This doesn't quite scratch the same itch, as Servants are considered not-really-persons by the franchise, with a few exceptions played for drama. The premise of the War is that six of them need to be killed to fulfill its goal, and even the principled protagonists are expected to kill them, or at least order them killed. The line, such as it is, is only drawn at killing Masters.
I don't think the kid will garner a lot of sympahy among the company we keep.
Oh yes. Me wanting to avoid exessive gore and Karisviel being very clinical about the harm she's causing do work nicely with each other, but they're very much two seperate decisions made for their own reasons. On which note, it's always nice to find my intentions came across in writting.
Berserker's wails still sound through the forest by the time you make your decision. Her anguish is clear to anyone with both a functional set of ears and a soul. It's a pain that cannot be felt in isolation and refuses to be felt alone when compared to mere wounds of the body.
Empathy and the fear of loss.
The unavoidable punishment for growing attached to a mortal life, such a sweet poison that not even an inhuman monster could abstain from it.
Most of Berserker's agony is imaginary, her Master does not have your permission to die. However, all she's seeing is tattered flesh that's unable to sustain the life leaking out of it. Her mistake is almost convenient, leaving her to waste time on a meaningless rescue. If only her cries were those of mere pain, rather than stirring memories of people long past.
You're not sentimental enough to find a sense of mercy within you just because you know how hollow one is left by mourning. Shutting her up will do just fine.
"Let's simply kill her," you tell Ida and Amna.
"I don't think we'd be in this situation if it was that easy," Amna says.
"Nonsense," you object. "Berserker might be a handful, but a battle between Servants isn't decided until both sides bring their Noble Phantasms to bear. That's at least three trump cards for us. We can worry about alternatives once our sleeves are empty."
"I have plenty of love to slaughter her with." Ida gently strokes her blood stained stomach and accompanies her comment with a giggle that carries her unique blend of affectionate sadism. It's a clear and beautiful sound that carries the warmth of a match stick to another's heart in hopes of setting them ablaze.
"I see. Should we give them a moment to say their goodbyes?" Amna proposes. Such an innocent idea you can't help but wonder how it lost its way onto the battlefield. It belonged as much as a lone flower ready to be trampled in spite of its beauty.
"That sounds like a fool's pity," you say.
"I do know better than to object to what you've done so far out of purely sentimental reasons," she responds. "If you need a practical reason, consider it a distraction while our Servants get into position. Your familiar is already fraying apart."
"I don't know why you expect to convince me with an argument you don't even care about yourself." You sigh. At the very least, she's correct that you don't have much time to argue before Berserker manages to free her Master. "Fine. I'll handle them. I'll leave organizing the execution to you. Do try to leave the killing blow for my sister. "
"Okay. I'll take care of it, but Rider will decide on the exact battle plan. He's the one in charge of the battlefield." With her piece said, Amna splits off from you and Ida to head towards the others. She only strays from the most direct path to keep a safe distance from Berserker.
Meanwhile, you head directly for the monster with your sister following behind you. At a glance, Amna's assessment of the situation was accurate. Most of the magically constructed thread that would usually make up your familiar's shape in the likeness of a magnificent bird has been ripped away. All that remains is the strand of your hair making up its core wrapped around the Master's severed hand—which now hangs in the air like a disembodied puppeteer—and barely enough wire to hold him up by his shoulders and keep his mouth shut. Indeed, the strings are just as broken as the puppet they're holding up.
Naturally, not even that much would remain if Berserker wasn't concerned that the shock of ripping her son free more brutally would be enough to free him from life alongside his bindings.
You may as well take that fear from her first.
Using the magic pathway you've already established to sustain his soul, you send healing magecraft through his body. You do just enough to close his open wounds. Repairing him any more than that would be a waste of effort and while you could spare that much, forcing him to regenerate at a rate relevant to the current situation would likely place enough stress on him to make him pass out after all the trauma his body already experienced.
"Berserker!" you call out to the beast before she can get any ideas about carrying her son off to safety.
Her attention shifts to you. She only shortly lingers on Ida before settling on you. Murderous intent flows off her like the blood that has now soaked into the nearby soil. You let it wash over you like waves breaking themself against a rock. You're not about to be intimidated by a half empty canvas scowling at you.
"Here are the terms," you dictate. "You should be able to sense the flow of magical energy between me and your Master. I don't want him dead yet, so he'll continue to live for as long as I live. Likewise, if I die, he dies."
There aren't enough features on Berserker's face to properly gauge her reaction, but the wave of hostility begins to ebb. Apparently she has enough of a mind left to listen to you. It won't save her, but at least she'll be able to choose the terms of her death.
"However, I fully intend to kill you," you continue. "You're free to fight back of course, but you'll die all the same. There's only one rule you have to abide by. If I notice you exploiting the fact that I'm preserving your Master to drain more magical energy that he should be able to supply, I'll let him die. There's little stopping you, if you want to cease your ephemeral existence by cannibalizing your son, but I might as well grant you a chance to spare his life."
The two pools of red that approximate Berserker's eyes gain a dangerous glint. The feral beast in front of you is aware of the corner you've pushed her into and that the way out is through you.
There's no sign of the others being ready to go on the attack, but you do still have a treat to make Berserker behave. With a snap of your fingers for an added flourish you have your familiar free the enemy Master's mouth.
Rather than anything resembling coherent speech, he lets out a strained and faint moan carrying the pain that still lingers in his mind, even after his wounds have been patched up. Well, whatever comes out of his mouth makes no difference to you. Without his command seals, it's all mere noise.
"Merciful goddess that I am, you're granted an opportunity to say your goodbyes."
"That's right," Ida adds. "Make sure to scrape up as much of her love as you can manage. She's going to be all mine before you know it."
"Mother," he croaks. Just that one word was coated thickly with malice, making him sound less like he's reaching out to loved family so much as spitting out a vile curse. "Forget about me. Just make sure these bastards get what they deserve."
Berserker cared nothing for his wish. She simply cradled his head with a gentleness that belied her monstrous appearance and touched her forehead to his. The soft growls she makes are indiscernible to you, but her meaning is clear enough without language. She would do everything in her power to keep him alive, with no regard for her own survival.
The willingness to sacrifice one's life for the sake of a loved one might seem touching at first glance, but ultimately it's mere window dressing for their cowardice. Nobody wants to live through grieving a loved one. For weaklings that have already given up on saving both of them, it's much easier to die and leave that pain to somebody else.
"What's even the point of giving you any last words if you're going to waste them on empty nothings like this?" You can't help yourself but chide them.
Both of them turn to you with unabashed hostility.
You scoff. "At least don't go out on this poor excuse of an argument. Only one of you is in any condition to do anything and the other will have to live with it. Don't give yourself more things to regret than necessary."
He glares at you, feral and malevolent. The truth of your words matter not, only that they displease him. That is until something gnaws through his impertinence and his focus shifts back to where it should be just once as a special exception.
"Mother, I love you. Thank you. For everything. I'll… keep living."
Berserker eases up at his newfound willingness to outlive her. She still isn't willing to lay down her life without a fight, but now at least there are less concerns about her child's survival weighthing her down.
They hold their embrace for much longer than could ever be appropriate with an enemy in their back. Eventually, Berserker lifts her head to meet your eyes. The sheer malice she has directed towards you before seems to have softened to mere murderous dislike after the moment of respite you've granted the two of them. Ultimately it matters not.
The time of her execution has arrived all the same.
"It appears that it's time for me to reenter the stage," Rider loudly announced as he approached the four of you.
Despite his proclamation, Berserker doesn't spare him a glance. The lingering effects of the Command Spell was still enough for her to keep track of him.
You decide to let Rider set the stage and signal Ida to follow you as you back away from Berserker. It requires some literal tugging to tear the mother and son's out of their embrace, but in the end Berserker sees the point in removing him from the fighting and the boy doesn't even have the strength left to cling to her.
It doesn't stop him from spouting impotent complaints, but that's easy enough to solve. Once your familiar has returned him to your side, you lock eyes with the boy. Activating the magecraft that rests in your eyes is more than enough to put him to sleep. His role for the night has concluded. There's little point in making him watch its conclusion.
As soon as the audience has vacated the stage, Rider wastes no time starting his performance. Instead of the rifle he has been using so far, he brandishes a barbed spear laced with sharp teeth. No matter how much success it might find in practice, his weapon was poised to sink itself into Berserker's flesh.
It's enough of a challenge that she finally deems to face him. Just as her attention has settled on him, the puddle of her son's blood that had pooled around her feet begins to ripple. The faint movement quickly grows as liquid hands raise themself out of the blood to grab onto Berserker's legs.
She attempts to shake them off only to find that the sanguine limbs lack the firmness to bind her. They simply cling to her and get dragged along with her movement. Chaining her to her son's blood.
Only after she spends a moment struggling can you tell that she's slowly sinking into the pool's nonexistent depth.
An obstacle that Berserker decides to overcome by ripping Rider to shreds before there's any time for her to be dragged into the ground. She pounces towards him, only slightly slowed by her bindings.
