Fate/Off the Rails (and onto hiatus again)

OOC: Damn this thing seems long to me. Hope you guys enjoyed it.

[X] Use a bit of divine blood (Genetic modification ho!)

"If you want, we could always use a bit of my divine blood. Sure I'm no Heracles but I'm as much of a demigod as any other Greek hero."

She looked at me with a serious expression. "Are you offering that you modify my body? Because that isn't a simple thing to do."

"Oh," I started rubbing my head. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you like that."

She gave a sigh. "It's not that it's just... Well you see, the Mage Association has a certain problem. I think you're well aware enough to know that magecraft has been slipping from the world over the past several years. So what they do is that they put Sealing Designations on maguses who show show... well certain traits that can't be replicated in anyway. So they detain any persons who fits into those conditions and hold them for future investigations."

"Basically lab rats."

"Exactly. If anyone finds out that I somehow obtained Divine Blood, they'll drop everything just to obtain even an arm of me. It's something that I just can't take lightly. Even if I spend a great part of my life hiding that fact... Well there's a reason why so many maguses are so secretive of their work."

"That bad huh?"

"Very. Anything from the Age of Gods that's both still intact and usable is widely coveted. Divine blood? That's just as bad as having a Reality Marble and besides, what are you going to do to me anyways?"

"Well..." I started rubbing the back of my head. "You see, I was thinking of adding something to you. A kind of connection of sorts. You're a modern human so the old languages from the Age of Gods are fundamentally incomparable with you, but if you have a connection of sorts to the Age of Gods then you can utilize the mystery of that era."

"Hmmm... It's not exactly a horrible idea in the sense of making me stronger but... Sorry Assassin but we don't have the time for it right now. We need to get to the caves to check out the barrier. We'll continue this talk later but I doubt we'll go through with it."

"Okay..."

She gave a sigh. "Hey, at least your trying to be helpful. Now lets carry these stuff and get over to that cave, we got a lot of work to do."

Collecting all that we needed from the attic. We walked downstairs to see that Lancer was carefully packing some odd looking equipment into a duffle bag. "Ah, got everything you need? If so then you wouldn't mind if you help me pack these things up."

"I was going to anyways, those are my property after all. Also you're holding that upside down." Lancer looked at the object in her hands, some sort of tripod with a gem in the middle made of bronze and etched with symbols. "The rods are supposed to point up, that and they fold inwards, here let me show you." Lancer nodded as Rin came over to help her out.

Looking over to the windows I saw Shirou looking out. "Hey, Shirou. Saw anyone recently?"

"Nah, just some mailmen and cars passing by. Although..." He took on a serious expression. "That lady over at that bench over is talking with one of Luvia's maids and she not alone. She not alone too, there an older man with her."

I gave a look of surprise. "A women and a guy? What does she look like?"

"I think she's a foreigner. All dressed up in a suit and carrying around a canister on her back. The guy's in some sort of Hawaiian shirt."

For some reason my mind conjures up some vague images of a sharp object stabbing into my heart but I waved it off as I called Rin over. "Hey Rin, you know that person?"

She nodded no. "I never saw her before, but what I'm really worrying is why she's talking with Luvia's maid. I don't like this."

"I dunno..." Shirou said. "It seems like they arguing actually."

"But about what? Assassin, think you can get close?"

"I'll try to." Carefully dropping all the items that I've been levitating with me I entered into my presence concealment. From a distance short enough that I could eavesdrop on them but far enough that I won't be sensed. I opened up a channel to my master so that she may listen in as well.

"...I see... So they're going to send them in? Is the problem that bad?"

"Very much so. They're already overrun another nearby city so unfortunately we'll have to report that a fire broke out and consumed half the city." The young women looked Irish, with purple short hair that had hints of red and two odd looking earrings, she had a professional air around her.

The maid shook her head. "A fire? My that's a crude explanation now isn't it?"

"Hey, if it keeps the mortals out. That Berserker of their is a monster. Nothing seems to work."

The man in the Hawaiian shirt spoke up. "If I had my spear then we've been up and over with the problem." He seemed very frustrated. Guess Lancer took his place. "Still though, to be fighting someone like him. It's a dream come true, too bad we had to pull out." He looked over to the girl next to him who I suspect is his master. He was much taller than the women beside him. He was currently smoking, with a carefree sort of air around him. He looked Irish as well and had blue hair and earrings that matched the women's pairs.

