Fate/Zero Desire

Looming Shadow

Waver thought he was making progress before the bird slammed on his face.

Let's return to the beginning of his and Dumbledore's project.

“It's Leviosa, not Leviosaaa, Waver,” said the Caster of Hogwarts. “It's all in how you pronounce the spell.”

The Master grunted, picking up the cup of water Rider gave him.

“Don't be upset, boy,” said the red-haired king. “Nothing of value is won without some effort.”

“You are the last person I want to hear this about, mister ‘I cut through the Gordian knot.’”

The Servant of Cavalry blinked.

“Yeah, that's my point. I had to lower my arm to cut that knot. Are you getting deaf from all the screaming?”

The young man scowled, lifting his arms in the air.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit…” he mumbled.

The trio was inside one of the many rooms of Hogwarts, which Dumbledore called the Charms room, a wide area with three desks rows facing the teacher's table, flanked by two blackboards and having a shelf filled with books at the back. It was there they were testing Caster's theory.

The idea of Dumbledore was for a simple experiment: how compatible is his way of magecraft with the magi's ways? Could someone from that world learn the ways of Caster's home?

Of course, they only had Waver as a guinea pig, but the Master wasn't complaining. The prospect of doing even half the things that Caster did was too alluring to let it slide -even more when he thought how much of a sucker Kayneth would look once he crushed him with those unique spells.

Unfortunately, his attempts to cast the Levitation Charm -or Wingardium Leviosa, as Dumbledore called it - hadn't worked until now.

He glanced at the wand that Dumbledore borrowed him - besides the Elder Wand, the Caster also had his old wand, an ebony stick with a dragon heartstring core.

(The boy gulped at hearing the last part. Even if the Elder Wand was stronger, Waver was sure that the fact that the ebony wand had a dragon part made it infinitely more precious for him - he had no idea of what a thestral was supposed to be)

“And to think I thought it would be as easy as swinging the wand a bit to let the magic flow.”

“It's never that simple, mister Velvet.”

He turned to Dumbledore.

“Many things factor in how a wizard utilizes his magic. Compatibility with the wand, knowledge, mastery of himself. But the prime factor, at the end of the day, what matters is control.”

“Control…” grumbled Waver. “Not much different from magecraft, then. But I thought that something like levitation would be more advanced.”

“Ah, but it isn't,” said the headmaster. “As a magic school, one of its priorities is to teach students how to control their magic. See, most wizards of muggle origin had to contend with incidents related to their hidden magical nature in childhood, which nearly violates the International Statute of Wizard Secrecy. Think of that as someone unwittingly revealing to the world about your Clock Tower by releasing a spell in front of a crowd.”

Waver gave a thought.

“That seems pretty bad,” said the younger man. “It's the kind of thing that would likely be forgiven by most, but I can imagine that the person in question would have a harder life as a magus.”

“Indeed. Thus, it's important from the first day to teach them control over their faculties, and this is where the Levitation Charm comes in, as it requires certain focus to make it succeed, and it's rather harmless in failure compared to other spells. And levitation has many applications, from taking a book atop the shelf to lifting heavy boxes. The only weakness of the spell is being ineffective against humans, but trust me when I say it's by no means worthless in a fight.”

Waver nodded. He could see the applications of throwing large objects against people with ease. Dumbledore gave a sly smile.

“Ah, I don't need to read your mind to see your thoughts, Master. Now, let's try this again.”

He focused on his target, a plastic cup.

“Come on, you can do it, boy!” said Rider, clapping his hands in support. “Lift the cup!”

He was munching another sweet that Dumbledore provided - lemon drops. That's it, lemon drops that he had stored in his office, the kind of thing one would find at a candy shop.

It was a bit of a letdown after the jellybeans that tasted like oil, but Iskandar seemed to enjoy it and the impromptu magical lesson.

“Thanks for the support,” grumbled the magus. “Really like how I became your source of entertainment.”

The Rider smiled.

“If you give me some pants…”

“Nice try, but no,” said the Master, bluntly.

Rider shrugged.

“If you say so…” he chomped another drop happily.

Waver let out a deep sigh.

“Now, young Velvet,” said Dumbledore. “This is no attitude to cast a spell. It can lead to some unpleasant results. One student once blew the feather he attempted to lift with this charm”

The eyes of Waver widened.

“You didn't mention that!”

“It's a rare situation,” explained the white-bearded man. “That will absolutely not happen if you focus well. Now, take a deep breath."

The Master obeyed. Breathe in, then out. In. Out.

“Focus on the cup. Imagine that you are grasping it from this distance.”

Yes, he could see. The cup was light. All he needed was to put his hand around and lift it.

“Now…say it!”

He swung the wand.

“WIngardium Levi-!”

The cup slightly trembled…

And then the owl entered through the open window and crash-landed on Waver's face.

“Argh! Getioffgetitoffgetitoff-!”

Of course, Rider couldn't help but let out a booming laugh.

“OHOHOHOHOHOH-!”

It took a minute until Dumbledore managed to take Minerva out of Waver's face -at this point, red and dirty with loose feathers.

“Stupid bird, do I look like a heliport to you?!” complained the Master, spitting more feathers. “Eugh! What the hell was even that?!”

The owl perched at Dumbledore's shoulder and gave the avian equivalent of a shrug, pissing the young man even more.

“You damn rooster, I swear one day I will roast you in the oven for that!” grumbled the Master, to which Dumbledore tapped him on the head slightly with his wand.

“Now, Waver, don't be like that,” said Dumbledore. “Accidents happen to the best of us. I'm sure Minerva is sorry, isn't she?”

Waver stared at the barn owl. It didn't look very sorry to him.

“Yeah. Sure,” said the magus. “Very sorry.”

The owl looked around, seemingly looking for something.

“There's no food here for you. Find your own!” complained Waver.

Rider, finally out of laughs, scratched his chin.

“Hm…maybe she's not looking for food. Caster, do you have…?”

With a move from the wand, he called forth a map to the hand.

“I took the liberty of enchanting a pen to do so,” said the wizard, revealing a Fuyuki map. It was a pretty rustic -a maze of lines with some names -but, from what Waver could see, it was pretty accurate. Then, he opened on the top of one of the tables, with Minerva jumping from the shoulder to the wood.

“Alright then, feathered friend,” said Dumbledore. “What did you see?”

The bird paused a bit, analyzing the map. Then, it started hitting a spot in Shinto.

“Caster is here?” asked Waver, analyzing the chart. “Sounds like a weird place to be. Too crowded for a bunch of serial killers.”

The Caster of Hogwarts scratched his beard, then tapped the map twice with the Elder Wand. A few letters appeared that Waver recognized as an address. He stared at the sorcerer.

“I thought it could be a useful feature,” said Dumbledore. “It's not as fancy as some maps of home, but this will do.”

‘What can't he do?’ thought Waver.

Rider stared at the address, scratching his chin.

“Hm…isn't that the place where a murder happened this morning? I saw it on the news when the boy was out for lunch.”

Dumbledore looked at the address again, nodding.

“Indeed. You must have seen something interesting, didn't you?” said the conqueror, scratching the head of Minerva, who cooed happily.

Waver scowled.

“Fine, so Birdbrain is not so useless after all. But we still have no clue where the Serial Killer faction is.”

“Serial Killer faction?” asked Rider.

“It's practical, alright?” said the boy. “And it's an accurate description, do you disagree?”

The giant man scratched his chin, then shook his head.

“Yeah, it works. Although I would name them something like ‘Priests of Eris.’ It has some more flair.”

“Noted,” said Waver dryly. “But my point stands. Where are the other Caster and Berserker of Inaba?”

The bird jumped from his position to the point where ‘Hyatt Hotel’ was written. Then, he started pecking the area around it.

Waver scowled.

“Wait, you think they are in that fancy hotel?” said the boy. “No way! I am sure that the only person there is Lord El-Melloi!”

“How do you know that?” asked Dumbledore.

Waver gave a triumphant smile.

“I followed your advice. After the reunion, I managed to trail his bird flying there. Considering how rich and pompous that guy is, I know Kayneth has that place as his base. Pretty good to fortify himself as well.”

Rider scratched his chin.

“Hm…” he observed Minerva. Something felt different, but what? “She's not pecking the building itself like before, but the surrounding area.”

The two other men glanced at the bird, repeatedly pecking the same spots, at the four cardinal directions.

Dumbledore scratched his beard.

“Hm…” hummed the sorcerer. “It seems that your namesake is more appropriate than I thought. Some great intelligence there.”

The bird hooted happily, then flew to a cage that Dumbledore had previously arranged, happily sleeping inside the structure.

“So, the bird noticed weird things around the Hyatt Hotel,” said Waver. “If I am right, El-Melloi must have all kinds of protections around the building. So, if she saw or sensed Caster…”

“That means something will happen soon there,” concluded Dumbledore. “I see. We have enough information to take action, but not everyone at once.”

“Hm? Why not, Dumbledore?” asked Rider. “We have good matches against the Serial Killers. I say we can crush them easily.”

Dumbledore, however, shook his head.

“There is too much bad blood between this and El-Melloi's faction,” said the Caster of Hogwarts. “Rather than a four against two, I fear the conflict shall become a battle royale like last night.”

Waver gulped.

“That would be pretty bad,” said the Master. “If so, I want you to go watch the building, Caster.”

“What?!” protested Rider. “But I need to defeat Caster to obtain the power of pants!”

‘There's bigger worries than pants, you knucklehead!’ thought Waver exasperated.

“Look, you understand strategy better than any of us,” said the Master. “It's common sense to send a scout rather than a whole army against the enemy, alright? And we don't know if they will attack tonight or another day. Better to be careful and not poke the tiger, right?”

Rider shrugged.

“You can say that my whole life was about ‘poking tigers’ boy,” said Rider. “But I suppose you have a point. Patience has its virtues. I will oblige, but only if you promise that if Dumbledore takes down one of the Servants or the Master, I get my pants.”

Waver let out the most exasperated sigh of his entire life -and yet, it wouldn't be the most exasperated in that war.

“Fine, only stay here with me while Dumbledore goes out.”

Rider let out a smile and hit Caster's back with a slap.

“You better don't disappoint, Caster of Hogwarts! I can barely contain my excitement to explore this modern world!”

Dumbledore bowed slightly.

“I aim to please, King of Conquerors.”

“What is your interest in my deal with the Matous?”

Robin turned to face her Master.

“Excuse me?”

The man sighed.

“The Matou. Why are you interested in them?”

It was the middle of the afternoon. After encountering the other Archer, Robin dutifully returned to the mostly empty Tohsaka mansion -Tokiomi had sent Saber of Amestris to scout for clues in Miyama while Gilgamesh was doing his things. And, of course, there was Hundred Faces, using her bodies to look for Caster's hideout.

Seeing things were going well without her help, the Assassin of Ohara decided it would be a good time to dig some more magi lore, leading to the current situation.

“Hm. Do you want to use one of your questions to know?” asked Robin happily. “You would still have one in reserve~!”

The magus growled but didn't say anything. He had no intention of wasting one of his few answers to her tricks.

“I thought you had read all of these books already,” said the elegant magus, attempting a new approach. He recognized many of them as old diaries of former heads of the family, with some other books about the story of Fuyuki, none worthy to be put in the secret shelf.

“Nothing bad in doing a small revision,” said the Servant of Assassination. “Even more in an investigation.”

“Investigation?” asked Tokiomi. “On what?” His mind went to what happened that morning. “On Kariya?”

“On the Matou, to be more specific,” said Robin. “I find the ways of the magus quite interesting. I did not lie about that. And, maybe, this research shall help us understand the enemy.”

The Master scoffed.

“Understanding? I'm sorry if this is what you are looking for. I'm lightyears ahead of you. I know what the intentions of Kariya are.”

“Little Sakura, right?” said the Assassin, taking the family photo from the magus coat with one of her fleurs. He angrily picked it back. “What is the relation of that man with his family? And yours, while we're at it?”

The man sighed. He wondered if he should attempt to make Robin waste one of her questions but decided that, for the sake of their relation as Servant and Master, to say it. It's not like any of what he was about to say mattered.