Rider points his spear at the advancing monster. With a light one-handed hold, it's a gesture holding no intent to engage his opponent in close quarters. Then he shouts into the night, voice calm and commanding.
"Young, fire!"
The roar of cannon fire sounds from within the forest. A projectile coated in dense magical energy follows close behind, barrelling straight towards Berserker.
She abandons her charge to find her footing within the treacherous ground. Whatever ground there is below the blood's surface, she finds it in time to swing one of her claws at the approaching attack.
The magical energy dissipates on contact and whatever cannonball was at the core of it is shattered through sheer brute strength.
It doesn't amount to much as an attack. However—whether it's because of the increased force of the attack, or a conscious effort on berserker's part to conserve what remains of her magical energy—it did force her to stand still as she's dragged further into the ground. By the time the sparks of Rider's attack fade, she's down halfway to her knees.
Following behind the cannon ball, Lancer rides into the clearing on his horse. The size of his Noble Phantasm has extended to match a proper jousting lance and the magical energy barely contained within it has only grown more dense. Never has describing it as a storm been more appropriate as it is right now. The currents of power inside of it strike the shell as flashes of red lightning, roiling endlessly in search of even the smallest opening that'll allow it to escape.
For a normal magus like Mara, being able to supply this amount of magical energy is impressive. You doubt she'll have anything left to give Lancer after this decisive strike.
The remaining distance between Lancer and his sunken target is crossed in the time it takes him to utter his Noble Phantasm's true name.
"A Crack of Thunder Roaring Like a Thousand Cheers!"
His spear tip finds Berserker and breaks against her. Thus, destruction is unleashed into the world with a crack violent enough that it makes Rider's canon sound like a mewling kitten in comparison. Most of it is targeted against Berserker, but enough of the storm escapes to the side to drown out your senses as red light and vicious winds rage past you.
The world returns to your senses as quickly as it was taken away, enabling you to process the aftermath of Lancer's attack.
Berserker has been thrown back by several meters, pulled free from the pool of blood, but forced to her knees and clutching her chest. You can't fully gauge the severity of her injuries, but blood is slowly leaking between her claws to stain the ground red again.
You can only guess how much strength it has actually taken to pierce through her protection. Aside from some slight scorching of the earth at the feet of Lancer's steed, the surrounding area is free of any blemish telling of the Noble Phantasm that has just been unleashed. The destructive power had all been concentrated directly at Berserker.
It still wasn't enough to put her down.
Wounded she might be, but Servants do not die easily. She rises back to her feet, slowed by her injury but that will matter little without another strike capable of overpowering her. Exactly as requested.
"It's my turn now, right?" Idasviel is eager, already taking small steps towards Berserker as she waits for your command.
"Of course. There's no need to hold back. Let your love burn bright," you say. It's time to let her satisfy her hunger.
Excited and delighted in equal measure, she breaks into a run headed straight for Berserker. By some unspoken agreement, Lancer trots into her path before dematerializing his horse. He lands in a kneeling position and offers himself as a step for Idasviel. Using him as a springboard, she arcs through the sky until she's right above Berserker.
"Until Death Unite the Two Eternally!"
Brynhildr's Noble Phantasm converts the love held towards the target into more mass for her spear. With its true name uttered, Ida's spear expands rapidly and its previous momentum seems to evaporate as it jerks to a stop. Rather than merely growing in size, the spear's shape shifts and twists. The heart shape of the spearhead remains, but its edge turns jagged and the holes near the handle grow more round and fill with flame.
Upon reaching its full size—the head easily three times as tall as its wielder and the shaft towering in the night sky like a golden spire—it resembles a face with its lower jaw removed, unable to chew, or swallow, yet still poised to sink its fangs into its prey solely for the sake of sadism.
For a second, the spear hangs in the air, with Idasviel standing atop its head and leering down at Berserker. Then gravity thrusts it downward. The gigantic weapon quickly descends upon Berserker, but your sister isn't content to leave the killing to the cold causality of the world. She lays a hand against her oversized weapon's shaft. Several sections along its length fold outward. Torrents of flame shoot out from these newly created openings and propel the spear downwards at an even more lethal speed.
You're not sure if Berserker could dodge the Noble Phantasm rocketing towards her in her current state, but she makes no attempt to do so. Her claws catch the spear and it fails to bite into her skin. Their impact causes a shockwave that threatens to unearth the remaining trees in the surrounding, yet Berserker stands strong with a steadfastness that would drive a mountain mad with jealousy.
Idasviel meanwhile has her footing shaken. She lets herself drop to a sitting position, lightly dangling her feet across the edge of her spear. She takes Berserker's resistance in good spirit, as she continues to stare down at her from atop her weapon.
After all, not even the most arrogant of mountains would hope to stand unmoving against the power of love.
Idasviel pushes herself off her seat, giggling as she's falling towards her prey that's pinned in place by the weight of the spear that's still relentlessly pushing towards her heart. She draws closer and closer, until she's in reach to wrap her arms around Berserker's neck. Ida uses her hold to swing the momentum of her fall around and wrap herself around Berserker's back. Her face draws close to Berserker's. She whispers words only they can hear and then envelops them in flames.
The inferno fueled by Ida's passion rages strong enough that the two Servants disappear out of sight, dragged into an endurance match in which the world around them might as well not exist.
That is, aside from yourself. Ida's magical energy reserves are your reserves and the fact that your opponent would run dry was more certain than gravity pulling them to the ground. Unless Berserker finds a way to break out of Ida's embrace, her death was only a matter of time.
Specifically, it's a matter of minutes.
Every now and then the spear would shake as Berserker tries to throw it off, but the rocket thrusters on Ida's Noble Phantasm adjust their output to stabilize it. Thus, their stalemate drags on until the spear overwhelms her and sinks through her and into the ground. With its love delivered, the spear returns to its original size and disappears from sight into a cloud of dust and flames.
Once the air clears, it reveals a crater out of which your sister's manic laughter can be heard. By now Berserker's presence has disappeared entirely, so you consider it safe to approach. As you draw closer, Idasviel comes into sight, spinning around in between the last motes of ether that used to make up Berserker's body still hanging in the air.
She spots you and spins to face you with an eager smile. "Elder Sister, I did it. I burned everything besides myself out of her mind and now she's all mine. I did good, right?"
Despite her claims, your mind turns to your captured Master. Berserker did in fact heed your warning and avoided draining him beyond his magical energy reserves. It's an impressive show of restraint from a dying Berserker. Doubtlessly, her focus was still on the survival of her son until the very end.
The things we do for family.
You descend into the hole Ida punched into the ground. However accurate her assessment of the situation might be, she fulfilled her purpose excellently. You wrap your sister into a hug and pet her head. "You did very well. I'm happy with you."
"Ah! Thank you, Elder Sister! Thank you!" Ida's voice is pitched, almost breaking with delight. She turns your hug with her hands wildly pawing at your back. "Who should I kill next? I don't think Lancer could put up a fight right now and Ayano is without her Servant. Or maybe you want Amna's head?"
"Now, now. You're free to bask in your first kill, but you shouldn't grow too needy."
"Of course. I'll be eager, but patient."
"Good. Then let's go. Perhaps you'll get a chance to add Avenger to your collection."
"Making the entire family mine sounds lovely."
You give Ida a nudge, but ultimately she's the one carrying you out of the pit she made. By now, Amna, her Rider, Naoki, Mara, Lancer and Ayano have gathered near you. You eye the two Servants. It might be time for proper introductions.
"We accomplished our part of tonight's mission. You may all feel honored for having supported me. Ayano, have you gotten any word from your Rider if they need help handling Avenger?"
Ayano takes a short moment to consider before answering. "There's some complications, but he's got everything under control. We wouldn't arrive in time to help anyway."
"I see, In that case, we might as well take the time to address the obvious." You look towards Lancer. He has dematerialized his damaged armor in favor of returning to his street clothes with the addition of a small lion that could pass for a stuffed animal at a glance resting on his shoulder. It lifts a pawn towards you in greeting. "Yvain, the knight of the lion, I take it?"
"Correct. I imagine it was only a matter of time, but I apologize for the secrecy nonetheless." He gives the gathered crowd a deep bow, causing his lion to abandon its seat to jump on his head instead.
"Don't start with the platitudes", Ayano says and rolls her eyes. "That much is to be expected in the Holy Grail War. Although, I'm sure our fair lady already considers that much unforgivable."
"How pessimistic of you," you chide. "I'm always willing to grant absolution to a sinner genuinely seeking redemption. As for now, I imagine we have more fruitful matters to discuss."
"For example," Ida says and jumps towards Yvain, "that Noble Phantasm of yours, Red Esclados, it's named after a knight you killed, isn't it?"
"Yes," Lancer answers. "I don't want to go into too much detail, but let's just say he was the guardian of a magic spring and I inherited the position."
"By marrying his widow," Mara added in a deadpan tone.