"I'm sorry about that Caster, but we had to keep our team alive to report back to the Clock Tower."

He looked at her for a bit before giving a laugh. "Ah, sorry if I look angry at you. You got a duty to preform and I respect that. It's just annoying that I can't go all out quite yet."

"Don't worry Caster, you'll get you time in the spotlight."

"Haha, that's the spirit! Can't wait to meet that Berserker again, I'll have a spell ready just for that fight."

"Ahem. If I may have your attention again. I'll have to inform my mistress about these developments. Please come later if they start coming for Fuyuki."

"We're working on it." The women who I'm guessing is named Bazett said. "It's weird though, we were on their tracks for a while but to disappear like that..."

"That master is one slippery bastard. He must be good if he evaded your guys for so long." He started walking off. "Now where's a good place to find some beer..."

"Hey! Caster wait up!" She ran after him, shouting all the way.

"Oh dear, this will give a few gray hairs to mistress." She shook her head as she headed back to her respective mansion.

I called out to Rin through our connection. "Hey Rin, what did you think that was all about?"

"I think she has more cards hidden then we thought. That Rani girl did talk about a Berserker running but as for now we won't press her about it. It's seems like its mostly keeping track on other parties. I won't lie when I say that I'm very frustrated by the lack of information at the moment."

"Don't worry, we'll figure out what's happening. Let's just grab our stuff first and get to that cave."

Man I had really lost track of time. The sun was setting at the time, a giant ball of gas casting a dying red light on the land before being replaced by a dark sky. When I had just came back to the mansion, Shirou was on his cellphone. I didn't need to be near to hear the sounds of some sort of starving tiger. "Hey Rin, what's going on with him?"

"It seems he's under the fury of the Tiger." Rin said as she shook her head. "I'll take care of this." Walk over to Shirou, she held out a hand, motive clear. Reluctantly he gave her the phone. Clearing her throat, she started with a cheery but professional voice. "Hello Miss Fujimura. Sorry if you were angry but... Huh?" Cupping her hand over the phone she whispers to Shirou. "Why the hell is she slurring her words?"

"I think she's using our hidden Sake collection. I think it's for celebrations or something but Taiga sometimes goes there when she's REALLY stressed at work."

"What's she like when she's under the influnce?"

His eyes dark back and forth saying. "Scary."

She gave a frustrated huff as she started talking with Taiga again. "Sorry about that, some of my papers piles collapsed and we had to pick them all back up... Oh yes... Uh huh... I see... So you want him back because you're all hungry?... Yes life is quite unfair sometimes... Paper work is always a nuisance... Oh no I'm not avoiding the question, just simply commentating... I know you're hungry but I do believe that it would be best to... Oh, Miss Matou is not at home? Perhaps she's helping her brother with the extra homework that the school issued... Eh? Not quite that?... Worried about her for some reason? Don't be, it must simply be complications caused by the gas explosion at school... Yes I think it would be best to contact your relatives... Oh, that's why you called? Because you want your little brother back?" Cupping the phone once more she gave a sly smile to Shirou who gave a little blush. Giggling a bit she went back to chatting with Taiga.

"Oh don't you worry about your little brother, he's a grown man and he can take care of himself... Oh you're not worried about that? You just don't want to be lonely?..." I could almost feel the laughter being restrained within her. "Anyways, I don't think you know what you're doing... Of course you don, why else would be be walking around the house drunk and on the phone with one of your students... Yes, you should call your dad and tell him you're currently drunk. I think it'll really be a good time to pass out. Good night, Miss Fujimura, sleep tight." She threw the phone back to Shirou who caught it single handed. "Well, time to head to the cave. Makes sure you don't break any of my property, they'll cost you an arm!" She walked off in a more cheery mood, acting as if the conversation never happened.

"Hmm... It seems like she's a very dangerous girl don't you think master?" Lancer said as she seemingly appeared next to Shirou.

"Yeah.. She's a dangerous girl indeed..."