“As you should know…” he gave quite the eye to the pirate, who smirked unfazed. Tokiomi sighed internally before continuing. “Three families helped make the foundations of the Holy Grail War. The Einzbern forged the Lesser Grail, the Makiri -the old name for the Matou -created the Command Seals to bind the Heroic Spirits, and the head of this family at the time of the First War, Nagato, provided adequate land for the ritual and his summoning expertise.”

Robin nodded.

“What happened the first time? Why didn't the ritual work?”

Tokiomi scoffed.

“It was so minor that Nagato didn't even bother to write in his registers - or at least the ones the clan had available. I feel that one of the foreign magi used to fill the remaining slots of the ritual was responsible, as, even in conflict for the right to use it, the Founding Families wouldn't do anything that could end the ritual prematurely. However, that does not matter in this situation.”

He coughed a bit before continuing.

“The point I make is that the bonds between those three families are ancient. While the Einzbern eventually isolated themselves in Germany and lost sight of the original purpose of the Grail, the Matou and the Tohsaka shared the land for the longest time. Bitter rivals at the time of war but staunch allies when in peace. Sometimes we fought, others we traded, but all in good faith,” he frowned slightly. “For some reason, the name Zouken Matou keeps appearing in their lineage as the head of the family, but I lack the context to understand if he's the same man or if it's some sort of tradition to keep the name going.”

Robin raised an eyebrow. Curious.

“So you knew Kariya Matou for a long time?” asked the Assassin.

The elegant man shook his head.

“While we were acquainted, Kariya and I never had too much contact. It's when we started courting the same lady that we managed to know about each other.”

“Aoi, correct? Your wife.”

Tokiomi nodded.

“We had similar reasons to court Aoi. Her family, the Zenjou, while not having any magi in their lines anymore, are known to give birth to men and women with exceptional magical circuits -something that the Matou pursued because of their increasingly lessened magical prowess. We were also madly in love with her. Kariya has known Aoi since childhood, while my father made a formal offer for an arranged marriage to her parents at my request. Both of us also came from respectable magical clans and had big claims, leading to her parents putting the decision in her hands.”

“Interesting,” commented the pirate. “Sounds like the plot of a romance. What is the end? How did you swoon your sweetheart?”

Tokiomi sighed.

“It wasn't anything as romantic as you make it sound. Or elegant, on that matter. Kariya had a serious fight with the head and was exiled from the family, leaving me as the sole pretender to Aoi's heart. After that, I only saw him occasionally hitting town to visit Aoi and see the girls -which I suppose was how he became aware of the deal.”

Robin scratched her chin. She looked outside.

“Say, Master. Would you tell me that Kariya hates magecraft or only the things related to his clan?”

The elegant man shrugged.

“As I said, I wouldn't know. But I suppose it's more likely for Kariya to have stopped practicing. It's hard to find magi willing to teach their ways to a stranger, and entering the Clock Tower without a recommendation letter for a magus of his caliber is impossible.”

The woman scratched her chin -or better, her fleur scratched her chin.

“I see. All leads to believe that mister Kariya dislikes the way of the magus as a whole and his family in particular. Yet, he was willing to do what he hated to ‘rescue’ Sakura. What does that say about how things work inside that mansion?”

Tokiomi narrowed his eyes.

“Now you enter dangerous terrain, Assassin. Not only is Zouken Matou a neutral force in this conflict, but it's a capital offense to sleuth about the secrets of one's sorcery. Remember the concept of Mystery?”

She nodded.

“Magecraft loses strength the more you know about its inner workings, thus why it's called a Mystery. I see. It's almost like someone ripped a rare book into pieces and burnt them.”

“A curious comparison, but not wrong,” said the man. “This is why I request you not to delve further into this. You already understand why Kariya Matou is present: be satisfied with what you got.”

The Devil Child of Ohara lets out a small chuckle.

“What is so funny?” asked the Master.

“It's nothing, Master,” said the Assassin. “It just feels like you forgot what I am most known for. The taboo, the unknown, what the world does not want anyone to learn. My nature is to know all of that. Whether you want it or not, the truth will come out soon.”

He growled. The seals in his hand flared.

“Don't play games, Assassin. While we have our deal, I can still use one of these to force your silence. You are already on thin ice with me.”

She shrugged.

“Business as usual then,” she said without worries. “After all, for someone that fought against the world, what is one more name to the list?”

He went silent. The Assassin looked at the sun.

“Hm. It seems it's time for me to return to patrol.”

She put the book on the table, lifted it from the couch, and moved to the door.

“I didn't say we were done with this talk!” he protested.

“We sure are,” she said. “Lest you wish to use your questions, I have nothing else to say. What could I even say? That you are a bad man for giving your daughter away? That mister Kariya is wrong in acting like that? Good and evil is not like black and white, Master. It's akin to a gray that can be confused with either.”

Tokiomi frowned.

“Do not treat me like a child. I know this well. I only say it's pointless to delve further into this mess. It's a scuffle that you have no place in.”

“Au contraire, Master. I tire of repeating myself, but your culture interests me. It caught my eye, and I never stop looking at things that do so until I get to understand all about it. Besides that, a little quote from one of your books: know your enemy. Knowledge is the one weapon that has never failed me in the past: ergo, I shall employ it to its fullest.”

And with these words, the Assassin disappeared in a cloud of petals.

Irisviel had no idea of what to say. Or if she had to say anything at all.

The homunculus had quite a lot of training in handling people during her life in the Einzbern castle, both to represent her family well and to cover the faults that Kiritsugu had with others.

But nothing could prepare her to talk with Artoria after that talk.

Since her Master and Lancer of the ARK left, she was staring at the horizon, uncaring for the cold winds that flew strong today. She looked more like one of the wax statues Irisviel saw in tourism magazines than a living being.

Well, as living as a Servant could be.

Still, the homunculus felt lonely, and maybe a good talk would help smooth some of the rough edges that the debate with Kiritsugu left.

‘Alright, time to do my part,’ she thought, touching the shoulder of the knight, who looked at the woman with some surprise -it seemed she was so distracted that she hadn't noticed her fake Master.

“Yes, Lady Irisviel?” said Artoria. “Did something happen?”

The homunculus shook her head.

“No. I came here to invite you for lunch. I made some food for us.”

The knight blinked.

“Food?”

The two women sat at a table in the room that Irisviel and Kiritsugu spent the night on. Because homunculus doesn't need to eat, the Einzbern hadn't bothered to build a proper dining hall, but there still was a kitchen if any guests -or prisoners -came to stay there. A small pan filled with soup was atop a small bench that the white-haired woman had put beside the table, filled with bread and assorted spices.

“Sorry,” said Irisviel, slightly apologetic. “With the cook homunculi back home, I don't have much experience in making food, bar some special occasions, and we had few ingredients. The flaedlesuppe was the only thing I could do.”

Saber let out a small smile.

“It's alright,” said the knight. “I had worse things than that in my time.”

Her mind went straight to Gawain, and she shuddered slightly. It was alright in a vacuum, but if she had to compare Irisviel's soup with the things he did daily, there was no contest on who was better.

Irisviel let out a small smile as well.

“It's good to see that my food pleases you. I wish I could do more, but…”

“What there is in the pan is enough,” said Saber. “More than enough, considering our existence. This is more of a pleasure than a need, correct?”

Irisviel nodded.

“Yes…I suppose you are correct in this regard. And I suppose the meal was an excuse to talk with you.”

The knight put down her spoon.

“This is about what happened earlier, correct?”

The homunculus smiled sadly.

“What else could it be? It's the one thing that does not leave our minds.”

The blonde woman let out a sigh as she picked the spoon back.

“It was that evident, huh?”

The two women went silent for a few minutes, eating the food that slowly cooled down. That is until Saber said:

“I can't agree with everything your husband said,” she started.

Irisviel stood silent, letting the knight continue.

“He says that the end justifies the means. The same thing that many would-be conquerors declared in their pursuits for power,” her eyes went glossy for a moment, reminiscing ancient battles before continuing. “And yet…I feel such honesty from him as he declared his dream, no matter how contrary it sounded to his character until now. And the words of Shadow…”

She looked at the center of the plate.

“I admit I thought about the what-ifs he brought up. But I pushed past that. I felt that things couldn't end worse than what happened in my rule and that a wiser hand would be a more suitable guide for a new era. If it was for the sake of Camelot, I was willing to be forgotten by the world. But is this truly for the best? What kind of impact would my absence bring?”

“...A lot,” said Irisviel. “Your actions led to the end of the Age of Gods in Britain, and your actions unified the island against the invasions of raiders. I would say it's thanks to you that something like England even became possible rather than being fragmented into lots of small nations. Your courage and noble acts undoubtedly inspired many great men to take arms and fight for their beliefs. Without that…”

Artoria sighed. She looked at the sky.

“All I wanted was for Camelot to keep shining with undimmed luster. Is this truly impossible?”

Irisviel smiled sadly.

“You ask the wrong person for this.”

The eyes of the knight widened.

“I'm sorry. My rambles were inconsiderate and-”

“It's alright, Saber,” said Irisviel. “I feel no offense in that. Maybe knowing this since birth helped, but I never got sore from having so little time on Earth. But…meeting Kiritsugu, I realized how valuable it is to enjoy each moment.”

She looked outside, Saber following suit. Two hawks tended to a nest where a shiny white egg shook slightly.

“Have you ever thought about what you wanted to do if you had more time?” asked the knight.

“...a lot,” admitted Irisviel. “I wanted to see Illya grow. Spending all the days of my life with Kiritsugu. See the world beyond Germany and Japan. These come and go, but they are always there.”

Artoria paused.

“Have you ever…”

“Considered leaving?” concluded the homunculus. “Have you?”

The knight blinked.

“Never.”

“There is your answer,” she said. “I admit that I don't fully understand what the ideals of Kiritsugu mean. World peace. A land where no one ever gets hurt by war. These are alien concepts to my mind, as I don't quite get them. But I fight because I have faith in my husband. I fight to let Illya in the castle to live the life I never couldn't and to enjoy this beautiful world.”

CRICK!

They looked at the nest. A small bird cooed, asking for food that its parents promptly provided by putting a worm in its beak.

“Look at them,” said Irisviel, smiling. “Such simple lives, no? Almost makes me jealous.”

Saber sighed.

“Yeah…such a simple life is worth some envy.”

The two women proceeded to finish the soup. It was slightly cold now, but it was still tasty.

“Irisviel,” said Saber. “Thank you for trying to make me feel better. I feel that I understand you a bit better now.”

The homunculus smiled.

“I feel the same about you,” said the silver-haired woman. “I hope you can find the answer to your questions, Saber.”

The knight smiled slightly, and, after a small bow, left Irisviel and went back to her post at the top of the castle, heart and mind a bit lighter.

Kiritsugu took his eyes from the journal to look at the man who sat at his side. He let out a sigh. The man couldn't be too surprised that man was his contact today.

After all, the War was making a big mess out of his city.

“Sir,” he said.

The elder was out of his kimono with the tiger-striped coat and wearing a more formal black suit with yellow sleeves. His milky eyes made him look blind, but the mercenary never knew anyone who had more vision than Raiga Fujimura, also known as the Miyama Beast.

“Ah, Kerry, Kerry,” said the old man. “How nice to see you here on this sunny day!”

Kiritsugu twitched his eyebrow slightly but let it pass. It was the last time the mercenary let the Fujimura group choose false names. Case in point…

“Tigre,” he mumbled. “You need to choose subordinates with more creativity.”

Raiga laughed.

“Ah, I thought of doing spring cleansing once things calmed down. But I had to change plans after the clandestine activities from the last few days.”

It wasn't surprising that the Fujimura group knew about the secrets of the Holy Grail War. They were as old as Fuyuki and had registers dating hundreds of years ago. Kiritsugu knew that the knowledge of the Moonlit World was restricted to only the top men in the family and passed from generation to generation between heads -the last being Raiga, of course.

Admittedly, Kiritsugu had stumbled on that information by accident. He looked to the Fujimuras for underworld support in the war, but Raiga approached him about his condition as a magus. Which helped make things easier, the last Emiya reflected.

“So, what is your cover story?” said the mercenary. “I doubt you can dismiss what happened last night as a gas explosion or something like that.”