Ida ignores the comment and simply squeals at Lancer. "I knew we were similar. Say, when I kill you, do I get to keep you lance as a keepsake?"
"That sounds more like it should be an 'if'," Lancer says with a chuckle. "I can see why you'd want it though. You lasted her out, but I still dealt her the most severe blow."
"That doesn't matter!" Ida yells. "It's about the death blow. I killed her. She's mine!"
"Nobody is disputing that," Naoki says in a soothing tone. "He's just trying to make some banter, but if you don't like the topic we can move on." He glances over at Rider.
"I am curious to see how recognizable I am," Rider offers.
"A name is a name, which is all I require," you say. "I would place you as Kamehameha, the first king of Hawaii and the first Hawaiian to ride a horse. One of your most pertinent military battles being the Battle of the Dammed Waters, making use among other things of a pair of canons named Lopaka and Kalola operated by John Young and Isaac Davis."
"Good. As useful as the secrecy is, being too obscure to be recognized would be rather shameful for a Heroic Spirit." Rider accompanies his comment with a heartfelt laugh. "Regardless, consider Berserker's life to be a one time gift. There's enough value in a slain enemy's mana that I won't simply concede them in the future."
"Neither will I!" Ida declares. Compared to her viciousness when she thought Yvain was contesting her kill, she seems to accept Kamehameha's words as a fair competition.
"Right, before any of that there's another matter to settle now that the secrecy is out of the way," Ayano says. Then she points to Ida. "What the fuck even are you and what's up with this Brynhildr business."
"Hehe! I am Idasviel von Einzbern, the only Servant here honest about their Identity, the second greatest creation of the greatest family of alchemists and most importantly the younger sister and most devout worshiper of Karisviel von Einzbern." With a hand on her proudly puffed chest, Idasviel becomes more upbeat with each boast she makes. "Brynhildr… has been conscripted to aid me."
Ayano is visibly unimpressed, so you supplement a more detailed explanation. "The Heroic Spirit I summoned is indeed Brynhildr, who now rests within my sister's body. The technical details are of no greater importance, all you need to know is that she's her own person that happens to be able to wield the same powers as a Servant."
"You really can't help yourself but fuck with the system, can't you?" Ayano asks.
"The fundament for this summon was built into the Greater Grail from the beginning and the practice of channeling Heroic Spirits predates the use of summoning Servants with the aid of a grail. You're being needlessly critical about this." You purposely leave out the possibility that summoning Brynhildr into Ida might be related to the increased number of Servants that are participating in this war.
Ayano considers it for a while before giving a heavy sigh. "Whatever. I guess we're done here."
"Actually," Amna says, "for the sake of fairness, do you intend to reveal your Servant's true name as well."
"Fuck no," she scoffs. "I don't have to give you some stupid honorbound information handouts."
"That is… fair enough."
"Well then," Naoki says, "we should probably head towards Akihiko and the others. Whether or not we'll be in time to help them, it can't hurt to check up with each other."
"Nah, there's no point in bothering." Ayano waves dismissively. "Avenger got cleansed, but managed to pop Caster's substitutes and got away."
"Which you're awfully nonchalant about," you note.
Ayano shrugs. "We got the important part done and apparently they managed to wriggle out of the situation by taking the others by surprise due to being some kinda freak that got summoned as a duo rather than being genuinely powerful. Worst case, we can cut them off at the source by offing their Master, even if that'd be a shame before we managed to extract the command seals out of his arm. That is unless you're scared about Avenger staging a rescue for him. Maybe you need me to tag along as your big strong bodyguard?"
There's a challenge in Ayano's smile, even if you both know that you're not going to be scared of some boogeyman. Still, you do give some consideration to her offer.
[X] Accept her offer.
You may not need any protection, but serving you even for a short while might help her to build character. It's not like she poses any danger to you on your own land. Especially not while you still hold the key to her gaining another command seal. Whether or not she's trying to bait you, she should at least follow through on her word.
[X] Ask Amna to stay with you instead.
You suppose that if there's anyone in this group you'd trust your back to, it's her. There should be no harm in keeping her around a little bit longer. You're also somewhat curious if experiencing proper battle has helped her reconsider some of her priorities.
[X] Ask Naoki to stay with you instead.
He has been an attentive student so far. It might be a good idea to set him, as well as Mara and Yvain, aside to review some material now that he has some battle experience.
[X] Just return home without any of them.
The fact of the matter is that you can keep yourself safe. To pretend otherwise is below your dignity. Having another person to deal with is only going to slow down getting to whatever matter you decide to handle tomorrow.
Regardless, after all the violence Ida was allowed to exert tonight, you're quite sure Idasviel will manage to coax some more rune magic from Brynhildr's consciousness. You wonder what exactly it'll be.
[X] Flight
While Idasviel can already rocket herself through the air with the aid of her mana burst, that pales in comparison to the maneuverability offered by proper flight, the ability to levitate herself for unrestricted movement through the air. At this point, she can not make other things fly, but she can carry the same amount of weight with her that she would be able to lift on the ground.
[X] Use basic elemental magic
A wide array of spells that lack finesse, but add versatility to Idasviel's arsenal. It should be noted that a lot of Servants capable of fighting Idasviel head on will have Magic Resistance that will protect them from direct attacks with magecraft.
[X] Enchantement
The ability to imbue the power of her rune magecraft into things besides herself. The variety of enchantments at Idasviel's disposal is directly tied to the other forms of rune magecraft she has acquired. For now, increasing divinity would make a rather temperamental enchantement, that technically gives very universal benefits, but will also take a heavy toll on any target without the proper compatibility.
True Name: Kamehameha
Skills:
Divinity: C
Rather than having divine blood himself, Kamehameha was designated as the guardian of Ku, a Hawaiian god that holds authority over war. Beyond his close ties to Ku's divinity, he also has access to rituals granting him further favor, including sacrificial practices that allow him to harness the strength of slain enemies from their remains.
Charisma: B
A composite Skill consisting of a person's charm as well as their natural skills as a leader. At this rank the Skill is sufficient to lead a nation as its King. The morale of the military forces he commands is extremely high.
Disengage: A
The ability to withdraw from the battlefield in the midst of combat or reset the battle conditions.
Noble Phantasm:
Lopaka and Kalola: Young and Davis
Rank: C+
Type: Anti-Army
A pair of canons operated by Kamehameha's old advisors. Their lack of mystery means they don't hold as much raw power as most anti-army Noble Phantasm would, even if Rider was able to instill enough magical energy into them to make them a force to be reckoned with. However, the fact that they're effectively remote controlled grants them some amount of versatility to compensate for their relative lack of fire power.
Dammed Waters
Most details of this Noble Phantasm are still unknown, but it appears to grant Rider some influence over blood spilled on the battlefield and cause people to sink into it. You currently don't know if anything lurks under its surface.
True Name: Yvain
Skill:
Animal Dialogue C
While complex conversation with animals is impossible, Lancer does have an uncanny ability to reach an understanding with animals. Though, having his orders understood does not guarantee that an animal will follow them.
Noble Phantasm:
Red Esclados: A Crack of Thunder Roaring Like a Thousand Cheers:
Rank: B++
Type: Anti-Unit
A weapon tied to the guardianship of a magical storm causing spring within the enchanted forest Brocéliande. Its gnarled wooden hilt can convert magical energy into a powerful storm contained by a thin bounded field shaped like a lance. Any impact is likely to damage the shell, creating a localized opening that allows for the storm within to be released, while concentrating its strength into a small point.
The exact size and power of this Noble Phantasm is relative to the amount of magical energy used to activate it.
Knight of the Lion: The knight's loyal companion
Rank: A
Type: Anti-Unit
A majestic lion that aids Lancer in battle. While it is loyal to Yvain, it is capable of storing magical energy of its own to manifest according to its own will without no regard to Lancer's orders. Still, the two are connected on a fundamental level, allowing the lion to appear at Yvain's side regardless of what obstacles are in its way, including those that would otherwise disable the use of Noble Phantasm entirely.
Besides manifesting at its full size, it can also take a smaller form resembling a stuffed animal.
Poor Ayano. When will she learn that sarcasm doesn't work on the goddess?
[X] Accept her offer.
Flight and Enchantement ... Tactics versus Strategy. Flight is for bombardment and disengagement, enchantement is for actually making the bombs. Hmm ...
Well worst-case scenario, we can always steal an airplane.
"The Heroic Spirit I summoned is indeed Brynhildr, who now rests within my sister's body. The technical details are of no greater importance, all you need to know is that she's her own person that happens to be able to wield the same powers as a person."
For now, increasing divinity would make a rather temperamental, that technically gives very universal benefits, but will also take a heavy toll on any target without the proper compatibility.
Hmm, what are the chances he's been let go? After the corruption was removed, Avenger is no longer Akihiko's problem, and the number of independent actors who could make a mess of things in our camp is shrinking. I wouldn't put it past them to give the enemy Servant an opportunity to flee.
