Fate/Stay Royal

Generally speaking, it was fine to conduct ones own operations on the street. In those situations, the most important factor was being in public, since the world of magic, as a rule, was to be occluded from the eyes of the general public. Only the most bold and daring would dare break that rule. Normally, the easy circuit breaker would be to just stop in a cafe for coffee, but this was Japan, not London.

Cafes were fare rarer to begin with. Outdoor seating was non-existent. With that in mind, Bazett would have to improvise. A Master was a different kettle of fish. Rin's loyalties were unknown, though somewhat predictable. After all, her master in magical arts, as well as her guardian, were the same treacherous man.

Her voice was not the most noticeably loyal, but she was not, at the same time, likely to be on board with murdering him. In that sense, she and Bazett were enemies.

"Lunch?" Rin raised her eyebrow as Bazett began to walk.

"Lunch? What game are you playing?" She asked. Bazett just motioned for Rin to follow. Thankfully, being near to the docks meant being near the markets. A ramen bar would suffice for Bazett's purposes.

"Do you even have money?"

"Do find me some, Caster."

Archer and Caster got the hint almost immediately, and faded away.

"If you want to talk in the middle of the street, be my guest, however, that's also begging for an Assassin to come visit us." Bazett answered dryly.

"They wouldn't. It's day time."

"One Master is an opportunity attack that is two risky. Too Masters is an opportunity too delicious to pass up."

"And three?"

"Three is you bring the whole team. You are a bit out of the game, aren't you? I suppose losing your own fortress does that." Bazett noted. The words seemed to go directly under Rin's skin. The aim was simple after all. Destabalise her, emotionally and by what knowledge about her Bazett knew. Keep her off the front foot until they were safely out of sight.

Hopefully, her weird Servant wouldn't be the nail against that plan.

"However, getting an enemy alone is classic divide and conquer." The Servant noted.

"I have two Servants with me. From that logic, I'd already divided you." Bazett shot back. "Don't argue, Rin. I'm having a long day and if you are approaching me, then clearly I have something you want. I'll even pay for your food."

That got her attention. It seems that Rin was at least attempting to observe the ban on a magus that prevented them from making currency. Most magi didn't observe that rule particularly well and the Association wasn't exactly good at policing it. In a way, she was far too goodie two-shoes for her own good.

Still, she was the heiress to a magus family. Now if only Bazett could work out what was so familiar about her...

"Your left back pocket of the coat."

"Thank you."

Having money was a comfort. It meant that Bazett could avoid some weird looks when getting food. Japan was different from the west when it came to stalls and markets. In London, open air cafes were not exactly common, but you could often see inside and enjoy the air. They were open in the sense of glass walls and placement of seats. In Japan, bars in the sense that Bazett was used to was essentially a modern flying pig. It might have existed somewhere, but there was no way to know where, exactly, in Japan it could be found. Instead, they enjoyed their ramen bars.

"... Toya's." Rin finally stated as she began to follow Bazett.

"Toya's? Good food?"

"Private seating. You're like Wodime, aren't you? You have no idea where to even go for a private conversation."

That was a name that Bazett did not want to hear in the slightest. Suddenly, she got the feeling she knew who, all those days ago, had sent her the message to meet up. The magus she had slighted was not one to be slighted at all.

Well, that was one burnt bridge she probably could have done without.

"And what does the disciple of Animusphere want with you?"

"You'd think an alliance, but he said the opposite. He offered protection with that monster of a Saber( Saber of Black) ."

"From who?"

"That's what I'd like to know. I would have assumed you, Enforcer, but your name didn't even come up in conversation." That implied that until recently, Rin had thought that Bazett was dead, likely an offhand comment from Kirei at some point. That perception suited Bazett just fine.

"... How do I order?" Bazett asked as she finally found this 'Toya's bar. It was, indeed, private seating. Apparently, such things were rarer then she thought. Rin just rolled her eyes.

"Give me the money."

"As you wish. Keep the change. This soy ramen could be a treat."

Bazett could barely hide the grin on her lips as Rin stomped off. The younger girl could not have hidden the small dancing delight in her eyes at finally having money again. This was someone who had been cut off from her resources entirely. Her attitude showed that she was not here for friendship, perhaps far from it entirely, but she did need help.

She was also, however, too proud to admit it.

"My thanks." The Servant noted as Bazett found a seat. "I asked why she simply did not make money, but she mentioned something about a prohibition. It was stupid, given survival was at stake."

"She's young. Give her some credit for obeying the rule. It would be trivial to incinerate the local economy of a backwater like this." Bazett answered. "By the time the Association did anything about it, she could have been long gone."

"Perhaps. Money isn't really that useful in the end. She could have just stolen what she needed." Now that was a surprising thought from an Asian hero. They were usually valued for their contributions to war and society. Such an idea should have been anathema.