“Ah, the news gave me the perfect idea,” said Raiga. “A few upstarts are attempting to stir some shit in Shinto, but I will teach them a lesson. Should wrap things nicely unless something else happens,” he glanced at Kiritsugu, who sighed. “Yeah, I didn't think it would be that easy. You magi are awful at this being sneaky thing.”

“The serial killer is a Master,” said the black-haired man. “We are hunting for them, but there's no clue when he'll attack next. Which is why I made the request.”

The yakuza grumbled, taking a folder from his coat and passing it to the other man.

“Had to move a lot of sticks to get this out from the department. Poor Kurama will have to spend extra time rotting in the cells.”

Kiritsugu put the document inside his coat.

“And the other request?”

Raiga scoffed.

“Do you know how hard it is to smuggle something of that caliber to the country? It will take at least one more day to pass it through security. It and the other thing."

The mercenary snapped his tongue.

“I see. Take those things to the safe house. I will grab them when the time comes.”

Kiritsugu, for all his care, never had foresaw the possibility of losing one of his weapons so early in the war. As Raiga said, it had already been hard for Maiya to smuggle Walther into the country, so his only caution was having a similar weapon in the reserve outside the country. 'I am rusty, ain't I? Old me wouldn't do that.'

On the other hand, it had been hard enough to bring that rifle inside the country in the first place. Japan had a very heavy hand in regards to gun control.

As the mercenary mopped about that, Raiga spoke:

“Say…” said the yakuza. “The guy doing all this is a big shithead, right? Going around, murdering people in my city. I mean, the local magi don't do shit here."

It wasn't even an exaggeration for Raiga to claim the city as his -the man had fingers in almost all the businesses in Miyama and at least a good amount in Shinto. He had won his epithet in his youth because of his fearsome temper and kept at an old age by being violently protective of his small empire.

“...I suppose so,” said Kiritsugu. “I hope that looking at these files may give clues to find the Master. However, the Overseer also transformed this into a race to win an advantage. I suspect his ally, Tohsaka, has a hand in this.”

Raiga snarled. One of the few families that the Fujimura estate never managed to touch was the Tohsaka family. Although their possessions were considerably smaller, that family held enough influence in the city to fend off any investigations.

“That Tokiomi guy…heard that he has his head down on the ground like an ostrich. Coward! In my time, real men solved things with fists. And sticks. And swords. And whatever other things we had close to our hands.”

“He's a smart magus,” said Kiritsugu. “Smarter than most. But he still shares the same weaknesses as the others. Pride, self-assurance…all of these things make them easy to hit.”

Raiga laughed.

“Can't say I wouldn't enjoy seeing that pompous asshole put a few notches down. Would give me some good laughs,” the yakuza looked at the watch. “Well, it seems soon enough my stalkers will return. I need to end my post-lunch walk and then get back to work. Ah, who said that the life of an oyabun was easy?”

Taking some imaginary dust out of his clothes, the Beast then stretched a bit.

“Well, gotta go and spank some runts out of my town. I hope you win this crappy magi ritual. Maybe even have a sake cup or two for celebration. Heck, bring your wife together. God knows that Taiga needs to meet some new feminine faces.”

The expression of Kiritsugu darkened.

“...I will think about it,” he finally said.

“...” Raiga silently raised an eyebrow and then snapped his tongue. “Alright, magi bullshit. Either way, let's have that drink together for old-time's sake. See you around, Kiritsugu, and try not to make a mess of my city.”

“...no promises.”

The oyabun shrugged, expecting nothing less of a wanted man around half-world, and then proceeded to walk away, whistling.

‘...he's a weird one,’ said Lancer of the ARK.

The man looked at his Servant, until now quiet. Well, he would look if he weren't invisible, but Masters could feel the presence of their Servants even in that state.

‘The Fujimuras have this reputation,’ he said. ‘Raiga is only one in a long line of men that are always young inside. But they have power over the area, power that the Church or the Clock Tower won't look deep into. And they are competent in what they do. No yakuza keeps going for two centuries without good heads in place.’

He could feel Shadow doing a nod.

‘Hmph. If you say so. It doesn't make me think of him as anything more than a fool.'

Kiritsugu glanced at the man, now attempting to climb a tree to free a balloon for some child, only to feel his back stretching in the wrong way and fall back to the ground in pain.

“That he is. That he is…”

A few minutes later, they were back at the hideout, studying the case files. Once again, Maiya dutifully organized their knowledge in a diagram for all of them to see.

Kiritsugu put his hand on his chin.

“Well then. Let's start with what we know of the killer.”

They looked at the papers in the middle -a clipping from last day's journal about the murders in the building and the Orochi incident, with a side note about the disappearance of a whole family.

“We know that all three members of the killer faction have the objective of slaying the most people possible. If there's any purpose, it's an unknown one, but we can't discard anything from a man like Gilles de Rais and from his Master who called both him and this Tohru Adachi to this world.”

He pointed at another clipping, this time dated a few months ago.

“According to what Risei Kotomine declared, it's possible that this Master is the serial killer terrorizing Fuyuki for a while. Forty-two people were killed until the beginning of the War.”

Shadow tapped his foot.

“Is it possible he was doing this to prepare for this event?”

“Maybe,” said Maiya. “But studying the documents reveals that the discovered bodies before the War had no visible ritualistic signs. The only thing we have that indicates the killer as a Master is this picture of a case three days ago.”

She pointed at the picture in question, a bloody circle on the ground. There was no mistake: it was the same mark seen in the Einzbern Castle in Germany, albeit done very roughly.

“If he's a magus, he must be a novice,” commented the female mercenary. “Maybe only recently discovered the presence of magic circuits. If that's the case, then it's a latent potential. Tokiomi Tohsaka is known to be very dutiful on his job as this land's Second Owner and didn't make a move until now, giving credit to the theory of this killer being a recent warlock.”

Kiritsugu tapped his finger.

“We also have a lead in a possible killer,” he pointed at a drawing. His face was a bit undefined, but he had his hair colored orange. “This was found at the crime scene three days ago by forensic experts. While not enough for a deeper analysis, this narrows our list of suspects. At least it should make him recognizable on the battlefield.”

Shadow grumbled.

“Still too little. Are the authorities so incompetent to let that man slip for so long?”

Kiritsugu shrugged.

“We can't tell, but it won't surprise me if this man has experience in erasing his tracks. I suppose the only reason why he's so visible now is because of his Servants.”

The Lancer hummed. Considering the personalities involved, it could have led to the Master leaving accidental trails.

“Any attack pattern?” asked the Ultimate Lifeform.

“Families,” said Maiya. “He goes for large families as the norm. And he likes going for children as well.”

“Tsk. Bastard,” said Shadow. “No matter what Artoria says, if I get my hands on him first, I shall send him screaming to hell.”

Maiya looked at her watch.

“I marked a meeting with a broker in the area for further information,” said the assistant. “I will go to the hall to receive him. If anything happens…” She grabbed a knife and hid it inside her sleeve. “I suppose the screams will say enough.”

The Servant and the Master nodded as Maiya went out of the room. As she did so, Kiritsugu went to the window, intending to observe any odd activity in the street.

“What is Maiya to you?”

Kiritsugu, never taking an eye out of the window, frowned.

“I don't think this is the time for such talks, Shadow.”

The Ultimate Lifeform crossed his arms.

“I saw you kissing her yesterday, Master,” said the hedgehog, arms crossed. “You may as well make it easy for both of us and spill the beans.”

The Master went silent for a few moments. Then, he said:

“Why do my Servants have this annoying habit of putting their noses in my life?”

The hedgehog shrugged.

“You don't exactly help yourself, Master. Your appearance has a certain ‘I am secretly evil’ vibe or some crap like that.”

“The pot calling the kettle black?” snarked the Master. “You don't have a saintly appearance in the first place. Is that what we have in common?”

“Far from it,” said Shadow, huffing. “Do you take me as shallow to make comparisons like these?”

“If you say so,” said the man, focusing back on the streets. A figure with a suspiciously long coat entered the hotel. Was that the broker? He looked around. No glint. “I have known Maiya since she was a child. Maiya Hisau is not her original name, but one she took after starting her travels with me. She was a war orphan, a child soldier. Are you familiar with those terms?”

“...Yes,” said Shadow, grimacing. “I am quite knowledgeable about everything related to wars…including its victims.”

Kiritsugu nodded.

“I see. Anyway, I offered an opportunity: to die a nameless soldier fighting a war that was not hers or to become my assistant and help me make the world better, contract by contract.”

Of course, Kiritsugu didn't say the more personal reasons for giving that choice. On any given day, he would have ignored Maiya and kept moving onward, but that happened a few weeks after he killed Natalya. Maybe that had influenced his choice, or he only recognized that another hand on the table would do wonders for his work.

Regardless, he couldn't say he regretted his decision.

The suspicious man left the building, to which Kiritsugu allowed himself to relax. No screams, no signs of snipers. Everything seemed fine, but he didn't drop the guard. Many ‘secure’ info sources had already attempted to sell them out before.

“Hm. I still feel confused about the nature of your bond,” said Shadow. “You love Irisviel, yet perform deeds that are doubtlessly treason to said love with Maiya. But hearing you talk, I feel no passion behind your actions. What happens between both of you?”

Kiritsugu went silent. Should he say it?

“Master? Can you answer this question?”

He closed his eyes.

No, he couldn't. Shadow was colder and more pragmatic than Saber, but he had shown quite an interest in Irisviel last night, so Kiritsugu couldn't predict how he would react or if he would tell Saber -someone very close to his wife -the truth.

Better squirt around.

“It's complicated,” he finally said.

Before Shadow could ask, Maiya entered the room.

“Anything relevant?” asked Kiritsugu.

She shook her head.

“Nothing that we don't already know,” lamented the mercenary. “It seems that the killer is good at hiding his tracks, as a few criminal groups had attempted to get that man in the past. Seems he killed a fair amount of their guys, but not enough to call it a pattern.”

Kiritsugu snapped his tongue in displeasure.

“Well then. In this case, we default to the original plan.”

He pointed at the Hyatt Hotel on the horizon.

“We shall stakeout the base of El-Melloi.”

CREAK!

Kirei punched the dummy ahead of him, the wind blowing on his face. His sweat went down his face.

With the corner of his eyes, he watched his surroundings. No familiars. The man sighed, leaving to the inside of the Church.

Risei turned to see his ‘eliminated’ son.

“Ah, Kirei! Was the test successful?”

The man nodded. The purpose for why he had been punching that dummy in the last hour was double-fold: to further the angle in which he was getting used to the new arm and then to 'get used' to the arm -more specifically, his weight, which had been slightly messing with his usage of the bajiquan.

“I suppose so,” replied the man, taking off the prosthesis. “At least I won't be affected if the need to fight arises.”

Risei shrugged.

“The position that Tokiomi left us makes this possibility unlikely,” said the man of faith. “Then again, if there's one thing that the Holy Grail War specializes in, it's that. Better safe than sorry, son.”

Kirei tapped his fingers against one of the benches.

“Do you think the Serial Killer faction will attack today?” he asks.

“Who can tell,” said the older man. “Their actions are so erratic that it's tough to say. Alas, Tokiomi has our Servants prepared to pounce on him. Once the opportunity arises…He also will deploy Assassin of Ohara today, meaning you will not need to voice the findings of Hundred Faces to him. So, use this time to relax, son. With luck and guidance from the Lord, things will end soon.”

The former Executor nodded.

“I see. Thank you, father. May He help us from above.”

“Hmph. Such nonsense. The only thing one can rely on is his wits.”

The two looked at the new figure sitting on one of the benches. Bradley. Risei raised an eyebrow.

“It’s dangerous to have you in this land, Saber,” said the Overseer. “If any familiar see you…”

“I checked,” interrupted the man with the eyepatch. “No signs of familiars around the area. The Masters are too focused on the hunt for the serial killers to pay attention in the Church.”

Risei sighed.

“I trust your judgment…but ask to retire yourself as soon as possible. Weren't you supposed to stay in the mansion anyway?”

“I couldn't stay still with fresh prey in the region,” said the homunculus. “I have some findings that I wish to say directly to Master.”