"I see, In that case, we might as well take the time to address the obvious." You look towards Lancer. He has dematerialized his damaged armor in favor of returning to his street clothes with the addition of a small lion that could pass for a stuffed animal at a glance resting on his shoulder. It lifts a pawn towards you in greeting. "Yvain, the knight of the lion, I take it?"
"A name is a name, which is all I require," you say. "I would place you as Kamehameha, the first king of Hawaii and the first Hawaiian to ride a horse. One of your most pertinent military battles being the Battle of the Dammed Waters, making use among other things of a pair of canons named Lopaka and Kalola operated by John Young and Isaac Davis."
"Ah! Thank you, Elder Sister! Thank you!" Ida's voice is pitched, almost breaking with delight. She turns your hug with her hands wildly pawing at your back. "Who should I kill next? I don't think Lancer could put up a fight right now and Ayano is without her Servant. Or maybe you want Amna's head?"
Not sure if the identities of the Servants were guessable from whatever information we got prior to them revealing their Noble Phantasms. Maybe we'll have more luck with Archer or Shielder; those two have a personal rivalry going on, and that always leaves a trace.
The choice at the end is interesting. I think I prefer to strengthen an already existing bond rather than try to tie in a loose one. Even though I like ignoring Ayano's exasperation at our antics and like her as a character, I find that interactions with Amna have more meaningful impact on Kari's personality.
[x] Ask Amna to stay with you instead.
[x] Enchantement
Compensating for the missed opportunity with the Caster, eh? Can't say I disapprove.
Yeah, that sentence could probably use another word, thanks for pointing these out. Anyway, point it that the divinity rune you have access to right now would make for a rather volatile enhancement, so for example you could slap it on Yvain and it would power him up, but the fact he has no natural divinity would mean that it takes a heavy toll on his body, basically putting him into overdrive until he breaks down.
Meanwhile, Kamehameha would be able to handle the boost much better given that he already has some amount of Divinity.
Ha, there's that shame Kamehameha was worried about. Anyway, that's fair, I was wondering how much of an exposition dump I should give on these two right away.
Yvain (Sometimes also written as Ywain, or Owain) is an arthurian knight. Although he's not a part of the settings offical Round Table line up, which he might have some things to say about if it ever comes up in the story. To give a very brief overview, he kills a knight guarding a magic spring, marries the knight's widow, goes off questing with some of his knight buddies, but then forgets to return home in time. So his wife gets mad at him, they have kind of a bad break up that Yvain doesn't take well. After recovering from the innitial shock, he befriends a lion by saving it from a dragon and goes on a redemption arc while disguising himself as the lion knight to regain his lady's favour.
Kamehameha meanwhile is a figure from actual history. Apparently his life was matching prophecies of a coming great king since his birth, but regardless he eventually united the hawaiian islands in what was a rather bloody campaign. Although, he also released laws that made pretty big strides when it comes to human rights and the protection of civillians.
It was also during his time that Hawaii came into contact with Europe and America, which is part of where some of his weaponry comes from. On a more anecdotal note, there's also stories of him meeting these foreign powers in suits matching their style of dress, which trickeled all the way down to how Amna now dresses herself. Beyond that, he did stay in the background quite a bit, so I can't say I expected anyone to guess him before now.
You meet Ayano's smile with a smirk of your own. What kind of benevolent goddess would you be if you denied people the blessing of your presence?
"Very well, I'll indulge you, Ayano. I expect you to do good work in return for being allowed to accompany me."
Ayano's smile withered and she stared at you flatly for a silent second, or two. "I'm not even surprised, but I regret my choices already."
"I mean, I don't think you-" Naoki spoke up, but found himself interrupted by Ayano.
"Don't bother. There's no fucking point."
"You heard her." Mara gently pulled Naoki away by his shoulders. "Who knows, maybe some alone time will help them get along." Mara was prompted to reconsider her statement by a glare from Ayano. "Anyway, it's been a long night. It's about time we get some sleep."
"Well, if you guys say so," Naoki said. "Although, I should probably at least drop by the temple, so Caster can inform Akihiko that everything worked out on our end as well."
"How diligent," you say. "Make sure to tell him that I'll expect him to crawl out of hiding, if he wishes to claim one of the Command Seals. I'm sure he'll agree it's too valuable a commodity to be treated with any less care than that."
"Right," Naoki replied. "I take it I should also make a visit to you then?"
"Yes," you confirm. "I'm sure we'll find an opportunity eventually."
"I'll make sure to keep in touch as well," Amna says.
"I'd expect you to," you answer. "Farewell until then."
"Yes. Sleep well, Kari." Amna says her goodbyes to the others as well and then leaves together with Kamehameha. The others quickly follow suit and your little group dispenses until it's only you, Ida and Ayano. Well, the three of you and the Master you captured, but given the circumstances he hardly counts.
"Alright then, lead the way. Rider is going to catch up just fine," Ayano says.
"Very well. It's good of you not to make me wait," you praise her. Judging by her clicking her tongue, she does not take that as the honor it is. Not that you expect her to at this point. You signal Ida and she skips in front of you. Her hair is once again set aflame to act as a beacon for your walk through the dark forest.
It's quiet, except for the sound of leaves and twigs being broken underneath your feet. The local animals have fled from the carnage of the dead. It's your sister that ends up filling the silence after only a couple of steps. Mostly she decided to recount the part of the Servant battle you weren't present for. There's some practical information in there, but for the most part she's simply giddy to share the violent details with you. However, there's one thing that stands out to you.
"Idasviel, what did you just say Ayano did?"
"She jumped into the melee and pulled Berserker to the ground," Idasviel repeats. "It didn't hurt Berserker much, but I still think the effort was gallant."
"You do realize I'm here?" Ayano asks.
"Yes," you answer. "Because you got lucky. Do you have any idea how dangerous getting close to Berserker was?"
"Obviously," Ayano replies deadpan. "I probably would have died if she dragged me off to have tea. The boredom would have been fatal, duh."
"By what kind of madness are you the one treating your own death as a joke?" You aren't shouting at her yet, but there's heat rising in your voice.
It elicits nothing more than an eye roll from Ayano. "Yes, because a Grail War is the place to be if you're afraid of risking your life. It's not like I'm actively suicidal here, but if it needs doing, I'm not gonna hold back. Though, I hardly see how that's any of your business."
"People are only allowed to die when I don't care about them. I suppose rather than merely giving you a scolding, you do deserve some praise for managing to personally contribute to a fight between Servants. Still, do keep in mind that the death of a student of mine would be a bother for me, especially when I'm taking them out on an excursion."
Ayano eyes you for a moment. It's not with the same insolent distaste she usually displays, but also a far cry from the gratitude she should be displaying after receiving your praise and concern. Then she glances at your captive. "Quite the change in attitude, but you're still gonna have to drop the teacher shtick eventually. Or not. Would make things easier for me."
"Don't you worry about that," you say. "I'm giving you an opportunity to act in your own best interest. If you continue insisting on declining it until the bitter end, you will be dealt with appropriately."
"I'll hold you to that." Ayano stops with her arms crossed over her chest. She regards you with some amount of satisfaction. You weren't exactly attempting to intimidate her, so her reaction doesn't bother you in the slightest, but it continues to astound you just how much she's spoiling for a fight.
"Of course you're looking forward to it." Ida is bent forward to send her hair cascading over her shoulders to avoid blocking the light. As a result the fire frames her face, casting her wide predatory smile into a haunting light. "Don't worry, I crave it just as badly."
"That's entirely the wrong takeaway." Ayano bites back whatever other remarks she's eager to hurl at your sister. Her breath would only fan Ida's flames.
"You're surprisingly shy under all your bluster, aren't you? Don't worry, you're…" Ida trails off. She's counting something on her hand. She was confident with her thumb, but now she's holding her index and middle finger as she's making her deliberations. "You're definitely within the top three of Masters I want to kill."
"I'm afraid that isn't as charming a line as you want it to be." With those words, Rider announces his arrival. He nods towards his Master before turning back to Idasviel.
She eagerly hops towards him. "I was afraid of that, but it's not right that I'm expected to pick a favorite lover."
"If nothing else, I can relate to the hardships of winning someone's heart." He gives her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Regardless, I'd like to apologize. My manners might have been lacking in the lead up to tonight's operation."
Ida hums. "You were rather cold, but I can tell you're back to your usual self, so I won't hold a grudge."
"At least your Servant knows how to get along with my sister," you tell Ayano.
"Trust me, the fact they get along with each other is a scathing indictment for both of them." Ayano steps up towards your Servants. "Before you chew off each other's ears, at least make it a walk and talk. It's already past late and I don't want to get cold as I have to wait on you."
Ida increases the intensity of her flames to act as a heat source for Ayano.
In turn, she thrusts her chin forward. "Get a move on."
Idasviel whimpers, but starts walking again. You do your best to reassure Ida that Ayano is simply tired. It's hardly like she's going to be in a more agreeable mood even after a good rest, but you can protect Ida's maiden heart. At least until tomorrow. You don't particularly care for having to deal with any more problems today, especially something heinous enough to sadden your sister.
