it and instantly shut her eyes. He sat there with a hanging jaw as his brain did it’s best to reboot after what could charitably be described as a brian hemorrhage. After a good while, he tried leaning over the table to speak with the woman, but he sailed back to his seat when she jumped up and sat prim and proper in her own. Except for the death glare she sent his way.
He decided that, for as much as it confused him, he shouldn’t ever mention the last three minutes again.
She looked him up and down, almost as if analysing him, before her eyes shot towards his face. He gulped, but was taken by surprise when she asked, “Kariya Matou, I imagine? The poor sod the Doctor found on the street?”
Kariya felt a small stab at the words, his head dropping even as he groaned a weak, “Yes... I am.”
“Hm. The Master of Velvet of Caerbannog and grandson of Makiri Zolgen.” She completely ignored the shock he showed in his face, the fear and confusion in his eyes clear. How did that guy figure out Berserker’s identity so easily?! “I take it, then, that the Doctor has already given you a general rundown of our deal’s objective.”
Deal? Guess I should have expected one.He took the information and made to think on it later. Focusing on the now, he shook his head. “He didn’t mention anything about a deal, and the only thing he said about an objective was a vague mention of getting rid of ‘the worm’s father’ and that’s that.”
A cein popped in the woman’s forehead. She sighed heavily, grumbling under her breath about how that useless idiot kept leaving the work for her. Rising her head, she looked down her nose at him, her voice taking a lecturing tone. “Alright, listen closely because I’ll only explain this once. I don’t like talking too much.”
“Our objective is the death of Makiri Zolgen. Or as you know him, Matou Zolken. Such is a difficult task however, as you know. For as imperfect as it is, that worm did create a form of immortality. Putting a bullet through his head isn’t going to be enough to kill him.That’s where you come in.”
“Me?” He pointed to himself in surprise. Shaking his head, he said, “Look, I may be related to that bastard but I wasn’t trained by him. If you think I’m some super-mage that knows all his secrets then-”
“We’re well aware how inco- untrainedyou are in the way of magecraft, and have taken it into account. The Doctor has already made various theories on how to kill Zolken, and you are the key to two of the best paths he managed to find. In other words,” She put her hands on the table, the two closed into a single tight fist, “We need you to work with us. The decision is up to you.”
Kariya’s eyes turned down, staring at the white table as he contemplated the offer. A chance to kill Zouken? Not just one but two? All he had to do was work with people who one was armed to the teeth and the other looked like a run-away Servant? Lady luck must have been laughing with him... if any of this was true.
He didn’t have the best of opinions when it came to magi. Backstabbers, imoral monsters, general grade-A assholes, he saw magi as nothing more than trash. Some of them would say it was jealousy because he wasn’t as good as them. But it was because he had seen the worst of them. Monsters in human form that would trample on their descendents for their own selfishness. Bastards that would abandon their children without a second thought. That would take other’s... futures...
He didn’t have any reason to trust them. He shouldn’t get involved in this. With them. They just wanted everything for themselves. It was the same with these people. They could say they wanted to help him for all eternity but he knew there was something they wanted with Zolken’s death.
Magi were never altruistic.
But just as he made to get up and leave the womanalone, a voice rang in his head, “Master, wait.”
“Berserker?”
“While I agree that magi are bastards, this is entirely to our advantage. Even if they want to use us for something, I detect no lie when she claims their intent is the death of that creature from back on the pit. However, we must still be careful with this.”He nodded quietly, his eyes going back to the silent woman before him whom was still waiting for his answer. “Ask her a few questions. We need to know how they intend to get rid of your... whatever he is.”
He released a breath, his anger and fear abating as his Servant came up with the rather obvious decision. He should have been able to come up with this himself but even he would admit his impatience is a big problem of his. Turning away from his thoughts, he asked the armed woman, “If I’m going to agree to this, then I need to know what your plan is. Every detail about it.”
“Good. I take it from your sudden silence that this questioning is your Servant’s doing. It’s good to see that despite being a Berserker, she still has a sharp mind.”He felt some confusion at her words. Almost as if she had expected no less from Berserker.“As I said before, there are two leading theories in order to deal with Zolken. One where you will be working with us and nothing else, and another that, while much easier to do, will have us relying on outside factors and your capacity of forming an alliance with a specific Master.”
“What do I have to do for the first one?”
“Simply give us samples of Crest Worms. The Doctor is well-travelled and unreasonably experienced with magic. We will be working on ways of developing a way of destroying Crest Worms without dealing harm to human bodies.” She waved her hand towards him, dismissingly saying,“We are, after all, aware of your situation.Such could take time, however.”