‘In other words, you want to talk privately with me,’ thought Kirei. What was that about?

The older man sighed.

“Well then,” said Risei. “I have to deal with some documents about this morning's attack anyway. Be fast, son.”

He turned his back, going to his office. Once he was far away, Kirei asked:

“So? Do you have any news?”

He shrugged.

“Nothing that you already don't know. Kiritsugu Emiya was seen in the park a few hours back.”

The priest nodded. Assassin had related this to him.

“So?”

“Do you intend to chase him?” asked the fuhrer.

For precaution, Kirei looked at where his father went. No sign of the man.

“Is that obvious?” asked the Master.

“Clear as water,” said Bradley. “And this is why I came here to dissuade you from this idea.”

Kirei raised his eyebrow.

“Dissuade me? Why? Meeting Kiritsugu Emiya would be the most direct way to conquer the knowledge I seek. Why shouldn't I search for him?”

The homunculus scoffed.

“Isn't it obvious? What obligation does a warrior have to go along the whims of an enemy? What do you think Kiritsugu Emiya thinks of you?”

The priest reflected for a few seconds before answering:

“A target. A man like him will suspect Tokiomi's arrangements, so if I appear, the most likely outcome is for him to shoot me on sight -if not by his suspicions, for the risk of me becoming a Master again."

The one-eyed ruler nodded.

“Sure, you could be more forceful with your interrogation,” said the Saber. “Capture, torture, all of that. But would this give you the answers you are looking for? Doubtful, in my eyes -excuse me, eye.”

“But you have two eyes…”

Bradley ignored Kirei's observation.

“You need to get into his skin. Do something that will catch his attention but not enough to blind him with hate. And, if I know one thing about mercenaries, it's that few things piss them off more than a failed job.”

“So you plan to go for the Einzbern homunculus?” said Kirei.

“Indeed,” said Bradley. “We have a ‘casus belli’ to say for your teacher, as we know that my counterpart is a target of Caster. The simple excuse of a ‘suspected breakthrough’ is all the excuse we need to march on their land with no prejudice -omitting the fact that you were present, of course.”

Kirei raised an eyebrow.

“You seem versed in this.”

His Servant shrugged.

“If there's no war, you make it. I was following orders and left it at that.”

‘But weren't you the most powerful figure in your country?’ thought the Master. ‘Were you a puppet leader?’

“Anyway, we have the advantage in attack here, Master. It will be unexpected and will give little time for them to escape. With some luck, we can cut the Einzbern from the run for the Grail. But the decision is yours.”

Kirei opened his mouth to answer.

“...reflect well on your choice.”

The two turned to see the figure of Asako atop the altar, staring at the two of them impassively from behind her skull mask.

“Ah, I was quite sure we had an eavesdropper last night,” said Bradley, smirking. “Don't you know it's rude to invade the privacy of your lord?”

“...”

The Hundred Faced Hassan wasn't specifically eavesdropping on Kirei last night, but rather on Tokiomi Tohsaka, who she saw as the great wall between winning the war or falling to do so. However, putting a body inside the mansion was too meddlesome of a task between the active defenses, the presence of her cunning counterpart, and Saber of Amestris' uncanny senses. Thus, the second best option was to trail her Master's steps and hope to catch something that could turn the tide for her in the alliance.

As it turns out, she caught a shark when looking for a salmon.

Bradley stared at her. He had a sword in his hands. Asako scoffed.

“You would be wiser to sheathe your sword, Saber of Amestris. My faces are many, and not even the seals of my Master are enough to stop them from revealing the truth to Tokiomi Tohsaka.”

“Something you could have done before if it was your interest,” he argued.

The woman jumped from the altar, graciously landing on the floor.

“For what? To be reduced to another dog of his, ready to be fed to the Hero King?” she snarled. “Nay. I assure you that this three-way arrangement between you, Master, and Gilgamesh is still secret…for now, anyway.”

Kirei bit his lip. He was smart enough to recognize Asako's intentions.

“What do you want?”

“Only the assurance of you not backstabbing me,” said the entity. “Any funny business and your teacher will have wind of your clandestine activities.”

Bradley looked like he wanted to rip the head of the purple-haired killer, but Kirei took a step ahead.

“Well then. I comply with your demands,” said Kirei. “Now, you had something to say about my decision?”

The Assassin crossed her arms.

“That is a reckless idea,” she said. “It will only generate more issues for us than answers.”

Kirei raised an eyebrow.

“Elaborate.”

“There is not much to elaborate,” said Assassin. “You are doing something that undermines the duty given to you, no?”

“...”

Yes, there was that question.

Kirei was a man who lived and died by his responsibilities. If he were to take that path…

“What would you do?” asked the Master.

The black-skinned Hassan shrugged.

“In truth, nothing. As our Master, we obey your orders to the best of our skill, as fitting for someone with our title. We warn of the consequences of your action.”

He stared at the woman, then at Bradley, who shrugged.

“In the end, it's your choice. But remember what I said last night: once you make a choice, don't look back."

He looked at the clock: four o'clock. According to Tokiomi's lessons, he had to leave soon to reach the castle of the Einzberns.

‘Duty…or desire? What to do?’

Kirei wished to say that his choice was more complex than it seemed. But it wasn't. After all, his presence wasn't necessary that night.

“We leave in one hour.”

The moon slowly rose in Fuyuki's sky. As night came, people started to return to their lairs to rest for the next day, as seen by the large traffic lines of Shinto. Like ants, the people of the city all did their things.

Office workers, tired from another week of work, dreamt of the weekend and all of the things they would do while stuffed in cars or trains in a way akin to sardines.

Teachers and students groaned as they still had one final day of school before being blessed by the beautiful thing called a Sunday.

Cops, in their search for those disturbing peace, walked the streets, wary of any signs of crime.

All that, and more, saw Diarmuid perched atop the Hyatt, many miles away from the ground.

The spearman rested after a fruitless day of searches for Berserker of Inaba and his troupe. Even if a Servant never got physically tired, their minds could get exhausted if they were on the watch for so long, so a few moments to catch some air would do wonders in the long game.

It also gave Diarmuid some time to think.

Whether this was good or bad was still up in the air.

‘Ah…’ he lamented to the starry sky. ‘This mark of mine. Why do you only bring me trouble?’

Most men would consider themselves lucky to catch the eyes of two ladies as beautiful as Sola-Ui and Asuka Langley Sohryu. For Diarmuid, in life victimized by the whims of his divine Father domain, it was a reason to be miserable.

It wouldn't be so troublesome if he had only captivated the Rider of Tokyo-3. It was cold, but he knew from experience that it was easier to quell that fire of love in younger hearts, and Asuka was a way more composed figure than most affected by his mark, thanks to Magic Resistance.

Entrancing Sola-Ui, on the other hand, was troublesome. Not only was she the target of his Master's attraction, but she also actively searched for the knight's embrace. If Asuka breathed love, then Sola-Ui lived for it.

Of course, this put his Master in an antagonistic position when all that Diarmuid wanted was to serve him to the best of his ability to the end of the war -and maybe finish the duel with the King of Knights, but that was secondary compared to the needs of his lord.

In short, the team was a mess. One wrong move would set a reaction that would obliterate the fragile bonds between them, which was one of the two reasons for the Lancer to brood alone in the moonlight.

The other was…rather unusual.

Sola-Ui never went on a date.

Not too shocking considering her sheltered life until becoming Kayneth's assistant (she refused to use those two words that start with f and w), but even then, the man never had the idea of making something more informal.

Ergo, the fact that the man called her for dinner -only the two of them -was already shocking.

“Have a seat, my dear,” said the man, looking as gentlemanly as possible. “I asked the cooks to make some of our favorite foods to enjoy the night.”

He wore white versions of his robes with golden lines, while the red-haired woman wore a red dress that went to the hips, white pants, and sandals. While Sola didn't care much for the meal, years of training in etiquette dictated that she was in her best form for this meeting.

She bowed slightly.

“Thank you,” said the magus. “I suppose it took some effort to prepare for this.”

The man opened his mouth to say something, paused, then said:

“Yes, you could say that.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. Weird. Kayneth was a good speaker, so hiccups like those were very noticeable. Was she missing something?

Asuka let out a sigh. Crisis averted.

‘Why did I have to say that again?’ asked Kayneth, annoyed. ‘Also, don't scream like that. You nearly made me look stupid in front of Sola-Ui.’

The Rider put her hand on her forehead, sighing.

“Look, it's something that most girls like. They like seeing guys going the extra mile for them to make the girl feel…’special,’ you get it? What you were about to do was the same old magi crap you did before. Didn't you ever go out with girls when you were young?!”

‘An heir does not have time to waste with such frivolities! The need to hone its control, power, and mind to the highest level is-!’

“You can lecture me later. Focus on the date!”

The girl looked to the door leading to the top and sighed.

‘Man…Master is as stiff as wood with ladies.’

Sure, he was better than Shinji -but then again, wasn't that a low standard? -but Kayneth, for all of his bravado and age, never learned how to court a lady. This was something that became apparent after some talks.

“How do I look today?”

“The same as always.”

Asuka sighed.

“Let's try this again. How do I look today?”

The man scoffed.

“Like a teenager.”

She held the urge of clapping her face.

“No, no, you miss the point. If a girl asks for her appearance, say ‘You look lovely,’ or something as sugary as that. No better way to get through her heart than complimenting her appearance.”

“This seems a bit indulgent.”

“Because it is, and it works like a charm. Now, again. How do I look today?”

“You look…exquisite.”

On paper, that sounded like a compliment but felt so forced that it looked borderline fake. Asuka didn't resist the urge to slap herself this time.

One thing led to another, and now Asuka had to guide a man between two and three times older than her on a date with his fiancee, enamored with the same man as she was.

Somehow, she felt like it would be better to get locked into an elevator with Ayanami while Fly Me to the Moon played on repeat forever than this.

‘The things I do to get what I want…’

And she still had to meet Diarmuid! She had to use that opportunity to make herself look good and maybe, just maybe, make the man a bit more open to the idea of a relationship.

Was it extremely selfish, considering the circumstances behind his death? Sure it was, but it's not like Asuka was particularly thoughtful of the others.

‘And at least this will help me forget the fiasco that was-’

She suppressed the thought. Thinking of past hang-ups would only end up badly for her. Focus on the present. Don't think about what happened, but about what will happen. Sure, there would be nothing like walks in the city or anything like that, and there was a non-zero chance of the two Servants having to fight each other at the end of the war, but so what?

As long as she could have a good experience from that, it would be worth it.

She climbed the ladders until she reached the door. Taking a deep breath, she-

Diarmuid opened first. Asuka definitely didn't slip and rolled ten steps back from that.

“Miss Langley!” said the spearman. “Are you alright?!”

The girl groaned, looking at the man not from below but eye to eye. Yeah.

“Uh, yeah…you just caught me with the pants down,” said the Rider. “Were you going down?”

“I heard you speaking,” said the Lancer. “Were you talking with our Master?”

‘Lie,’ said Kayneth. His pride wouldn't allow him to admit how much help he was receiving from the Servant.

“Well…Kayneth attempted to ask me for some insights into this war, and we discussed that, and it got a bit heated. You know, normal stuff.”

Diarmuid raised an eyebrow -god, how did he make such a banal move look so attractive?

“I see…” he said in an unbelieving tone. The one thing that stopped him from digging deeper was his chivalric code. “Well then. If you don't mind, I need some time alone.”

‘Oh, those are the words that I didn't want to hear!’ thought Asuka, then she said out loud:

“Look, Master doesn't want any interruptions in his meal with…lady Sola-Ui,” she said, queasy. “So, the options are either to go out or to stay up here. And I am not the best person to do scouting.”

The Lancer seemed a bit hesitant but ultimately nodded.

“Well then. Come with me.”

“Both Servants of El-Melloi are atop the building, over.”

“I have sight on them, over.”

Kiritsugu sat atop one of the higher buildings around the Hyatt. Maiya was on the opposite side, covering his weak spots as they watched the building.

‘Shadow, how viable is our idea?’ asked Kiritsugu.

He had sent his Servant to scout the lower floor of the building to see if they could set explosives there and make a repeat of yesterday. Unfortunately, the answer was a resounding no.