The remainder of your return goes by uneventfully, with only Ida and Rider chatting amongst each other. That being said, the conversation itself held some interesting information. Namely what Rider had learned about Avenger. Although, when he opens by mentioning them being hidden away in a gingerbread house, you already have a good idea as to the true identity of this seemingly harmless pair of Servants that managed to catch a powerful Caster unaware. Every further detail only reaffirms your suspicion.
Hänsel und Gretel, a pair of siblings abandoned by parents that couldn't afford to feed them and ultimately end up captured by a cannibal witch that keeps Gretel as a servant and fattens Hänsel so that he makes a nice meal. The boy manages to stave off his fate by tricking the nearly blind witch into probing bare bones rather than his own plump fingers. Then she decides to simply cook him anyway, at which point the girl shoves the witch into her own oven, who frankly has nobody to blame but herself. Some looting of their captor's riches later, they make their way home, find the evil step mother that had the idea of abandoning them in the first place dead and get their happy ending.
Rider seems amused by the story, but refuses to show his hand enough to reveal just why exactly that is. If nothing else, you suppose it's curious they have found themself in the care of another man eater.
Much more pressingly, Ida seems perturbed by all the murder directed at and committed by children. You never considered it before, but much like how she has no desire to kill you—her family—it makes sense there would be other limits to her appetite. She ought to go through with the deed regardless, if you order her, but perhaps you can find an alternative.
Once you arrive at the castle, you instruct Melsritt to show your guest to a suitable room, lock away your captive and be more on guard than usual for Servant attacks in case Avenger decides to stage a hasty rescue for their Master. Then you retreat to your room to settle down for your own sleep, expecting haunted dreams. Your body serves as the lesser grail that collects the souls of Servant's after they've been killed in this ritual war and then turns them into fuel to perform the miracle that'll let you claim your proper place in the world. Tonight Servants have been returned to their graves and your role as a vessel begins in earnest.
The foreign sensations were difficult to place at first, but as your mind falls asleep and the vestiges of the Servants' memories drift into your mind, you manage to discern the two clumps of ether that have flowed into you.
The first is Berserker. While she wasn't summoned in Fuyuki, her proximity and connection to a Master participating in the local war was enough for the grail to claim her all the same.
Your dreams are swallowed by black waves, sinking further and further into the depths of her recollection until you hit the peaceful bottom. Not even the turbulence of the lake's surface can reach you anymore, cutting you off entirely from the detestable outside world.
Even Berserker's own name is slowly washed away by the currents, remaining not even within her own memories. Instead, what springs forth from the center of her Identity is her child. Grendel. A rowdy runt driven to occasionally leave their home to carry his hatred to the outside world.
He'd return with food and treasure, or perhaps they were both the same to begin with. Regardless, the cycle was established and continued right until it got Grendel killed. Without his return, it was his mother's turn to venture forth into the world to save or avenge him. She accomplished neither.
Memories of her first and second life blend together, as images of Grendel—his ripped off arm mounted as a trophy—get overlaid by those of her Master. Both times she struggled, but was put down shortly after crossing paths with the protagonist of the story.
There are flashes of this incarnation carved into her soul as well, but they're obscured behind the fog of her Berserker madness. All that remains for you is rage. Heretical hateful rage that is directed at you in particular. How thankless, after you granted her a chance to do over her death.
Unwilling to let her rage on in your mind, you move on towards the second bundle of memories. Here too anger greets you, but it isn't directed at you. It's a rage mixed with shame and regret into a toxic cocktail of emotions.
That's what Ajax the Great, summoned as Shielder in this war, has become. You can catch glimpses of the honor he won during the Trojan war, but his ultimate tragedy taints his memories. Recovering Achilles' remains together with Odysseus should have been a great feat, but achieving it together with Odysseus revealed itself to be more of a curse than he anticipated.
There was no way for them to split the spoils. Akhilleus Kosmos, the magical armor forged for Achilles by the god Hephaestus, a prize that anyone would covet. It went to Odysseus and along with it the ire of Ajax the Great. His rage was deflected from accomplishing anything by illusions send by Athena and once he comes back to his senses, he ultimately commits suicide. It's an unseemly end for such a once great warrior, but even given his pitiful choices, there's one detail that causes you to sympathize with him.
The likeness of Odysseus is burned into his soul and even apart from Ajax's own recollection you can recognize him as the Archer that attempted to kill you on the night you visited the Tohsaka mansion. A truly vile soul that can't help himself but cause ruin with his touch.
His memories of the Grail War are clearer than those of Berserker and as far as you can tell, his Master, Justine Terrevibrer, did not use a catalyst to summon Ajax. Rather the two of them were drawn to each other by a common cause as his Master mirrored him through this hatred of Krone, a professor of the Clock Tower that summoned Odysseus. Their partnership was a pragmatic and single-minded one, only briefly clashing with the other participants until your own excursion opened up a path towards their target.
Ajax should have just taken the kill after Rider sliced up Odysseus for him. Instead he tried one final time to end things with honor and forced him into a duel instead, leaving Odysseus a whole day with his back to the wall.
You aren't sure what exactly happened in that time, because Ajax himself only caught on once he once again found himself impaled on the tip of his own sword.
Judging the scant glimpses you can gleam from his soul, it appears he suffered for the fact other Master and Servant pairs don't have the kind of personal bond tying them together that you and Ida share. Odysseus, you imagine, has little reason to stick with his Master until the bitter end and as an Archer he has the means to sustain himself independently for at least a while. Likewise, Justine is only interested in aiding her Servant's revenge for as long as Odysseus stands between him and Krone.
Order your Servant to kill himself and I'll hand my Master over to you.
A deal between the two could have been as easy as that. Ultimately though, both the truth and the aftermath are something you can only find out yourself. The swirl of memories is banished from your consciousness as you wake up, reduced to a faint sense of numbness within the depths of your stomach. When you open your eyes, you're greeted by the familiar sight of Ida staring at you, but her facial expression is unusually perturbed.
"Elder Sister, did you not sleep well?" she asks.
"Ah, I suppose so. It's nothing you have to worry about, just some lingering memories bleeding through. Something this meager won't affect my mind." You give her hair a comforting ruffle and climb out of your bed.
After taking a moment to check if Mister Schnabel has been fed and to make yourself presentable, you head to a nearby sitting room. The bounded field around your mansion allows you to keep track of everyone inside of it, allowing you to locate Ayano with ease. It appears she was already up and about.
After a short walk, you find Ayano tapping away on her cell phone, while her Servant attempts to hold a conversation with Melsritt, who seems to have little interest in him beyond making sure he doesn't cause any trouble.
Ayano notices you. "Took you long enough to wake up. No wonder you only ever show up for the last couple classes."
"I have no reason to make my sleep cycle suffer to keep up with daylight activities," you say as you take a seat yourself.
"Sure, whatever," she says. "We won't manage any pleasantries anyway, so let's get to business. Rider."
On her command, he holds up his hands, spread open with his palms to you to demonstrate they're empty. Then he performs a little flourish with them and produces two gemstones.
Their mere presence makes your stomach sink.
Rider lightly throws one of them to you. Upon catching it you give it a closer inspection and find one of the Matou's crest worms embedded inside of it. Even beyond the worm's disgusting appearance—gray and bulging with a mouth that doesn't belong filled with sharp teeth to dig into their host's flesh—there's something wrong about it.
You know of these creatures, the familiars of the Matou family created by Zouken Matou. Simplistically speaking, they're an organic mechanism for replication. First, something is engraved into them and then by the same process they carve that something into their host. Primarily, this would be something like the family's knowledge of magecraft, skipping the process of having to teach a disciple to instead reconfigure their body into one that has mastered their brand of magecraft. Of course, as efficient a process it might have been, the skill to perform magecraft ultimately means nothing if the basic aptitude in the form of magic circuits to metabolize magical energy was missing. Which is exactly what the family declined to after they left their home in Russia to move to Japan, or at least it was until Ayano's mother snatched up their remnants.
However, that's hardly the worm's only use, such as the former Matou patriarch Zouken using them to host his soul to prolong his life beyond the limit set by human flesh. Hopefully long enough to get his hands on the Grail and use it to stop the decay of his soul. He failed.
Now, Rider seems to have done something similar by segmenting the parts of Hänsel and Gretel's spirit core that held Avenger's curse to preserve the familiar taint you had thought yourself rid off already, prepared to be transferred into another body.
"I see that expecting you to simply exorcize Avenger was too much to ask for," you say with a heavy sigh.
"The opportunity presented itself." Rider shrugs. He doesn't exactly look apologetic, so much as he's awkwardly trying to placate you.
"Right," you respond dryly. "So you took the corrupted parts of Avenger's souls, had the worms devour them and then nested them inside the gems." You run your thumb over the precious stone's smooth surface. Looking at the one still in Rider's hand, both of them were shaped like eggs. "I'll grant you that the soul outside its vessel is a delicate thing to work with, so just transferring part of it without having it quickly erode is impressive craftsmanship from someone that doesn't have access to the third magic. Most Caster class Servants would find themself unable to accomplish the same feat. I only wish you would have put that skill to use for something more worthwhile. You realize that segmenting the problem away doesn't make it any less dangerous should anything happen to Avenger, or the worms?"