He nodded, knowing that any magus worth their warcrimes would make research on their targets before going in. But he was hesitant to go with that. If it was just him, he might have agreed if it ended with Zolken dead, but if they tried it with Sakura and some thing went wrong?
Aoi and Rin would never forgive him. And he wouldn’t forgive himself either.
“What about the other one? What Master would I need to work with?” Kariya asked, not just because of his want to avoid the first plan but also genuine curiosity. What Master could there be that could so easily kill Zolken?
“This one is... complicated.” She leaned forward, resting her chin on a open palm and cringing. “From the Doctor’s tellings of the man, getting him to work with us would be exceedingly easy, it’s just that the proccess of killing Zolken itself would be more complex.”
Kariya stared at her with a flat glare, his lips turning down in annoyance. Grumbling, he let out, “You said it would be easier.”
“Easier in the sense of implementing it, but reaching the final part would be harder, primarily because... of your Servant.”
Kariya leaned away from the table, his eyebrow rising, his surprise and confusion clear to see. “My Servant? What does Berserker have to do wit-”
“Sir Jaune.”Berserker interrupted him.“She’s talking about us requesting aid from Sir Jaune.”
Oh.
Oh, that’s bad.
That was not good.
Kariya silently sweated, getting even worse once he noticed that the woman could easily tell who he was thinking of and nodding in comfirmation. Kariya didn’t really know the man, but he imagined Jaune was a good person. Going out of his way and endangering himself during a Holy Grail War just to help people during the night. And one does not simply become known as the ‘Knight of Compassion’ without being a generally upstanding and kind guy.
Kindness that would fly out the window the moment he found out Velvet had betrayed Camelot and led King Arthur to her death.
Violent attempted homicide would be a mild reaction, he imagined.
He thought of throwing that idea out the window, for Berserker’s preservation more than anything, before the Servant materialized beside him. He jumped in his seat, his surprise stopping him from questioning her. But she had enough questions on her own.
“How would Sir Jaune aid us here? While I doubt the Knight of Compassion of all people would refuse to aid my Master and his niece in getting out this terrible situation, I refuse to approach him without a clear plan and it’s means.”
“That... will be difficult.” She raised her hands placatingly, stopping Berserker from rushing her.“I’m not trying to keep anything from the two of you; I simply don’t understanding how exactlyhe’s supposed to do that either. The Doctor said something about destroying his soul directly but when I asked he just answered with...”She furrowed her brow, annoyed, as she tried her best to remember the exact words the man had spoken.
“With what?” Berserker pressed.
“‘When that man is pushed to the brink, he will find the name of his sword. And with that, noevil will survive the bite of his soul.’That’s all the dumb bastard said.”
“The true name of his sword? Could it be...” Berserker leaned back, mulling over the words for a moment, her eyes lowering as she pondered. Nodding her head, she turned to Kariya, speaking to him through their mental link. “Master. While I have my preservations, I think I understand where she’s getting at. I don’t say we trust her, but we can put our faith in... Sir Jaune. To do the right thing, that man would die with a smile on his face.”
Not exactly something to aspire to, but if it meant the man would help them he was willing to go through the risk.
Turning back to the woman in front of him, he took as deep a breath as he could before the worms started acting up, and looked her directly in the eye. With a determined gaze, Kariya Matou nodded.“I’ll work with you.”
The woman nodded. “Good.” She rose from her seat, ready to leave, before passing over a small box to him. Weirdly enough, it was one of those boxes where you would keep a wedding ring. He gave her a weird look before she explained. “That’s a gift the Doctor made so you could fight better during the War. It won’t heal your body, but it will give the worms something else to feast on and a source of energy for your Servant.”
He whistled in awe, genuinely impressed with just how far this guy was willing to go just to kill Zolken. He took the box in hand, opening it in a moment. Inside was a singular, gold ring with a jewel of dark, blood-like red. It was perfectly round, not a single bump out of place. It gave him a weird feeling, making him feel queasy and nauseous, like whatever he was looking into was a curse in and of itself. He swallowed a lump before picking it out of the box.
He held it away from him, grimacing as he asked, “And what exactlyis this ‘gift’?”
She scoffed. “What you hold in your hands is an amplifier of energy. It’s a state secret of a war-torn, far-away country, and the fact we’re giving it to you is enough to put you on a thousand watchlists, and a few kill-on-sight ones.”
Walking away from the suddenly terrified dead man, she told him, “In the country of Amestris, it is known as ‘The Philosopher’s Stone.’”