‘I can feel a Bounded Field here,’ said the Servant. ‘As soon as I materialize, it will detect me.’

Kiritsugu scowled slightly. He might have been hasty with his tactic last night because that was one of the few methods the mercenary had to deal with the impromptu fortress that the Lord set atop Fuyuki, and now Kayneth managed to counter it.

‘Well, not that it would work with that Code of his,’ he reflected. ‘I would neuter him, sure, but he still would live. And destroying the hotel has the odds of calling too much attention to our group, especially after last night.’

His fame was a double-edged sword in some ways: Kiritsugu had great infamy that opened many doors but put a target on his back. His luck was that only El-Melloi had realized how dangerous he was, even if for the wrong reasons.

The bad news was that the most combat-ready magus knew Kiritsugu was coming for him.

Not very problematic, considering that Kiritsugu planned to put a sniper round in his head from afar, but still.

“Kiritsugu, I noticed something odd.”

The eyes of the man narrowed.

“Where?”

“Front of the building. Man with a silver beard.”

‘Silver beard?’ thought Kiritsugu. ‘That sounds like…’

He looked in that direction, and there he was in those weird robes of his. The other Caster, the one named Albus.

‘Shadow, are you seeing this?’

‘Yes, I have my eyes on him,’ said the hedgehog. ‘I think he's using some sort of spell because people are passing straight through him.’

Yes, the figure of that oddly dressed man should have been enough to attract many eyes. Yet, no one other than the trio paid attention to the man.

“Does he also suspect that Caster will attack here?” wondered the mercenary.

“Hard to say,” said Maiya. “He just appeared there. Considering how well he manages to hide, I won't be surprised if he's here for longer than we think.”

Kiritsugu's eyes narrowed.

“If that's the case, then…”

‘...why can we see him?’ completed Shadow.

Yes, that was the million yen question. Why?

The Caster approached one of the buildings and entered it.

‘Should I go for it?’ asked Shadow.

‘Keep position,’ said Kiritsugu. ‘That man…he knows someone is watching him. Unless he attempts to engage, stay hidden.’

The hedgehog complied, although reluctantly, as they switched the focus to the old sorcerer.

“Can you feel it?” asked Diarmuid. “The Servants below?”

Asuka nodded.

“Yes. I feel…what, two or three? Not sure right now. Do you think any of them are Caster or that loony Berserker of Inaba?”

The spearman shrugged.

“A question that I have myself,” said the spearman. “But I doubt they can do much to us, not with how noisy an attack would be.”

The pilot nodded. Most magi wouldn't dare to cause chaos with such a crowd in the building and its surroundings.

“Then again, if that Berserker indicates anything, his Master must be just as crazy to call him. Who can say if Caster is not the same?”

The man in spandex shrugged.

“I will investigate this once I'm ready to keep my search. For now…I only want to relax.”

The two sat in the border of the building, silent.

‘Well, Asuka…you got that alone time. What to do now?’

“The Servants…they don't worry you?”

Kayneth batted an eye at Sola-Ui.

“Oh, they? Even if they dared to climb the building, I took measures to force them to go through the defenses I installed on the thirty floors below this one. There are enough things there to give even a Servant a severe beating. And if they wanted to attack, they would have done so by now. How is the food, my love?”

Sola-Ui gave a polite smile.

“It is…acceptable, I suppose,” said the fiancee. “Although I feel the timing is a bit off, all things considered.”

“Now, now, let's be honest,” said Kayneth. “While the Magus Killer is a dangerous enemy and this killer tarnishes the name of the magi, are there any doubts about my victory?”

She tapped her finger.

“I suppose not,” she admitted. “But pride is what comes before fall, Kayneth. One wrong step…”

“A man of my standing will never do such things as ‘wrong steps,’ Sola-Ui,” he smiled. “After all, I picked you to be my beloved, no?”

She blinked. That was…a surprisingly smooth comment of the man. If the red-haired woman's heart wasn't already taken, it would be enough to incur a blush.

The man grimaced for a second before returning to normal. What was that about?

“Glad that you hold me in such esteem, Kayneth. Still, I can't help but worry. You were already surprised once, who can tell this won't happen again?”

“Hmph,” said Kayneth. “The Magus Killer won't be allowed to repeat the trick from last night again.”

“I don't refer only to him, Kayneth,” said the woman. “It's the same thing that hindered you yesterday, and that we spoke about: you lack pragmatism. You are so ruthless in politics, why can't you afford to be more like that in this scenario?”

The man raised an eyebrow, then gave a smile.

“Ah, but you forgot my goal in this war, Sola-Ui. While I seek victory, the thing that matters the most to me is proving my strength as a fighter. Glory is the key word here: while most magi of this backwater country are not as strong as the ones from England, there's still some prestige in trumping in a ritual set by the Tohsaka, the Einzbern and that dying Matou clan.”

“Is that so?” asked Sola-Ui. “If that's the case, when we win…what will be your wish?”

“...”

‘Master?’ said Asuka. ‘What is the issue? It's a simple question, right?’

She could hear the visible gulp that the man gave.

‘Indeed…but I didn't have much time to consider it,’ he replied bluntly. ‘The fight for the sake of the fight was my objective. And don't you suggest something like getting true love, I will not take shortcuts like that!’

The ginger-haired girl twitched.

“Are you alright, Miss Langley?” asked Lancer. “You seem nervous.”

“Hm? Oh-! It's-it's nothing really, I was only remembering…my boss! Kayneth reminds me of my boss and how shitty it was to work with him."

If Asuka was fair, Kayneth was way more considerate than Gendo ever was to her, but this was like saying that a wet towel was drier than a glass filled with water.

‘Dangerous topic,’ she replied. ‘Try moving away from that for now.’

‘Don't need to say it twice,’ said the man. ‘Now, dear, this is not a place to speak of…’

“Hm. There goes that stare again,” said Diarmuid. “Lots of memories from the past coming through?”

The Rider blinked.

“Yeah,” she lied. “And some that I would rather forget.”

The man hummed.

“Hm. I don't know about that. Sometimes, you need to err to learn,” said the spearman. “A life without hurdles hardly teaches you things."

“So I would rather have an easy peasy life where all I do is perfect, thank you. And not one where it was ‘wake up, go to school, kill some aliens, have a mental breakdown, sleep while your guardian gets piss drunk.’ Not what I call the ideal life.”

“...I'm sorry,” said Diarmuid. “If I probe in your life against your will…”

She sighed.

“I am not one to say. I admit to having spent most of the morning reading your story. Schools don't teach much about Irish mythos in Germany and Japan. Go figure out why. And you had it rough.”

An idea came to her head. She was in dire need of breaking the ice. Diarmuid summed her thoughts in a phrase:

“Do…do you want to talk about it?”

She forced herself to smile.

“Sure. No big deal, right?” Asuka looked at the stars. “Well, where do I begin? Well, I think I already said that, but I am a quarter Japanese and German from my mother's side and half-American because my dad was from the USA. Mother…she was a scientist for an organization back home and got affected by one certain experiment, leading to her getting…off the hook, and having to be sent to an asylum. Dad had an affair with one of the doctors, and, sometime later…she killed herself.”

The red-haired girl grits her teeth at the memory. The hanging body of her mother and the doll she saw as her, the silence that came after…

She forced herself to move past that. Diarmuid looked at her with worry.

“It's nothing. Water down the bridge,” she lied. Before the Lancer could say anything, Asuka continued. “I didn't have a good relationship with Dad after that. Spent most of my life preparing and being a pilot for 02, as I was the only one that could ride it.”

“Why?” asked the spearman.

“I'm…not sure,” another lie, but she was not in the mood to explain how her mother going crazy made her qualified to become the driver of an alien's corpse. “What matters is that I managed to get my life under some control, protecting the world from the Angels…and then I got transferred to Tokyo-3 to fight the Angels there. Was separated from my guardian and went to live with the Third Child and his caretaker.”

“Is…is Third Child a title?” asked Lancer.

“Yeah, it was the title that he had in the organization. I was the Second Child, and some cold girl was the First Child."

“So this Third child was a boy?”

She bit her lips.

“Yeah. One of the most pitiful human beings I ever met, so flat that if you ordered him to put his head in a pile of shit like an ostrich, he would obey…after he stopped shaking on his boots. Such a coward, I couldn't even…Ugh!”

Diarmuid looked at the girl, confusion in his face.

“Did…did you hate him?”

Asuka didn't answer.

“I suppose this is the impression I give, huh?” she said after a few seconds. “I guess…I was frustrated, that is. On a battlefield, you can't afford to be distracted, right? I trained for years, then this schmuck forcefully dragged to the cockpit appears and is ordered to fight -and he does almost as good of a job as you. Can you imagine if someone managed to match your skills with a spear without any training?”

“I can see the reason for the frustration,” said the Lancer. “But it is what it is. Some people are natural in what they do, while others are geniuses by effort.”

“Wish I had received that advice,” she grumbled. “I started to get worse at the job until…stuff happened. Don't ask. Like, seriously, I would have to punch your beautiful face if I had to remember what happened.”

The less said about Arael, the better. Something that Asuka would repeat until the end of time.

“So, I got out of commission for a while, and when I got back, I was locked into my cockpit and forced to fight to stop the end of the world. And I guess you can see how well that worked for me.”

Diarmuid hummed.

“Well, we all die one day. But I supposed you didn't go kindly."

The memories of the Spear of Longinus piercing her eye and not doing so, the Mass Production Evangelions ripping her to shreds, and then the light…

“Yeah,” she said. “Not kindly, indeed.”

“My condolences,” said the spearman. “No one should suffer what you went through. Especially at your age.”

“But it did happen,” said the pilot bluntly. “Nothing we can do to change that. Well, until we win the Grail, that is. Then it's anyone's guess.”

“What would you change about your past?” asked Diarmuid.

She scratched her chin.

“Well…I was attracted here for a wish to fight others, but…yeah, the easiest way to solve most problems at home is to wish that the Angels never came to be. Sounds like the easiest way to solve things. Or, I suppose so.”

Diarmuid tapped his spear.

“Hm, I wouldn't be able to tell,” said the spearman. “After all, who of us can see what the future holds? If everyone was like Fionn, I'm sure the world would have fewer conflicts.”

‘Fionn…his boss, right? He can see the future if I remember right.’

“I question that,” said Asuka. “If everyone can see the future, then it means everyone would have a problem with everyone -because everyone will know everything about the other.”

“That's a lot of everyones,” laughed Diarmuid -oh god, why did it sound so angelical?

(The stereotypical ones, not the aliens. The mere idea of one of those things smiling was enough to give her nightmares.)

Dumbledore felt his body get colder and colder as he analyzed the pattern in the ground. Hidden to mortal eyes, perceptive otherwise.

His understanding of the signs of this world was rather rudimentary, unfortunately. He was used to Ancient Runes, but the signs that Caster grated in the ground were unfamiliar to him, forcing the Headmaster of Hogwarts to waste time analyzing them one by one.

And his conclusion was grim.

‘Death…great amounts of death…’

‘Are you sure?!’ said Waver, exasperated. ‘You can't be serious, Caster. No sane magi would do this in open space.’

‘I doubt he's sane, Master,’ said Dumbledore.

‘I'm going there,’ said Rider. ‘If we ambush Caster, then-’

‘Our time runs short,’ said the sorcerer. ‘If I had more time, then…’

He grimaced. At this point, if he was right, then disabling the seals would cause more harm than helping.

‘Rider, don't play your card yet,’ said the headmaster. ‘Even now, I can only grasp the basics of the other Caster's spells. You may bring Mister Velvet into a dangerous situation.’

Yes, they needed a more immediate solution. One that Dumbledore already worked on.

He left the building, passing the other people -his spells meant that no one could perceive him lest he wished to.

Then, looking at where he knew someone observed him, the wizard raised the Elder Wand and started using Lumos.

‘What is the geezer doing?’

Kiritsugu frowned. Now he was sure that the old sorcerer knew he was under observation, as the Caster looked straight at the building where Maiya was.

‘He's not being hostile,’ thought Kiritsugu. ‘But I don't understand why he's doing that.’

“Sir…”

He clicked the walkie-talkie.