"Quite so, I'm afraid," Rider admits readily. "However, my limitations aren't yours. I imagine if there's anyone that can make sure Avenger's curse will stay filtered out of the Grail, it's the scion of the Einzbern family that both holds the remnants of the third magic and is the closest to the Grail."
You hum and take another look at the worm. All the World's Evil is a grandiose name for what's ultimately a crude curse that happens to be highly compatible with the holy grail and is inherently diminished by having been split between Hänsel and Gretel. Instead of one single martyr meant to represent a scapegoat that all others can vent their grievances on, you expect it to have a more subdued effect. Place it into a Servant and they should become slightly more adept at slaying humans and have an easier time drawing the ire of others and turn that resentment into fuel to empower themself.
Rider is right that you should be able to keep this under control.
That leaves the question of what you have to gain from going along with this. You hold up the gem to look through it at Ida. If you want to play things safe, there's already another soul trapped inside her that you should be able to use as a breaker to stop overt effects on your sister's psyche for as long as Brynhildr stays suppressed. Given her perspective on things, she might even see the gathering of grudges as a means to gauge the love others hold for her. Though, you suppose you should still talk with her about it.
"Is there something I can help with, Elder Sister?"
"No, not yet," you answer your sister. "I've just been wondering how you'd look wearing black."
Idasviel leans her head to the side and brings a finger to her chin as she thinks it over. "Please let me know what you think. I still haven't entirely decided on my wardrobe."
"Can we stay on topic?" Ayano barges into your sisterly chat.
"Yes, yes," you tell her. "I take it the idea here is that we both walk away with one of these Avenger gems to do with as we please?"
Ayano responds with slow deliberate clapping. "A genius deduction. Can we get to it then?"
[X] Take the deal.
Whether you decide to enhance Ida, or to use it as a bargaining chip with another Master, this Avenger gem might turn into a useful resource. Regardless, there will be no risk of the remnants of Avenger causing any large scale complications once you've worked your magic on them.
[X] Reject the deal.
You don't know what exactly Ayano's plans are and don't expect her to give you a straight answer. You also have no intention of finding out. However, without being treated by you, these gems are essentially ticking timebombs. You are going to hand them over to Seimei to get them cleansed properly this time and you can only hope that Ayano is going to hand them over peacefully without starting a fight.
Ayano hasn't been particularly helpful or warm to us, so her suddenly making an about-face and ""offering"" us a power-up is suspicious as all get-out. Avenger is a pretty dangerous thing to be playing around with, and we should probably just get it all cleared and put this arc behind us.
[X] Take the deal.
I am an agent of chaos.
(Also, on a seperate note... @Edgedancer ? I loved this post as an update, especially the dream sequence stuff. It's just incredibly well-written, which is abroad sentiment, but still; I really, really like this.)
This is playing with fire. If even one of these gems gets destroyed then the grail gets tainted. And whatever Ayano plans with her gem, I'm almost sure there is a way for it to go wrong with the chaos of the grail war.
Heh, I figured it'd take a while for all the votes to trickle in. Thank you all for the participation, every single vote is appreciated. Still, this does mean we currently have a tie. I'll give it another 24 hours to see if a tie breaker shows up. Otherwise, I'll edit this post to break it myself.
Edit: Alright, time's up, so I'll say the vote goes to accepting the deal.
Amna keeps ignoring the social distance we create around ourselves. I can't outright remember if other people talk to us like that. Being intimidating and eccentric probably has something to do with people only addressing us if there is something important to bring up, instead of making small talk.
It's been a while since anyone else called us Kari, too. Naoki's been rather formal during the meeting; it's been all 'Karisviel' and 'Miss Kari'. But he and Mara do use a diminutive when it's just them.
Namely what Rider had learned about Avenger. Although, when he opens by mentioning them being hidden away in a gingerbread house, you already have a good idea as to the true identity of this seemingly harmless pair of Servants that managed to catch a powerful Caster unaware.
Is this the first time we hear that Avenger is, in fact, two people? I can only recall Avenger being called 'them', but I assumed it was because their identity was unknown at the time.
You aren't sure what exactly happened in that time, because Ajax himself only caught on once he once again found himself impaled on the tip of his own sword.
[...] Order your Servant to kill himself and I'll hand my Master over to you.
A deal between the two could have been as easy as that.
I doubt it. I mean, the gap in memories does seem to point at a command-powered murder-suicide, and it would be a delicious twist worthy of a Fate franchise, but it involves forfeiting one's right to participate and surrendering one's only means of security on a word of your sworn enemy's associate. Yes, you can hope they have no strong ties to your rival, but would you bet your life on that?
And knowing that it's Odysseus, the man known for his trickery and the inventor of the Trojan Horse, I would be sceptical of any deals made with him.
I do not follow. The cleansing of Avenger was deemed successful. Wasn't the whole point of tonight's events to ensure that things can happen to Avenger without endangering the ritual?
Now it's the worms that hold their curse. That part I can understand, but what happens if Avenger dies? If only 'half' of Avenger dies?
That leaves the question of what you have to gain from going along with this. You hold up the gem to look through it at Ida. If you want to play things safe, there's already another soul trapped inside her that you should be able to use as a breaker to stop overt effects on your sister's psyche for as long as Brynhildr stays suppressed. Given her perspective on things, she might even see the gathering of grudges as a means to gauge the love others hold for her. Though, you suppose you should still talk with her about it.
Correct me if I am wrong, but this seems to suggest we would be using the in-between person to protect Ida's psyche from negative effects. This means that the grudges would be taking their effect on Brynhildr and empowering her first and foremost, providing Ida power indirectly. Not only would we be strengthening the source of our sister's insanity unhealthy urges, we'd be making it easier for the subdued Servant to break our of her control.
Power comes with limitations, that I know, but I am not sure the scraps we'd get would be worth the potential risk and a very real mental harm. Kari does say her method would stop 'overt effects', which to me sounds like it won't go entirely without consequence.
Also, while Ayano doesn't have the air of a backstabber around her, she clearly doesn't have any romantic notions about this war. We are by far the biggest threat to any independent Master... and it's not treachery if you didn't even pretend you had friendly intentions. I would be wary of grafting something like one of (formerly) Great Families' secret weapon onto our Servant after Rider was shown more adept with it than could have been reasonably guessed.
That said, we aren't obliged to use it on Ida. What is the alternate use suggested in the option, though?
Is this the first time we hear that Avenger is, in fact, two people? I can only recall Avenger being called 'them', but I assumed it was because their identity was unknown at the time.
Ayano did mention them being "some kinda freak that got summoned as a duo" when passing on the report from Rider. On which note, to tie into some of your other points, all the news that came back about the group that went after Avenger was given by Ayano. My apologies if I didn't make it clear enough, but the reason some of her previous statements don't line up with what's revealed this chapter is because she just lied about the stunt Rider pulled to avoid having the whole group gang up on her on the matter.
Likewise, she did play into presenting Avenger as not a real threat anymore, because currently the parts of their souls are still interconnected enough that Avenger dying would cause all of it to still get sucked into the Grail. Someone trying to finish the job right then would have been bad enough that it effectively would have forced her to come clean immediately.
Ayano shrugs. "We got the important part done and apparently they managed to wriggle out of the situation by taking the others by surprise due to being some kinda freak that got summoned as a duo rather than being genuinely powerful.
I assumed it was related to there being two Servants (Berserker and Avenger) where we only expected one. In that case the 'genuinely powerful' one would be Berserker, and Avenger would be the tag-along.
Really though, why do Berserker and Avenger have the same Master? Not one or two Servants, but three? What even is this guy?
Is there an obvious reason she goes behind the backs of others with this? Or rather, who is she trying to fool? Everyone "in the business" knows who Matous are, and Naoki would be clueless if you shoved a worm in his face.
What about my other question? What use the 'soul gem' would be to another Master without us to graft it safely?
For that matter, why is Ayano keeping her own gem, knowing the danger of Avenger dying and spoiling the Grail for everyone, her included? After they were declared cleansed and safe to kill/banish? I suppose not knowing is the point, and this is her bribe for us to keep silent.
Part of that you'll have to get out of him yourself in story, but as far as the Servant upkeep is concerned the answer there is the cannibalism, eating humans to use them as a supply of magical energy to keep the amount the Master has to supply to a minimum.
Is there an obvious reason she goes behind the backs of others with this? Or rather, who is she trying to fool? Everyone "in the business" knows who Matous are, and Naoki would be clueless if you showed a worm in his face.
It's not really about keeping anyone fooled long term. The problem that Ayano considered is that while this whole worm business would still acomplish their team's shared goal once it's completed, nobody has any reason to let her skim off an extra profit for herself. That is except for Kari, whose help she needs anyway and can bribe by sharing the spoils.