The moment night fell was when we all went out. Nothing happened on the way to the abandoned gas station. Almost everyone had gone inside and with the exception of a drunk hobo, no one saw us. After an hour or so we had arrived at a the abandoned gas station that Rin told us about. The entire place was a dump, the gas pumps were long rusted and seemed to have some parts taken at one point. The building was empty and filled with random trash, some empty beer bottles and what appears to be the remnants of a broken syringe. It was another thirty minutes when Luvia and her servants arrived, in a Humvee. "Miss Edelfelt, why in the world do you have that giant monstrosity?"

The back window was rolled down as Luvia poked her head out. "Oh? This thing? It's my maid's personal car. I don't have a single clue as to what it is but my isn't it a robust little thing."

The front window rolled down as the maid, now dressed in a more practical set of a bulletproof vest over a black jacket and what appear to be night vision googles strapped to her head, too poked out her head. "This, Miss Tohsaka, is a re-purposed military Humvee with its outer body being replaced with an equally as armored but less conspicuous civilian looking body complete with a nice ocean blue paint job and packing a hidden M2 heavy machine gun. Ma'am."

Rin only stared at her before she sighed. "I'll just take your word for it. How much room is inside?"

"Oh, forgive me for forgetting that. This car has four seats, two are available as Auguste is currently at the mansion guarding it. Mister... Emiya was it?"

"Uh... you mean me?"

"Yes you, I'd like you to sit by mistress."

"Oh? Why does he get to sit next to her?" I could feel the air around her turn cold. She had that simple smile on her. I floated a meters away from her.

"Please forgive me ma'am but uh..."

"Please deary let me explain." Luvia cleared her throat. "While we my be in a alliance I currently still can't stand being near you as your backwater smell causes me no end of discomfort so the farther the better. That young man there is far more easier to deal with, he seems so nice and gentle that he'd probably make a better wife than a husband."

"Huh, well I still can't stand you either so I'll sit next to your maid... Oh, by the way. Got room in there for our stuff?"

"Plenty in the back."

"Good." After some difficulties getting the duffel bags in the trunk (much rearrangements required) both the masters got in the car while me and Lancer entered spirit mode. The maid made a U-turn and got off the road into the forest towards where the cave should be. The ride was bumpy but it wasn't unpleasant to the stomach as neither Rin nor Shirou puked. During the entire trip, Luvia was oddly amiable towards Shirou, conversing with him the whole way.

"So Mister Emiya. You're an amateur magus?"

"Yeah... Dad never told me much about other maguses or even organizations. Just that I should stay away from them.|

"Hmmm... Sounds like he doesn't seem fond of his fellow maguses. Tell me, what is your family's crest then?"

"Crest? Sorry but I don't know what a crest is, in fact my dad only gave me the bare basics."

"The basics? Tell me more about this father of yours."

"Well, he didn't look too keen on me learning magic, I had to bug him about it until he relented."

"Sounds like he's disillusioned with magecraft." Rin chimed in.

"Unfortunately some families give up on the art of magecraft. They feel as if the modern world as already won and everything we do is worthless. We like to call them quitters."

Shirou looked at Luvia was a deep glare. "Are you insulting my dad?"

For once she looked ashamed. "Oh, sorry if I had insulted your father by accident. It's just that to us maguses, the pursuit of magecraft is our entire reason for living. Of course not everyone is made out for that life." She shrugged. "But still, to not pass on his crest is a tragedy. To pass off your magic crest to your blood relatives is a tradition amongst all magi."

"Blood relatives? Oh, I'm not actually his biological son, I'm adopted."

"Oh... Is that so and you still have magic circuits? You must be a first generation then. Rare but not exciting."

"Rare huh... By the way, why are you so..."

"Charming?"

"I was gonna say why're so antagonistic to Tohsaka."

"Oh, that? Simply bad blood caused by the 3rd Holy Grail War."

"Bad blood?"

She gave a sigh. "If you must know, our family entered that war to take the grail for ourselves. Only to have not only parts of our Magic Crest Stolen but our family dignity ruined and the lost of a valuable member of our family all because of this dumb little ritual some upstarts made in this little backwater country."

"Maybe you guys aren't that good?" Rin responded.