“What?”

“Do the Caster of Hogwarts signs look familiar to you?”

He stared with more attention at them. Yes, it wasn't random. There was a pattern to them, almost like…

‘Morse.’

‘Hm?’

‘He's communicating with morse code. The light is a dot, and the time that's out is a line. He's repeating the sign. Line, dot, dot, pause. Dot, line. Line, dot…’

‘...line, line, dot. Dot. Dot, line, dot. And now he repeats it…’

‘I still don't understand what's happening, Robin,’ said Tokiomi. ‘What freak code is that?’

The Assassin chuckled, shaking her head.

‘You wouldn't know, this is not a magi code. I only know because one of your daughter's history books has them as a curiosity in the section about World War II. Now, if my memory is right, the first letter is a d, then a, n, g, e, and r.’

‘Danger…’ frowned Tokiomi. ‘That man thinks something dangerous is happening here?’

‘He's not the only one,’ said the Servant, looking around. ‘Besides the Servants of El-Melloi, I can feel a lot of other signatures. It's a wonder he didn't get hostile yet.’

‘The hotel's guests serve as a decent shield for him,’ said the elegant man. ‘Not that he chose that consciously: I suppose that the idea of standing above all competition led him to choose this place, along with space to deploy all kinds of traps against invaders.’

Robin glanced around nervously.

‘Still…worrisome that a man like him looks so troubled. Whatever it is, we'll need the most firepower possible. Where is Saber?’

‘He suspected Caster would go for his counterpart and the Einzbern homunculus, so he left the city. I will attempt to communicate with Kirei to recall him.’

The Second Owner turned the gramophone-esque Mystic Code.

“Kirei? Kirei, are you there? Answer.”

Silence. Tokiomi frowned.

“Kirei, are you listening?”

Another moment of silence. Tokiomi tapped his foot impatiently. Time was of matter now, for all times to Kirei to fail him-

“Excuse me, teacher,” said the voice of Kirei. “I was distracted by other matters. What is the issue?”

“Assassin of Ohara received a tip that something is about to happen in the Hyatt. Recall Saber.”

Much to his surprise, however, his student said:

“I fear I can't do that, sir.”

“And why is that, Kirei?”

“One of the faces of Hundred Faces is a tracker,” explained the priest. “He's fairly sure that the trail he caught is that of Caster, and all indicates that it's going to Einzbern Castle.”

The magus frowned.

“So you think whatever is happening here is a false flag?”

“It's a possibility,” replied the younger Kotomine. “Or a two-forked attack. We have the opportunity to kill both Servants in one blow…”

“Or be at a disadvantage if a fight happens in either place,” countered the magus.

He tapped his fingers across the wood. Maybe Kirei was mistaken, and the event would be in the Hyatt. Or he was right, and his apprentice managed to snag the perfect opportunity to obtain the lost Seal for him, only having to beat the blonde Saber to the prize.

“Keep following the trail. At the first sight that it's a dead end, order Bradley to return.”

“As you wish, sir.”

He turned off the machine.

‘Did you hear it?’ asked the Master.

‘I did,’ said Robin. ‘So it's all on me, huh?’

‘There's also Gilgamesh,’ replied the magus.

The two went silent for a moment. Tokiomi went to the office's window, staring at the King of Heroes, bare-chested and enjoying a glass of wine on his throne, a different one, as his first one was impossible to repair from the pile of metal it became. Even in such a troubled moment, the king hadn't bothered to raise a finger in the efforts to hunt down the men who performed such despicable crimes.

‘I don't think we can count on him, lest you utilize another Command Seal,’ said Robin. ‘Exactly the scenario to avoid.’

“Hmph,” said Tokiomi. “Such a meddlesome affair. Assassin, try to figure out the nature of the danger of Hyatt Hotel.”

‘On it.’

‘The ruse was effective, Master,’ said Asako. ‘Your teacher does not suspect a thing.’

Kirei nodded as he ran across the woods.

It was a rather good idea to have Hassan as an assistant. If it wasn't for her paranoia in putting on a face capable of mimicking voices -was it, what, Esmail? -then all their plans would fall flat at a moment's notice.

‘I also deployed one of our faces to put your father to sleep. Esmail will follow the orders of your lord and say what's happening on the Hyatt.’

The priest nodded. Bradley laughed.

‘Aha! You are way more useful than the other spy I used! The brat was so cocky that half of the time around him, I was forcing myself not to gut him like a fish.’

“This seems odd to do with a spy…” said Kirei. “Was he a bad one?”

‘No, only cocky as hell,’ replied the man. ‘Besides, a little gutting in the family never did bad to anyone. Well, maybe if it happened to me, but I don't care too much for such things. At least it would give that snake a reality check.’

Kirei shook his head. He had no wish to delve further into Bradley's family.

‘We are close to crossing the barrier of the Bounded Field,’ said Asako. ‘This is the last chance to retreat.’

It was a pointless warning, as the man crossed the line, entering the Einzbern Castle territory.

It was instantaneous.

Irisviel turned in the direction she knew an invader had come through.

She lifted from her seat and looked at the crystal ball she put in the middle of the desk. Focusing on it, she saw-

The homunculus frowned. Him?

“Lady Irisviel,” said Saber. “Kiritsugu has ordered us to go to...What is the matter?”

The woman bit her lips.

“Invaders. Kirei Kotomine and his Servants.”

The knight stared at the ball, frowning.

“An attack? Now? Why?”

The homunculus shrugged.

“Their purpose eludes me as much as you,” said the silver-haired lady. “However, we must decide how to deal with this situation.”

The blonde brows of the knight further approached.

“We have the advantage of knowing their presence,” said Saber. “This means we have enough time to run away to the city unimpeded, lest my counterpart has a way to move around fast.”

“So something will happen in Fuyuki?” asked Irisviel.

Artoria nodded.

“We need to move now to reach the city. We'll be there half the time it took to get here if at top speed."

Irisviel tapped her fingers nervously, an idea slowly forming. The king noticed that.

“Do you have something in mind?”

The woman nodded.

“Yes…but it's something that I decided to let up to you.”

The knight glanced at the woman.

“Well then, but our time runs short. Speak fast.”

Kayneth stared at the blinking lights, Reinforcing his eyes to enhance the sight. He frowned.

“Hmph. As if it wasn't enough for that upstart Velvet to steal the catalyst of Iskandar, he now orders a competent sorcerer to do wacky things.”

The Lord of the Clock Tower could see power when it was in front of him: now if it was only in his hand…

‘Well, that hack burned this bridge already. His funeral.’

Sola-Ui raised an eyebrow.

“And you were saying for me not to think about the War,” said the woman, sipping a bit of wine and eating a piece of the cheesecake they two shared.

He snapped his tongue.

“You are right. A rather improper thing for me to do. Still, the thought of that brat makes my blood boil.”

And, yet, he was the catalyst for the first significant talk in a while at that dinner. So the brat served for anything, after all.

‘It's ridiculous,’ he thought. ‘How can I be flubbing such an easy thing?!’

It shouldn't be that hard. It shouldn't. Yet, after Sola asked about his wish, the most renowned teacher in the history of the Clock Tower couldn't find the pace to keep the talk going. All he managed after that was cheap talk -how was your day, beautiful weather today, this kind of thing. He thought that, after the initial hiccups, the man could let Asuka to her devices.

No such luck, however.

‘Help,’ he said. ‘I think we are in a limbo here.’

Asuka tapped her finger.

‘Yeah, that does not sound good.’

Asuka felt she also was in such a situation. Not much you can follow up after talking about how shitty your life was, right? Although Diarmuid changed his mind on leaving because of the amount of Servants below, that was something, right?

Right?

She wished to have a bit more confidence in that affirmative.

How do you romantically approach a man who had a life defined by a romantic misfortune?

‘First, help me,’ he complained. ‘The dinner is almost over. What should I talk about?’

‘Er…’ the girl stopped to think. Sola-Ui was an adult woman, so most topics that would work for teenagers would be ineffective here. And she didn't think talking about boys would work here - not when she was wildly different from Misato. ‘Er…what do you know about her?’

He mentally scoffed.

‘Her name is Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, daughter of-’

‘Not that kind of shit,’ cut Asuka. ‘I speak of her as a person. Besides knowing her family, what do you know about her as a person?’

‘...very few,’ he admitted. But it would be odd to ask about that suddenly, right? How could he-

Ah.

Yeah, that could work.

“Hm…”

Sola-Ui raised an eyebrow.

“You seem oddly thoughtful now,” said the red-haired woman. “What goes in your mind?”

“You are aware of the nature of the Master and Servant bond, aren't you?” said the man. “With so many Servants close…this reminds me of the dream I had last night.”

Her eyes slightly widened.

“Oh? Did you see the memories of Diar -er, Lancer?” She said, attempting to disguise her intent.

‘At least do a better job of hiding your interest,’ thought the Lord, annoyed.

“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “Rather, it was from little miss hothead herself.”

‘I'm showing you the miss hothead, Master,’ said Asuka, a bit annoyed.

‘Don't you have something else to do?’

Sola-Ui scoffed.

“Her? Surprised you would show interest in the brat, considering how you reacted to her Noble Phantasm.”

“A fair assumption,” says Kayneth. “And, as a magi, I still despise that abomination. As a Master, however, I can't afford to lose any opportunities of gaining insight into my ghost liners, even more on one with a completely unknown story.”

“Hm,” hummed Sola-Ui. “Did you find the reason for her disrespect towards me?”

‘Maybe because you can't bother to shove a dirty sock into that-’

‘Don't you have something else to do?!’ repeated the man.

“I…can't say why this happens,” he says. “But it made me think about you.”

She blinked.

“About me?”

He tapped his finger on the table.

“Yes, yes. And why wouldn't I? Your rivalry with her…it's a curious sight, to say the least.”

His fiancee scoffed.

“Hmph. I will not apologize to that brat, Servant or not.”

He raised his fork.

“My dear, you are thinking too far ahead. Allow me to finish,” he asked softly.

The woman blinked.

“So make your point, Kayneth. What do you see as similar between her and I?”

“How little I understand about both of you.”

Sola-Ui blinked.

“What?”

A few moments earlier

Asuka grimaced at the last words of Kayneth. He seemed to have things handled for now.

She looked at Diarmuid, staring at the Servants hidden in the ground level.

“It's worrying how many of them are here,” said the Rider of Tokyo-3. “I wonder why. Shouldn't they be looking for Caster?”

Diarmuid shrugged.

“It is a good question. Maybe they know something we don't. Regardless, our defense is rock solid. Even the remaining Assassin won't be able to pass undetected if they attempt an attack.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Still…I can't see some of the more honored figures of this fight -like Caster of Hogwarts or Saber -attempting a sneak attack when there's a bigger threat in the field.”

The brunette made an ugly face at the mention of the blonde-haired knight.

“Yeah, her…” she grunted. “What is the deal with her again? You called her King of Knights, but a King is a man. Wouldn't it be more to call Saber a Queen?”

“That's not how the story remembers, my friend,” said Lancer. “History reminds her as a man, but fate tends to throw curveballs when you least expect it. I'm hoping she does not die until we can fight again.”

“Do you think you can win against her?”

He scratched his chin.

“Yes, indeed, this is a good question. We will be on equal ground next time we meet, lest she still has a hidden trump card. That said, a knight never goes into a duel with defeat set in his mind -otherwise, that result will turn from possibility into reality.”

Asuka nodded. It was a good mentality to have overall. One of the reasons why she was so good in her job until Japan: never once did the idea of defeat pop into her mind until then.

“Still…she's a woman, huh,” said the pilot. “It must feel odd fighting one, no? Considering the whole chivalry thing.”

“It is hard, I admit. But the story has other notable warriors of the fairer sex, Asuka, like the Amazons of Greek fame, and a fair share of monsters who took female forms to trick their foes. I fight her with the same intensity as against any enemy of the Knights of Fianna. It's the most respectable thing I can do.”

“And not because she's a lady,” said Asuka, feeling her shoulders a bit lighter. “I see,” then an idea popped into her head. “And here I thought you were smitten by her, haha! What a silly thing.”

He looked at the starry sky.

“Love…It's a sensible topic for me, as I'm sure you are aware.”