By the time any of the others could find out, they can't stop her anymore and she doesn't really care if they have any misgivings.
Ah, sorry for skipping over that. By the time Kari finishes processing them, the hard work is going to be done already and most Masters should be able to handle to remaining procedure themself. From the top of my head, the few that can't do it themself have more skilled allies that can handle it for them, such as Naoki and Mara.
For that matter, why is Ayano keeping her own gem, knowing the danger of Avenger dying and spoiling the Grail for everyone, her included? After they were declared cleansed and safe to kill/banish? I suppose not knowing is the point, and this is her bribe for us to keep silent.
That boils down to Ayano gambling that with their group having retreated for now, nobody else is going to kill Avenger until she had time to make Kari put the safeties in place (or she forces her to hand them over for proper cleansing). This absolutely could have gone wrong if she miscalculated. Feel free to call her out on it.
That boils down to Ayano gambling that with their group having retreated for now, nobody else is going to kill Avenger until she had time to make Kari put the safeties in place (or she forces her to hand them over for proper cleansing).
Ah, it seems I misread what the deal was. I thought that we'd get a gem for us to purify, and Ayano would be free to do with hers as she wants... which would be an unacceptable risk. But she seems to understand it as well, and we'd be processing both gems before parting ways.
(Why does rejecting the deal mention us going to Seimei for cleansing, if we could do everything ourselves?)
The question is, then, are others aware of our nature as the Lesser Grail? Rider seems to imply it here:
"However, my limitations aren't yours. I imagine if there's anyone that can make sure Avenger's curse will stay filtered out of the Grail, it's the scion of the Einzbern family that both holds the remnants of the third magic and is the closest to the Grail."
If Avenger were killed and his curse were to infect the Grail... wouldn't it infect us first? That is the part of Ayano's recklessness that I find objectionable, should it be true.
Ah, it seems I misread what the deal was. I thought that we'd get a gem for us to purify, and Ayano would be free to do with hers as she wants... which would be an unacceptable risk. But she seems to understand it as well, and we'd be processing both gems before parting ways.
That is the intended read, yes. Each of them walks away with a "safe" gem. I'll be honest, I didn't paticularly consider the read of Ayano keeping hers untreated, because yeah, that indeed would have been a horrible idea.
While Kari can fix them in the sense of making them safe, she can't exorcise them the same way Seimei could. Handing them over to him would make them unusable as a means to prove that Kari isn't simply trying to scam Ayano out of her gem to keep both for herself. (And any actual attempt to get both gems out of this would end very badly.)
Ayano and Akihiko know due to their families involvement, as does Eliza Kotmine the overseer. To everybody else it's not common knowledge, but not impossible to figure out with some digging into how the ritual works. I don't think Kari herself has exactly been secretive about it either.
If Avenger were killed and his curse were to infect the Grail... wouldn't it infect us first? That is the part of Ayano's recklessness that I find objectionable, should it be true.
This is correct. Given the way the ritual is set up, Ayano pretty much considers Kari a goner anyway (unless someone gives up a big chunk of their reward to keep her alive instead, which Ayano at the very least doesn't consider herself obligated to do) but in this instant she's aware that she also put Kari at risk.
In hindsight, it's easy enough to see how Ayano's offer to help safekeep you from Avenger was an excuse to make this deal in privacy and keep the existence of the two tainted gems a secret from the others. At least temporarily. You're not quite sure if you ought to scold her for being insincere with you, or praise her for realizing that she's dependent on your help.
On second thought, there isn't much point in scolding Ayano. She's the type to argue back out of principle.
"Very well. You found it in you to approach me as a supplicant, I'm not cruel enough to turn you away."
Ayano lets out a deep breath. "I'll take it. Treating this like an equal deal would clearly be expecting too much from you."
"Indeed," you agree. Ayano groans in response and you refrain from rubbing in the fact that it's a given she has more need of an additional advantage than you do, when she's already quite reasonably keeping her head down.
"Now then," you continue, "give me the other gem and I'll get to work."
"About that," Ayano tossed the gem she still had up and then firmly caught it in her right hand. "We're going to have a little exchange after you finish cleaning up the first one."
Next to you, Ida bristles at the impudent demand, but you signal her to stay calm. It's true that there would be little more than your boundless benevolence keeping you from keeping both and chasing her out of your home. Meanwhile, neither of you would want to start a fight when you were still sitting on a bomb.
"It's a pointless precaution in this case," you say, "but it's reassuring to see that one of my students knows how to keep herself from being taken advantage of."
"At least we have an understanding," Ayano says. "I'll leave you to it then."
"Very well. Mel and Ida, make sure to keep the two of them company." The last thing you need is your two guests walking around unattended. You could keep track of their movements to stop them from wandering anywhere they aren't meant to be, but that'd be an unnecessary distraction while you work.
On your own, you retreat to the workshop contained in the depths of your castle. It's only sparsely equipped given that the castle was effectively abandoned when no Holy Grail War was being held and leaving your family's secrets unattended would be an unwise decision, regardless of how well protected the place was in your absence. However, its structure remains. A vault within a fortress that accumulates magical energy and condenses it to create an ideal environment for your magecraft.
More than that, there are some highly valuable… remnants that have been transferred here in preparations for the war, but you should only require them once you have to interface with the control system of the Grails more directly, or transfer souls from one vessel to another. Given that Rider already completed one of those tasks, you can let them rest in peace for now. Just a little bit longer.
The remaining steps you have to take care of are reinforcing the soul fragments enough that they can continue to persist without the connection to the greater whole of Avenger's soul, sever said connection and then inoculate the Grail—yourself—against their taint once it's connected to another Servant.
The first step is as simple as it is unpleasant. What little remains in the world of the third has been gathered within your body. Completing this task is as simple as running magical energy through the right foundation and connecting it to your target. It does mean you have to metaphorically touch the vile curse that makes up the essence of Avenger. It's safe, but a distasteful reminder of what lows humanity is capable of, being so unable to face their own shortcomings that they'd rather blame all of it onto an arbitrary martyr.
The second is more elaborate, but hardly more complicated. Performing spiritual surgery with the subject being only partially present is a finicky prospect, but the difficulty is balanced out by the curse having been grafted onto Hänsel und Gretel in the first place. Once you've taken care of the ritualistic aspects, it's the spiritual equivalent to a scalpel swipe to free the two. Whichever one of the two this gem was connected to might even feel relieved by their soul no longer being being pulled into two different directions once the initial burst of mind rotting pain fades.
Lastly, the third. Right. You can hardly call yourself a magus if you let sentimentality stay your hand.
You turn to the coffins. Two caskets of solid wood set aside at the far end of the room. They're plain on the outside, enchanted to preserve a body from decay and hold the bodies of your deceased maids.
The thought of them makes your heart seize up.
The first step was to walk over to the coffins. You find yourself unable to decide if you should start with your left, or right leg.
Actually, there ought to be a simpler way to handle this matter. You can look into that first.
No, that's a silly idea, cowardly even. You're better than that.
As your eyes keep lingering on the coffins, your thoughts stall out. Every which way they go, you don't want to follow. Ultimately, they all lead to the same grief. So you stand still. You should be moving, but you don't. Every attempt to do anything goes nowhere.
You can't even keep track of the time you waste hesitating.
"Mistress." It's Melsritt's voice that snaps you out of your stupor.
You spin around towards her. She's looking at you with a gentle expression that holds no apparent judgment of the shameful display she just walked into.
"I told you to stay with Ayano and Rider, didn't I?" Your voice comes out sharp. The fact you might have taken a little bit longer than purely necessary doesn't mean you need somebody to check on you, as if you were a lost child.
"You did. However, I mentioned the brewery to Ayano, causing her to ask for a drink. I thought it would be best to ask your permission before serving her."
"She can drink on her own time." You go along with her excuse.
"As you wish, Mistress." She takes a couple of steps towards you and lets her gaze drift towards the coffins. "May I help you to get dressed? I would like to pay my respect."
You don't answer immediately. It doesn't feel like you should allow anybody else, but Mel is their successor… She has never met them regardless. She might feel like she has inherited a responsibility from them, but ultimately this is about you and her wanting to care for you. This is the one thing you shouldn't drag her into for that reason.
You nod.
Mel walks past you, her heels clacking against the marble ground without hesitation. She reaches one of the coffins faster than you can force yourself to turn around to look at them. You can hear the slight creak of the hinges as she opens the lid. Inside, she can see a lifeless Einzbern body, paler than pale and with an uncanny resemblance to her. Melsritt, Milla and Lotletta have all been created from the same model. The similarities between them are greater than those between yourself and Idasviel. Except there's one fundamental difference between them. Mel won't die.
One of the bodies is lifted out of its coffin and the magical energy within the workshop begins to stir as flesh is rendered into ether. Your maids have been made to support you on a fundamental level, not just as an individual, but also in your function as the lesser grail. Just as your body holds the foundation for a great mystic, theirs can be woven into the Dress of Heaven, a formal dress that allows you to act as the heart of the Greater Grail.