"Ain't that good ha?" The air inside the car had gotten colder. "Well, obviously that entire thing was set up meaning that your family had cheated us all."

"Cheated eh? Well I refuse to take such insults, especially from a little pampered princess like you."

"Pampered you say? Maybe so but that's because I've earned that. I have all the money while you on the other hand are a poor hobo who could barely hold any of her lands."

"Hobo? I'm pretty sure you're using that definition wrong. Guess you're dumber then I thought."

"Dumb? Says the idiot sitting in front of me. Fools like you should know their place."

"How about you go and-"

"We are now at our destination, it would be a good time to unload all our things and make way to the cave entrance." The maid said nonchalantly as the Humvee came to a stop.

"Great! I'll grab the duffel bags! Mind helping me out Tohsaka?" Shirou said, desperation clear in his voice.

The two heirs stayed silent until Rin finally spoke up. "Sure Emiya... I'll be right there..."

"Yes... Go and help your friend..."

When everyone but the maid left the Humvee, she gave a sigh of relief and whispered to herself. "Crisis defused. Note to self, find ways to prevent the two from killing each other."

At the place we had arrived to, we were at the base of the mountain at the cave entrance. At the moment however it had a few barriers. The first was to dissuade normal people from coming near the cave at all. The rest all had, if my memory of that manuscript was correct, horrible and creative ways to deter people from going into the cave at all. All this just to make sure no one would mess with the grail, or better termed as the Greater Grail. "Man this looks like a deadly set up." I remarked.

"You can say that again. This is going to be an all nighter." Rin responded.

"Good thing we packed some tents then. Better go help Shirou set up my tent, I need to make sure my makeshift workshop is up and running." There was a bit of sitting up. Me and Rin had our own separate tents as well as Shirou. Luvia had something more akin to a potable hotel room that had its own air conditioning, food service, mattress, etc. It was this big blue block of some strange metallic looking fabric and had a wooden door to boot. "My, sleeping in that little tent there Mister Emiya? Why don't you come and sleep at my tent?"

"Oh, sorry but we can't." Shirou said simply.

"Oh? Is there a problem?"

"Well... I'm a guy and you're a girl and so we can't exactly sleep together..."

She stared at him for a bit, before she bursts out laughing. "OHOHOHOHO! Such a gentlemen! I guess it is only proper. I should've brought a second tent just for you!"

"Eh... Don't worry about that. I got my own tent."

"Is it me or does that women over there trying to seduce my master?" Lancer whispered into my ear as she suddenly appeared next to me.

"Possibly." I gave a shrug.

"That harpy, I'll have to keep on eye on her."

"Hey you're not the only one. My master over there looks like she'll burst a blood vessel, guess she really doesn't like Luvia."

"Do not worry," the maid in combat gear said as she too suddenly appeared next to me. "I'll try to make sure my mistress doesn't do anything too extravagant."

"Seriously, how does everyone keep sneaking up on me? I'm supposed to be the Assassin of this war, not you guys."

"By all honesty. You kinda suck at your role of being an assassin Assassin." Archer said as she appeared right behind me. "My master is being passive aggressive in her approach. If this keeps up she'll have him right around her fingers. A crafty one she is."

"Well, two can play at that game. Shirou! I need your help cooking dinner!" Lancer called out as she ran over to the two.

"Ah, young love." Archer said to herself as she walked over to the group, presumably just to get a kick out of whatever happens.

"Damn Shirou, you got two girls vying for your and you didn't even try. Do you emit some sort of special pheromone or something?" I gave a shrug as I headed back towards my tent. "Now... what to do... what to do..."

[] TIME FOR SOME SCIENCE MAGIC!
-[] Read up on some potions
-[] Work on that divine blood idea, hey maybe she'll change her mind
-[] See if you can help out at the barrier with Rin

[] Help Lancer and Shirou cook

[] Help Archer and Margaret patrol the area

[] Talk to Luvia as she sorts through her gems
-[] About what?

[] Write in

[X] TIME FOR SOME SCIENCE MAGIC!
-[X] See if you can help out at the barrier with Rin

Coming out of my tent, I floated over to Rin as she placed an odd looking wooden box with a blue gem in the middle suspended by extremely thin metal bars. "Hello Rin, what are you up to?"