“Because of the love mark,” said Asuka.

“Because of the love mark…and more than that.”

He looked at his partner.

“You see…I don't think I ever felt something like romantic love.”

She blinked.

“You…never did?”

He chuckled.

“Well, the closest thing I ever got to that was my relationship with Grainné, but…I suppose our bond was a rather messy affair, as one would say nowadays.”

‘I think this is an understatement,’ thought Asuka.

“But…while I swooned the hearts of many. My heart couldn't retribute those feelings to any of them. We never truly connected. This spot of mine… brings unilateral love, the most cruel type."

He touched the love mark.

“Part of me wonders…what was the intent of that lovable lady? Did she think this would help me? Had I angered her? Even now, I can't understand her reasoning, although part of me believes that spirit did this as an act of goodwill. That there was no harm in putting this on me.”

The knight let out a somewhat bitter laugh.

"Isn't there some irony in this? A man who had as a father the god of love never found his true passion."

Silence. Then, Asuka let out a weak laugh.

“I suppose…we are the same in that regard.”

“...are we?” asked the spearman.

“The Second Child…remember him? Well, for a while, I thought we were in love.”

“You are not sure?” asked Diarmuid.

She shook her hands.

“It's…complicated. We had lots of shit on the plate. There was something in the air, but at this point, I can't even be sure of what kind of shitty bond we had.”

She had a vague memory of Shinji doing…something with her body. It didn't go on for too long, and they exchanged words, but Asuka was so out of touch with reality that she didn't even know what that was.

And, she supposed, neither did Shinji.

“I don't even know at this point,” she finished. “But…since early, I always wanted someone to look at me.”

Diarmuid raised an eyebrow.

“I am looking at you.”

“Not in that sense,” she said. “I…I felt the need to be in the center of everything. To be the best, no matter what. And when I started losing momentum…well, it was not pretty.”

“You do recognize these as problems, however,” said Diarmuid. “What changed?”

What should she say? 'Oh, I talked with my mother's ghost. She's inside 02, by the way. Wanna see it?'

“A lot of introspection, I guess,” she lied. “But…the point is that, for the longest time, my heart was closed to the remainder of the world, as someone I knew used to say. This puts my whole life under a different perspective and makes me ask…” she looked at the city and its people, “Did I even live…or all I did was survive?”

Silence. Then…

“What do you remember from your life? Any good memories?”

She looked at the spearman.

“Good memories? Well…”

She closed her eyes. Obtaining her degree, fighting against Angels for praise, helping others with their love problems -mainly Hikari, although a few others came to her from time to time -kicking the ass of that stupid Israfel with Shinji, finally understanding the truth behind her mother's ultimate end…

And, as much as she loathed to admit…hanging out with Second Child gave her some of the most peaceful moments of her life.

“I guess…there were a few bright spots,” she said.

He smiled.

“The Servants called upon this place are brought here for their regrets…but it doesn't mean their lives were worthless, bleak. It only means they want things to be better, to correct old regrets. So, don't say ugly things like that, Miss Langley Sohryu. In the end, at some point, we all did more than survive: we lived.”

Asuka went silent for a minute, then she laughed.

“Ahaha! Well, I guess you do have a point there,” she said. “Still…we are also here because we want better lives, no? I suppose this is a way to describe our situation.”

“Or maybe for the sake of others,” said Diarmuid. “Your wish…it won't help only you. It will help many others. The easiest way to reach your objective is to simply wish for your mother to never have gotten mad, but you also did something that will help countless other people.”

The Rider shrugged.

“Look, I am not a good person. It seems the most logical thing to do to avoid a lot of bad shit.”

“If that's what you think, then I keep my point,” insisted Diarmuid. “A bad person would only think of herself. You managed to see beyond that and do something that will help many. You aren't a bad person, Asuka, only young. And I dare to find someone that didn't do regrettable things at that age.”

The two Servants stared at each other. Unconsciously, Asuka approached her face to the spearman's…

She felt two hands on her shoulders. Diarmuid gave a sad smile.

“Which is why I can't accept your love.”

The girl blinked.

“Wha- why not?!” she asked. Part of her knew the answer, however.

“Rider…are you doing this only because of the Love Spot…or because you are trying to run from your past?”

Even if she knew the meaning of that…

Asuka couldn't accept it.

“I don't run from my past! I don't!” she said, her voice getting a pitch higher. “I do not run from anything!”

The spearman gave a bitter smile.

“Rider -no, Asuka,” he said. “You can put on the garbs of a warrior, you can fight like one, live their way. But it doesn't change your youth. It doesn't change the fact that you had it stolen from you.”

“I did!” she countered. “It was my choice to become…a pilot…”

‘Did I?’ reflected the pilot. Asuka had trained since early on to ride 02 because, of every candidate, she was the best…or so she was told. Now knowing of her mother's spirit inside the machine, this put many things of her childhood in a new light.

The smile of the spearman grew gentler as if he understood the turmoil inside her head.

“A warrior's greatest virtue must be courage, Asuka Langley Sohryu,” said the man. “To face what came before and what is to be.”

“What does this make of you then, huh?!” she screamed without thought, now angry. “Aren't you running from what happened that day with Fionn's wife?!”

The smile of the man disappeared. He closed his eyes.

“Harsh words…but not wrong ones. Yes, I run. Part of me, a very selfish part, wants to use the power of the Grail to make things right and avoid betraying Fionn. But there is a difference between the two of us, my partner. You want to forget. I want to remember.”

Silence. The Lancer of the Love Spot continued.

“You do what never worked for you in the past. Run away from these feelings that crush your chest, weighing your soul. But I learned you can't do that,” he sighed. “There is a thing that no myth book could ever tell you: I knew Fionn never forgave me fully.”

Asuka huffed.

“Well…it seems obvious,” she grumbled. “Considering who killed you. But, if you knew, why didn't you run away and leave all of that behind?”

“One simple thing, young lady: punishment.”

The girl blinked.

“But…you didn't do anything wrong! It was that bitch of your-!”

“If you accidentally kicked someone, would that change that you wounded that figure?” countered the spearman. “Even if it wasn't my intention, it didn't erase what happened between us. All went downhill on the day Fionn forgave me and allowed Grainne and me to marry. For all his wisdom, he was human, a victim of the whims of the heart, this wild thing. Think: would you forgive me if you were in his shoes?"

“...”

“...that's what I thought,” said the spearman. “In truth, there was no right or wrong way to go. All I could do was to provide my skills to help our land to the best of my power and attempt, time and time again, to clear my name. This was my attempt at atonement. Yet it was not enough and I accept that as a decree of fate. What I will not do is to fade with my honor of knight tarnished.”

He pointed at the city -at the battlefield.

“Even if my body crumbles, my mind is lost, my spirit vanishes from the Throne. I will go and fight for the trump of my liege. Because that's the pride of a good knight: achieve the wishes of his liege.”

The man lowered his arm and put it and the other one on her shoulder.

“What I mean to say is…you won't find what you look at with me, and you know it. Maybe your wish will make things better, maybe not. Maybe I am wrong, and this is what you need. None of that matters. Until you can accept who you are as a person…Asuka, I fear that you shall know no peace.”

Silence. When Asuka opened her mouth to answer, a shriek cut her:

“What are you doing, you ginger bitch?!”

A few minutes before

He couldn't retreat. That was the best shot of Kayneth making a breakthrough in their relationship, and he had to capitalize on it.

“How long have we been engaged, my dear?”

The woman frowned, thinking about it.

“Hm. It's recent, but not so much. If my memory is not failing me, then it's been three years.”

He nodded.

“Yes, this is quite correct. How much would you say that you know me? Both from a professional and personal standpoint.”

Another moment.

“Hm. Considering that I am both your assistant and your fiance, I would say that I'm pretty confident in my knowledge.  You are one of the most powerful magi to have graced the Clock Tower, a prodigy that managed to reach the Pride rank -the same that my father, your teacher -at a young age, maybe only surpassed by true freaks like Touko Aozaki. And even then, you could reach that level in due time.”

She paused, organizing her thoughts.

“As a person…you are the ideal magus. A man who strives for his goals with resolute determination. One that managed to protect the secrets of his family with the ferocity of Cerberus. And you are willing to go the extra mile to honor your deals. Yes, you are truly worthy of being a man walking with death. A man that deserves to be called a Lord.”

“Exactly,” said Kayneth, puffing himself a little. “You know so much about me on so many levels. And yet, while I reckon your academic conquests, I can't muster your character after so long.”

He touched her hand. For once, she didn't remove it.

“Who is the true Sola-Ui? A prim and proper lady that my teacher presented four years ago? An efficient assistant? The one woman who has the nerve to challenge my wishes constantly? Who is this beautiful lady standing before me?”

Silence. The woman took her hand away from Kayneth's grasp.

“Do you want to know? Do you want to know?” she asked. “Well then, I shall tell you some of my true thoughts. Starting with the one thing I hold in my heart: I hate you.”

Kayneth could feel his heart stop.

“Hate? Impossible! Even in my worst moments, I provided you with care. Never was any of your whims left unattended. At no point, I was rude towards you, even if our arguments were many. What is the root of your hatred, oh you know my soul better than even myself?”

Sola-Ui did an unexpected thing.

She laughed. A bitter, rancorous laughter.

“What did you do? Nothing, this is correct. I hate what you represent.”

At the confused expression of the Lord, she continued.

“I never was free. Sure, I had all I wanted, as my right as one of the possible heirs of the house. But after my brother took the family crest? I was nothing but a weight in their eyes,” she let out a bitter laugh. “If it wasn't for our marriage, I would probably be dead already. After all, you can't serve as a pawn for anyone that way, right? Father said as much to me.”

Her beautiful face turned into a fearsome mask of rage.

“I hate this. I hate that I have to depend on you as a lifeline. That, if one day you decide to court another lady, receive a better offer, you will discard me like a toy and move onward with your life, such is the way of a magus.”

“I would never do that!” screamed Kayneth, bashing his hands against the table. “I…I love you!”

Kayneth would usually never say such words, but his instincts told him that the situation was “make or break,” in the words of the youth. Ergo, he put all his cards on the table, putting all the passion he had.

“I love how you are the one person to put your foot down to question me. How you walk with elegance and pride, even after waking up a few minutes ago. The alluring beauty you portray each and every day. Rufleus may have offered your hand as a symbol of an alliance, but that's because I didn't ask for it first. My heart is yours, and you trample over it with such rude words!”

The two magi stared at each other for a few moments.

“Your love…It has no worth for me,” said Sola-Ui. “Even if you put all you have into making my life the best that any human ever has lived, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, the path you chose was that of the magus. You will never be able to leave those days of glory behind, to completely and utterly turn your back to that world. The odds of instilling the one thing that would have value for me, to make me smithen for you…are zero.”

She closed her eyes.

Sola-Ui was not a normal person. Like many in the world, she had no idea of what to make of her life. Not even following the steps of her family was an option thanks to Bram taking the Magic Crest of the Nuada-Re.

But…

All would be worth it if she could feel one bit of true love.

And the only man who ever did that -regardless of magic or not -was…

Silence. Something was off. Her mind spun a little.

“Where are the Servants?”

Kayneth managed to maintain his poker face.

“They are in the streets, looking for that damned-”

“Liar!” snarled Sola-Ui. “You wouldn't be foolish enough to leave this tower unprotected against Servants! They are here, looking at-”

Silence. The woman stormed off to the stairs.

“Sola-Ui, wait! Don't do anything-!”

She could hear Kayneth's rushed footsteps as he attempted to reach his fiance, but Sola-Ui had used Reinforcement to move faster. It would hurt a lot in the morning, but she couldn't care less.

Reaching the rooftop, she kicked down the door and saw the two missing Servants close to kissing each other. And then the red-haired woman only saw red.

“What are you doing, you ginger bitch!”

In another fit of Reinforcement, the fiance of Kayneth grabbed the shoulders of the Servant and threw her away from the beautiful man. Asuka, still stunned by the sudden appearance of her “rival” and the talk with Diarmuid, made no resistance and rolled onto the ground.

“What is wrong with you?!” asked the Rider.