Dress in hand, Mel steps close behind you. You let her hands guide you through the motions of swapping your clothes and soon you're wearing an elaborate white dress with gold accents and a matching crown. Along it, seven rings run from your navel to your head that track how filled the lesser grail is. The two lowest ones are filled out red.
It feels gentle to wear. Not the physical material, but rather its spirit. You can feel the embrace of old memories. Of sunny days and simple smiles. It hurts.
You lean against Mel. "This is Milla, isn't it?"
"Yes. She was your first maid after all. It seemed right to give her the honor."
You nod. There's nothing left of her mind, but it still feels wrong to let her see you in such a miserable state. You are a glorious goddess after all and Milla should know you've only grown more brilliant with time. You take a deep breath.
"Indeed! She has earned herself much more than that, but even if her first task is such a wretched one, I'm sure she'd be happy to know she can still guard my soul."
Finding some strength back in your limbs, you turn to the Avenger gemstone and continue your work. With the Dress of Heaven, it's a simple task. All it requires is to familiarize the dress with the taint of the Avenger class and to have it memorize it as a foreign element that's to be rejected by the Grail, rather than absorbed alongside the Servant's soul proper.
You consider the gem once you're finished. It is—as far as the integrity of the Holy Grail is considered—perfectly harmless. It is significantly more dangerous towards the participants of the war, but that's the nature of the beast. You wouldn't have performed this entire procedure if you were concerned about your safety.
No, it's exactly because you can do so without risk now that you want to smash it. Regardless of how potent its taint is, the fact it would corrupt you if it could remains an affront. Alas, it can at least make itself useful and there's little point in holding a grudge against a mindless curse. Perhaps there'll be redemption in its future, but for now you hand it over to Mel.
While the dress has served its purpose for now, you don't particularly want to change back into your normal clothes, but not doing so would be careless. There wasn't a need to keep it secret, Ayano likely already has rudimentary knowledge of its existence. Rather, its connection to the Greater Grail and the cursed Rheingold incorporated into it makes the dress inherently harmful to humans. While it makes a useful defense to prevent the dress from being stolen and it'd frankly be Ayano's own fault if she can't prevent herself from being turned into gold, it'd add an unnecessary edge of danger to your conversation when she's already constantly spoiling for a fight.
After changing back, you take care to store away your prized dress properly. This level of mystery isn't meant to be put on display, but even if only you and Melsritt ever lie eyes on it, it deserves to be treated with due respect regardless. A coffin was no longer a place for it. It never should have been, but there's no changing the past. Now at least it'll be displayed in a place of honor in your workshop.
Once you've hung it up on one of the walls of your workshop, you return to Ida and your guests. They're still in the same room as before and it seems that Ayano has returned to her phone, while the two Servants occupy each other's attention. Though that quickly comes to an end as Ida's the first to notice you and breaks off their conversation to rush back to your side. You give her the go ahead to hug you. The time without you must feel like an eternity to her.
Rider seems slightly bothered by how abruptly your sister took her leave, but that's quickly replaced by a look of expectancy when he notices that she did so because of your return.
Ayano meanwhile, is decidedly less enthused about your arrival. She stops herself halfway through some snark when taking a closer look at you. Instead, all she said was, "Looks like we're done here then."
She wasn't wrong. All that was left for you was to exchange the two gems. That is, unless there's something else you want to do with her first.
[X] Write in any conversation topics you might have for Ayano, or Rider.
Which leaves you with the question of what you should do next. For a moment you consider if you should take Ayano to school with you, but at this point it's already too late to bother.
[X] Talk the implications of the Avenger gems through with Idasviel.
Given that their entire purpose is to alter Servants, it only feels right that your sister gets a say in the matter, regardless of whether you use your gem on her, or trade it away.
[X] Interrogate Berserker's Master.
-[X] Keep Ayano around during it so you can get her share of the command seals out of the way.
Even setting aside your personal curiosities, he still has his command seals. You should extract those from him before interacting with any of the others that participated in taking down Berserker. You wouldn't want them to think you're holding out on them.
[X] Get Seran's help in tracking down Oliver Steube.
According to Naoki, Saber's Master was supposed to join you in last night's hunt. Whatever has occupied him instead might not strictly be your business, but your interest is piqued. It'd better be something important, if they're willing to ignore Berserker over it.
[X] Visit the city's library.
Krone might have met an unfortunate fate, but Annabella and Date Masamune are still at large. Preparing for your next encounter by reading up on her Servant can't hurt.
[X] Head to the church.
Whether she likes it or not, Kotomine owes you some appreciation for removing such a rabid Servant like Berserker before she compromises the secrecy of the Holy Grail War. You'll get your dues. It would also give you an opportunity to contact Assassin.
I apologize for how long this took to get written even by my own slowing standards. I don't exactly bother you with how I related to it emotionally, but let's just say that while writing this didn't have me stall out quite as badly as Kari did, I also didn't have a Mel to drag me through it.
Regardless, I hope it was at least a decent read and thank you for sticking around.
Why did the two of them die? Is it Kari's wishful thinking, or is there indeed a difference between the maids' roles and functions, and the Einzberns' intentions for them in this war?
For that matter, what happens is the Dress of Heaven is stolen? For what purpose one might have to do this?
For another matter, what happens if Kari has an accident and dies in the War? What happens to the Lesser Grail? I haven't played enough Fate to find out.
[x] Ayano's goals for the War, and her wish.
She wants an advantage, what for? As an inheritor from one of the formerly Great Families, why is her wish different from ours?
It's not something I expect her to outright share. But we can at least approach the topic, see what values, desires and concerns drive her. We come with our wish pre-determined by our existence, or so we think at the moment. It's obviously not the case for the rest of them. So what is it the rest want so badly that they think they can't get any other way? How far are they willing to go for it, how far does their conviction go?
I half-expect us to imply that we can get her what she wants if she but steps aside and throws her weight around to support us instead (because we are as powerful as we are magnanimous), and I hope to at least get an inkling as to why she might think this isn't such a good idea.
[x] Interrogate Berserker's Master.
Let's get done with sordid matters first, while we are at it.
Why did the two of them did? Is it Kari's wishful thinking, or is there indeed a difference between the maids' roles and functions, and the Einzberns' intentions for them in this war?
I'm not entirely sure I understand the question. The first two maids, Milla and Lotletta, didn't do anything specific that caused them to die. Their deaths just happened. Likewise, the assertion that Mel won't die is based on Kari's insistence that her victory in the Holy Grail War is already assured, which will give her the means necessary to prevent Mel's otherwise inevitable death.
As far as is relavant to the war/this quest, not much. You wouldn't be able to use it anymore after it was stolen, of course, but you don't need it to cary out your basic function as the holy grail. Given enough time, other people could use it to crack various secrets of the Einzbern magecraft, but as mentioned that'll take them too long to make a difference in the war. I'm not going to confirm whether or not a Servant might have the right skillset to get some use out of it in the short term, but that'd require a fairly peculiar Servant.
For another matter, what happens if Kari has an accident and dies in the War? What happens to the Lesser Grail? I haven't played enough Fate to find out.
That depends on how badly Kari's body gets damaged. If her body remains mostly in tact, the essential bits required to carry out the ritual can be salvaged. Although there may be complications based on the details. However, in the case she's caught in the brunt of a paticularly powerful attack that just obliterates her entire body, there's a chance the damage to the Lesser Grail could be significant enough to render the ritual a failure.
Well, two people are dead in the span of how many years? Less than a decade, I think? Is it because homunculi are, ah, quicker to expire than humans?
I read it as if the maids were created as human batteries to enhance Kari's magic, and I assumed Mel's role in this war is to do the same, sacrifice herself to give a little bit of oomph where it matters. Hence I wondered what story is behind Kari's words, if any; I thought the maids got 'used up'.
Generally speaking, yes. There's some variance here, but for the Einzbern as a whole, the maids are replacable enough that their lifespan isn't a priority.
I read it as if the maids were created as human batteries to enhance Kari's magic, and I assumed Mel's role in this war is to do the same, sacrifice herself to give a little bit of oomph where it matters. Hence I wondered what story is behind Kari's words, if any; I thought the maids got 'used up'.
To en extent, yes. They can be used that way, but that is a function of them rather than their primary purpose and they're interchangable in that function. The Dress of Heaven is somewhat special in the unique capabilities it offers that can't be reproduced by other means. In that regard, while Kari wouldn't really view it that way, having spare bodies around to make the dress without having to consider if it's worth Mel's life is a boon.
[X] Interrogate Berserker's Master.
-[X] Keep Ayano around during it so you can get her share of the command seals out of the way.
For the Avenger gem, seeing how it was made with a Matou gem and worm, would using it on Idasviel or another servant come with any risk from Ayano or her servant? I'm not sure what the process of using the gem would entail, but if the gem or worm needs to be physically inserted into the servant's body I could see there being a possibility of Ayano or her servant being able to use it to do something to hurt or subvert that servant.