"I'm just checking what kind of quality we're dealing with. Anything like the grail reqiures a barrier that'll keep anyone out. Even for me, the first barrier is making me extremely uneasy. It's bearable though, but I'd like to remove it first."

"One of them summons demons right?"

"False demons, they won't take over your body but they're just as deadly." She placed a piece of paper above the gem. It floated, suspended in the air. She then took out a bottle filled with some sort of ink with something sparkling in it. "Ink infused with grounded gems." She simply stated. Opening the bottle, the ink flowed from its container and formed into a ball about the paper. Little droplets broke free from the ball and started form an image on the paper.

"Trying to get some idea on the inner workings of the barrier?"

"Some idea... I'll be honest with you. This barrier is old, roughly 200 years old. For a barrier to last that long you need to give it a large source to draw from and an intricately crafted ritual to create it. Tell me Assassin, do you feel the barriers at this very moment?"

"Hmmm... I'm pretty sure that my own natural mystery is counteracting this one but I do get your point. I'm having a hard time sensing these bounded fields."

"A mark of a well crafted barrier, made even harder by the fact that it has a constant stream of mana. Noramlly you can temporarily disrupt an advance bounded field by cutting off its mana source for a while but this thing? I'm pretty sure its power source is the grail itself. Not quite sure how we'll cut off that."

"It is quite an conundrum isn't it?" Luvia said as she came by. "I think we'll have to use some prana disruption gems for this."

"Forget it, this requires something bigger."

"Oh, and what do you suppose to try then Miss Tohsaka?"

"We could try to overwhelm the mystery of these barriers with something greater."

"Well, other then our servants we don't have anything that can overpower the mystery of these barriers. Even if use the servants, exactly how will we do it."

"Well, maybe we don't have to..." Their voices fade into the background as I tried to take a look at the barriers for myself. The strange box had finished giving its report but I didn't need it. I had to take a look into my book so that I could better sense the barrier. Man these things are complicated, I would like to say how they work but since my knowledge in limited and incomplete I cannot give any solid pieces of observations for this.

I could hear Rin and Luvia getting into a more heated conversation but I ignored that too. I was wondering the best way to remove them when I realized that I had certain anti magic dagger. After face palming myself, I carefully took out Rule Breaker and made sure no one was looking. Sensing for where to stab, I found the closest thing thing to stab, which was the prana flowing from the bounded field via the ground. I stabbed that.

In a very anticlimactic sense. The bounded field simply faded from the world quietly. With no one the wiser. I took a few steps into the cave. No false demons were summoned, no organs were ignited, the cave wasn't falling on the top of my head, nothing. With a wide grin, I hid away Rule Breaker and called out to Rin and Luvia just as the Finnish girl was about to German suplex my master. "Hey guys! Stop acting like kids and help me out here! We got a grail to examine!" They both looked at me dumbly, their minds not registering what I had done until a full five seconds had passed.

Rin then broke out of Luvia's grip and walked over to me. "What, how, when, why." She said, in that order, and very fast if I say so myself.

Floating over so I could get close to her head, I whispered in her ears. "I used my Noble Phantasm to dispel the bounded fields. You can thank me later."

"Oh yeah... I kinda forgot that you qualify for Caster." She looks disappointed in herself before walked over to the duffle bags. "Come on Assassin, lets see if we can check out that Greater Grail..."

The cave was eerie, not in unspeakable cthulhu horror sense but more that the place feels like it has a mind of its own. At the moment there were four of us; me, Rin, Luvia and Archer. Luvia threw up some gems along with a short incantation that made the gems float around her and glow brightly, some sort of lantern gems I suspect. The caves felt damp and cold, there was a chill that made our masters shiver. Stalagmites and stalactites litter the hollow cavern.

Deeper and deeper into the caves I could something odd. Like large amounts of mana was being concentrated into a single point. "I think we're getting close."

Rin nodded her head. "I think so too.. Geez what's this sensation? It's making me feel odd..."

"I concur. Whatever this Holy Grail is like, it certainly doesn't feel holy to me."

"Something foul is ahead... I like it." A grin formed itself on Archer's face.