“I should be asking that!” snarled the woman. “Know your place! You are a Servant, and nothing else! Do not peer in the matters of your Masters!”

The pilot narrowed her eyes.

“Watch your tongue. I only have one Master. You are merely…an anchor. Thus, no need to take orders from you.”

The women glared at each other. Seeing the situation about to get dangerous, Diarmuid attempted to put wet blanks:

“Miladies, there is no need to be so hostile. We are on the same side…”

This time, however, his prodigious charm failed him, as the two continued at it.

“You have no right to have him!” accused Sola-Ui.

“Well, what makes you worthy of having Diarmuid?!” retorted Asuka.

There were many things that the magus could have answered. Her answer, however, caught both Servants off-guard:

“I love him more than you ever could!”

“Is that it?! Such a childish idea! You are a married woman!”

“To hell with my marriage! To hell with that man!”

Diarmuid frowned.

“Excuse me lady Sola-Ui but I can't tolerate such a blatant showing of disrespect towards Milord.”

“And why should I?!” roared the woman. “To live a boring life as a puppet?! Nevermore! Diarmuid, you are the one that makes my heart beat faster! You are the love of my life!”

She hugged the Servant, who tried to unhook her without wounding the lady of his Master.

“Ma'am, this is not your heart speaking, but my Love Spot!” he said, alarmed. “Come to your senses!”

“If it's to be that way, then I would rather keep living this illusion!” declared the woman.

From behind, Rider of Tokyo-3 picked the charmed woman, making a conscious effort to hold her back as she scratched against the Servant in a futile effort.

Right at this moment, Kayneth reached the rooftop, his clothes covered in sweat.

“Sola-Ui! Cease your folly!” said Kayneth. “This is inadequate for a magus and a common person!”

“I don't care! Get out of my face, you dumb fool!” said the rebellious fiance and attempted to scratch the eyes of Rider. Then, a thought illuminated her mind. “You two…you were collaborating! In cahoots! I am surrounded by obstacles against my love!”

Alarmed by the wild deduction, Asuka's grip loosened ever so slightly -enough for Sola to attempt a strike against her left eye with some use of Reinforcement.

“Eek!” shrieked the girl, dodging the move, but being forced to release the red-haired woman. With hatred in her eyes, she charged towards Kayneth. He noticed a silver glint in her hands, his eyes slightly widening as the fiance moved to stab her groom.

CLANK!

Diarmuid appeared in front of his Master, taking the attack but otherwise not being damaged -such was the nature of a Servant.

“Lady Sola-Ui, please!” begged the spearman. “Come to your-!”

Part of Diarmuid's plan was mere pragmatism. He hoped that the thought of Sola-Ui harming her beloved hero would stun her enough to stop the tantrum for enough time to calm her down.

What he didn't expect, however, was for the woman to kiss him on the lips. A tongue kiss.

The spearman was shocked. It wasn't the first time he kissed a woman, but it was certainly the first time one had done such a move.

“MOVE!”

The Lancer obeyed the orders of his angered Master, as his Mystic Code moved towards the maddened woman.

“Immobiles!”

The liquid moved around the woman, trapping her body inside the mercury blob, which then proceeded to take the shape of her body and, finally, solidify itself into a full-body bind.

“ARGH!”

The woman struggled against her bindings, even attempting to Reinforce her members but she had no chance in hell to escape a Lord's Mystic Code, even more one of Volumen's Hydrargyrum quality.

She would only be free when Kayneth wished so.

To her credit, she didn't attempt to sweet-talk her fiance. She still had enough pride within herself, and, pragmatically, that was unlikely to be effective against the very pissed Lord El-Melloi.

“...”

The man stood silent, trembling with rage. He had so many things to say. Part of him wanted to lay down on Diarmuid for the accidental kiss. Another wanted to scream at Asuka for unnecessarily escalating things to the point that Sola-Ui snapped. Maybe if she didn't have competition, this wouldn't happen.

And yet another wanted to scream at himself for being foolish enough to hope. To think that Asuka's plans would work. On seeing his pride tarnished in such a way. What would he say to his teacher? ‘I'm sorry, but your daughter has no wish to marry me and instead wants the Irish spearman to ravish her’?

Kayneth only managed to keep his face like that thanks to years of training in politics but knew that he needed to say something soon. That farce had gone for too long.

He looked at the auburn-haired girl, her hand over the eye that Sola-Ui attempted to rip off. What was with the haunted look on her face? He shook his head. It didn't matter: the girl wouldn't like what he was about to do, but at least she would still have a chance to reach her goals.

Then, he turned to the spearman. The Lord fumed inside, wishing many bad things over the Knight of Fianna, but ultimately managed to keep his head in place. In the end, he was trying to stop things from getting out of control -unknowingly doing the opposite.

This is why Kayneth decided to order him to stay away from the tower. With Asuka's protection, there was no need to have two Servants in the same place. Ergo, the most logical solution was to put him in a faraway position, thought him with his buttons.

Yes, that was the best route.

Right as he was about to order his Servants, however…

“Fuhahahaha! Oh, such a glorious folly! Yes, you would love seeing that, wouldn't you Prelati?”

Team Kayneth looked around, looking for the source of the voice.

“Caster…” said Diarmuid, summoning his spears. “Where is he?”

The two Servants turned to the sustainer of their own Bounded Field.

“He's not here yet,” said Kayneth. “He's using magecraft to project his voice here.”

‘Still…he saw everything that happened here? Since when did he get a familiar through my defenses?!’

Asuka snarled, cracking her fists.

“Show your ugly face, asshole. I just needed a punching bag for yesterday!"

“Oh my, oh my!” said Caster mockingly. “Such a beautiful youth with a strong attitude to boot! You and Jeanne would be peas in a pod!”

“I don't know who this Jeanne is, but if it's your friend then I don't want to have anything to do with her! Now show yourself or-”

“YOU DARE SPEAK ILL OF MY DEAR JEANNE?!”

From thin air, a tentacle whipped against the trio. Diarmuid slashed against it using Gaé Dearg, making it disappear, the magic that supported the summon suddenly being cut.

“Tsk,” grumbled Gilles. “This artifact of yours will be troublesome to fight against.”

“You speak boldly to fight in my territory, you cockroach!” said Kayneth. Mentally, he ordered Volumen Hydrargyrum to take Sola-Ui inside the building, protected by the myriad of defenses he installed inside the building. “Even if you don't care about being discovered, you are still in the land of one of the greatest magi of this era! If you intended to give me the prize of the Command Seals on a silver platter, that you did!”

“Aaah…so bold of you saying that.”

The three turned to face the renegade Servant. Much to Kayneth's annoyance, the defenses he installed in the glasses merely burnt the tentacles of the squid/octopus thing that carried the Servants, not affecting its locomotion. Berserker of Inaba sat in a similar creature, albeit a bit smaller.

Gilles opened Prelati's Spellbook, a devious grin on his face.

“After all, who said this was your territory?”

The light of the moon disappeared.

‘W-what the?!’

Dumbledore didn't need to ask what caused his Master's surprise.

Any sorcerer worth a damn would feel the sudden spike of magical energy in the area.

‘Assassin, report!’ said Tokiomi, hastily moving from his office to get a better vision of the Hyatt Hotel.

‘I'm not sure,’ said the pirate. ‘I have never seen something like this…I think it's a Bounded Field, all around the building!’

His eyes widened. From the window, he saw dark lightning surrounding the proud jewel of Shinto.

Kiritsugu felt the air grow heavy, his breathing growing heavy.

“Sir…Bounded Field…” said Maiya in the line.

“I know…” mumbled the man, attempting to lift himself, to no avail. Thankfully, Shadow had teleported towards his Master, picking him up. Then, something caught his eye.

“What are those things?!”

Growing from the ground, beings with an awful similarity to octopuses grew from thin air -no, that was a mistake to say. They used the mana-filled environment to manifest, slowly adapting into forms more suited to land. Their tentacles served as their legs, the mouths filled with sharp teeth in front of them.

Then, slowly, they marched towards the building.

The screams of fear and pain start to echo in the night.

Kayneth was red with anger. Adachi let out a laugh.

“HAHAHAHA! Man, you pissed that guy a lot!” said the Berserker of Inaba. “A bit more red, and I could call you a tomato!”

“You…” growled the Lord of the Clock Tower. “Attack!”

His Servants obeyed. Asuka summoned her machine's arm, striking Adachi, who parried with Magatsu-Izanagi but was pushed away from his mount into freefall.

“YOU GOT THAAAAAAAAAAT-!”

The Rider followed suit…

“I will crush you into a bloody pulp!”

…leaving only Caster and Lancer with his Master behind.

“Milord,” said the spearman. “Please, go down.”

The Lord nodded.

“Triumph,” he said before running towards the ladders, the door closing behind him.

The spearman turned back to his opponent.

“Hm. Maybe you have a bit of honor,” said the knight. “After all, you never moved to attack my liege,” he grimaced. “Not that it makes your crimes any more forgivable.”

Gilles huffed.

“My interests do not reside in the relic that He created. Victory is within my grasp, so long as I slay you, meddlesome Lancers!”

“Lancers, in plural?” asked Diarmuid. “What did my counterpart do to wound you?”

The until-then placid expression of the fallen marshall turned into a fierce scowl.

“Everything. That emissary of the Outer Space dares to tempt my dear Jeanne, to make her think that she's something she's not!”

‘Jeanne? Is he talking about King Arthur?’

“You are mistaken in the identity of Saber, Demon Marshall,” said Diarmuid. “Her name is-”

He ducked over a summoned tentacle.

“Silence, filthy knight! You are also blind to the truth! God plays with her mind like a girl would play with her dolls! But once I free her from the delusions He cruelly put her on, all will be revealed! You are only a stepping stone for something bigger than you could imagine.”

The screams from the lower floors reached the ears of the Lancer. His eyes shone dangerously.

“Bastard…”

His eyes focused on the book in Caster's hands. It seemed to be the source of the Bounded Field and whatever else was happening to the people on the lower floors. If he hit it with Gaé Dearg, then…

He jumped from 0 to 100 in a second, aiming his red spear against the book.

BOOM!

A tentacle grew from thin air, hitting him and sending his body towards the other end of the building, beginning to fall. Diarmuid stabbed one of his spears against the cement, holding him in place. He glared at the top, where Caster, mounted in his demon, stared at him with those wobbly eyes.

“Do not take this too personally, spearman,” said the sorcerer. “But for the light of my life to shine again, you must perish!”

With a sleight of hand, a wave of sea demons appeared, charging towards the hanging spearman.

CREACK!

Master and Servant turned to look at the falling figures of the additional Berserker and Rider -the latter jumping away and summoning a leg to strike the man, the former using his Persona to stop the attack, albeit with pushback.

“Caster's group engaged El-Melloi!” said Kiritsugu. “Copy that, Maiya?”

“I have a vision, yes,” said his assistant, already recovered from the field effect. “I also see the people of the hotel attempting to put a stopgap between them and the sea demons from Caster.”

The man turned to see that was the case. It wouldn't hold long, however.

‘Saber, where are you?’ asked Kiritsugu. ‘Gilles started his attack. We need you and Irisviel's presence ASAP!’

‘...I don't think we will reach there in time,’ replied his Servant.

He blinked.

‘Explain.’

The Servant glared at the two figures entering the castle -probably three with the Hassan. She stared at them from atop the ladder, armor ready and sword in hands.

‘We have our battle to fight here.’

The eyes of the two Sabers crossed. The Fuhrer gave a bloodthirsty smile.

‘Yes. This one will do.’

“Move ahead, Master,” said Bradley. “You can't leave your guest waiting, right?”

The priest looked at his Servant with the corner of his eye and nodded.

Artoria jumped down from her position, staring at her counterpart. It would be a lost cause to attempt to stop Kotomine.

She could only hope that Irisviel's plan worked.

‘Do your job now,’ thought the knight. ‘And strike him down.’

The priest moved to the stairs. The blonde knight pondered faking an attack to see if Assassin was close, but her Instinct told her that she couldn't take the eye out of the black-haired Saber, lest she paid a heavy price.

Silently, the two Servants of the Blade faced each other.

“!”

And, in an instant, their blades collided.

Thus began the next night of the Holy Grail War.