Rolling my eyes, we continued onwards into the caves until we came across... something...

We all came to a large cavern... no... not cavern... more like a large endless space. A black field of obsidian that stretched on and on. I couldn't see the roof, just an endless expense of darkness, it might as well be a sky all on its own. Then, there was the thing in the middle. I'm not sure what to think of it. All I can say is that it's something that looks as if it came from the depths of Tartarus.

It was this black and red tower that pulsated with pure evil. At the moment it felt as it was dormant... No, not quite that. It felt more like it's waiting, waiting for something to fill it. There was something flowing from it, I don't know what it is and frankly I'm too scared to. The more I look at it, the more my head hurts. I want to go away.
There's a demon in the grail, and it's waiting to be born.
I tried to cover my ears. To stop the sounds of some strange beating. Something like a heartbeat, but it held no flesh. It's merely a construct of prana and curses given form, and it's waiting.
Get it off of me! Get if off of me!
"Assassin? Assassin! Snap out of it!" I didn't realize that I was writhing on the ground, both hands cupping my ears until she started shaking me. "Assassin, you okay?"

"Me, uh... I'm fine." I pulled on my hood a little farther. "I don't like it here, this is too horrible for me."

"You know what, I take what I said back. This place is a little too grotesques for my tastes." Archer said.

"Is... Is that supposed to be the Greater Grail?" Luvia spared a glance at Rin.

"Hey, don't look at me this is the first time I ever saw it." Rin responded.

"Well if you don't know anything then..." She took a long look at the tower. "Just what the in the world is going on?"

"Hmmm... Say, what's that at the base?" Archer said.

"The base? Please clarify a bit more Archer."

"There's something there... a hole of sorts?" Archer looked very much confused. "I'm not quite sure what it is... Seems like it's moving or something."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." The Edelfelt heir said as she marched on ahead.

"Hey. Hey! What are you doing?!" I called out to here. "You have stay away from that thing! It's covered in curses!"

Luvia stopped in her tracks and turned to me. "I'm well aware that the malevolent aura around it is outright toxic to anyone who touches it. That still won't stop me from getting into the bottom of this." She turned towards the dark tower again and marched forward again.

Rin got up and followed after Luvia. "Hey wait up!"

"Hey Rin come... Back... Dang it she's out of ear shot..."

"Well, a servant's work is never done." Archer went and picked me up, sling me over her back. "Tell me Assassin, what was that back there? Are you really sensittve to magic or something?"

"I don't know, it's just that... That 'thing' is making my head hurt. Like I should know what it is, but... Ah..."

"I don't know what the unstable leylines did to you and your summoning but just keep it together okay? We can't have liabilities."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcomed." With me on her back we followed the masters over to the tower.

The closer we got, the more we felt unease. The tower, grail, whatever it was, it simply radiated bad feelings, I know sounds weird but stick with me. When I mean bad feelings, I mean those emotions, those... Well... Well, things like rage, sorrow, envy, etc. It's perhaps more accurate to say that it wasn't radiating these 'bad' feelings' and more it was made of them. It was an unpleasant experience to say the least.

When we got there, Rin and Luvia where already at the edge. An edge of a swirling vortex that surrounded the tower. It was this deep dark blue and in contrast to the tower it was this swirl of power and mana. I had idea whatsoever as to what the Tartarus it was. "What is this? I've never seen anything like it."

"Whatever it is, it's somehow connected to this... Tower and perhaps to the unstable leylines around the world." Luvia remarked. Rin opened up her duffel bag and got out a gem. "Oh? A tracking gem? So you want to know far the rabbit hole then?"

"I'm pretty sure the rabbit hole will only get weirder from here on out." Chanting a small incantation, she threw the gem into the swirling vortex. 1 minute had passed, 2 minutes had past, 5, 7, 10. She shook her head. "I lost track."

"Was the gem so overwhelmed by prana that it broke apart?" Luvia offered.

"I don't know. I think that maybe it got cut off somehow but... Just what is this?"

Hmmm... What should I do?

[] Suggest we get out, we don't have much equipment and things to study this thing since we only brought one duffel bag.

[] Try to use whatever arcane knowledge you have to figure out at least what the vortex does

[] Write in