"Tch. You should have just made it. Those coins are easy to fashion." Caster noted as she fizzled back into existence.

"Archer is watching from the next building."

"I take it he can snipe Rin, then?"

"Pretty easily. You're on edge."

"It'd be nice for this day to just end, honestly."

Bazett was not about to bring it up directly, but she was almost certain she'd broken a rib. The dull pain had steadily been growing since she had taken the fall against Lancelot. Indeed, that healing magic was not dulling the pain and ending her injury was beginning to become cause for concern, but that concern could wait until after she had dealt with Rin.

"Ordered. Who'd have thought merely getting food would defeat an Enforcer?" Rin declared. Bazett rolled her eyes.

"My job is hunting things, not eating exotic food." She shot back. Rin's eyes went to her Servant, and after a moment, she nodded to him.

"Assassin will keep watch." She noted. "Though I guess you already have Archer doing that?"

"Archer will do as he pleases." Bazett answered. "Perhaps it would be best if we kept our Servants to a minimum."

"Hardly, you're the one in danger here."

"You're the one within slashing distance, Tohsaka." It was a minor power struggle, to be sure, but it was clear what Rin was aiming for, as her Servant faded away. He was completely gone from Bazett's senses, and she was certain that it wasn't easier for Caster to find him, either. Rin had the advantage of familiarity with the locale and a Servant that could attack at any moment. They were probably within a trap of Rin's making at this very moment.

Rather then make any move to dispel the trap, Bazett just tapped her hand on the table.

"Are you sitting?"

"You aren't worried?"

"Rin, please. You're years too early for the mind games. Practice a bit more before you take on a killer." Bazett answered dryly. "What did you mean before? About the Grail?"

"See, now I know something you want to know." Rin smirked at that. Her inexperience showed. "Fine, let's call it a freebie. The Grail isn't just an autonomous system. That wouldn't work, among other things, with the Servant Summoning System in place. It needs some sort of will guiding it to act."

"A sacrifice." Bazett nodded. "I see..." That didn't follow. The Grail having a sacrifice to grant it a w- oh. "I see. Then that shadow is literally the will of the Grail."

"The Avenger? No." Rin muttered darkly. "It's pretty close. The Grail is a vessel. It has to gather the energy of Servants in order to function. Given that it keeps calling forth spirits that were defeated in the last war, I think the actual answers a bit more of a problem."

"The Grail isn't functioning properly. What it contains is leaking back out." Bazett surmised. Suddenly, what Rin wanted made far more sense. She wasn't here because she needed an ally. Quite the opposite. She was here because she needed this war to end as quickly as possible. She wasn't here to make a friend, she was here to set a conflict in motion before everything completely exploded. The land being empty of energy was something she could hide, but she needed Fuyuki to still be on the map at the end of the day or no amount of placating the Association would help.

Bazett could use this.

"Probably not. At least, I hope not." She answered. "Father would have noticed if this was happening in the last war. It's probably a recent development. At a guess, Matou has been messing with things that he shouldn't have been."

"Matou?"

"Master of an Archer. The other Archer, I'm guessing." Rin answered dryly. Bazett hummed to herself.

"Former Master." She didn't need to know that Archer of Black might not be dead, after all. "He's the type to do that?"

"Well, yes, definitely if his Servant is dead. No wonder things got weird a few days ago." Rin grumbled. "Explains why he's moping."

"We ambushed and killed him, yes. I suppose that's the only dead Servant?"

"You think I know?"

"You're the one in contact with Kotomine." Bazett noted dryly. "Let's cut to the chase. You need me to get this war rolling."

"... That obvious, huh." Rin grumbled, as the pairs ramen arrived. "The land can't heal if the Servants stay."

"It'll take years to heal regardless."

"Hardly. The unused energy from the war returns to the Earth. Just because there's too many Servants doesn't change the fact that the Grail awakens to grant only one wish." Rin shot back. "Given you've been in my workshop, I'd have thought you'd at least raid the library."

"... Cute. You think that I have time to be a code breaker as well." Bazett chuckled to herself. "Fine, let's assume that you are right." Bazett didn't point out she probably was. "What's to stop you from claiming the wish?"

"Well, besides the fact that this year the Grail is forming in Ryuudou Temple? And there's some demonic half-pint and her thrice as demonic bird haunting it? Nothing, I guess. Whoever wants the wish needs to get past that Oni first." Rin shot back. "What's to stop you from claiming the wish? You aren't even meant to be in this war."

"On the contrary, that would be Kirei. After all, he's using my Servant." Bazett shot back.

"Excuse me?"

"What, didn't you know? One of the war's contestants is pretending to be it's mediator." Bazett hummed. "I suppose that means you don't know about the Ruler holed up in his Church, either."

"He said it wasn't safe..." Rin muttered. Well, the stage was set. It was time to decided what Bazett's killshot was. Rin obviously knew enough about where Kirei was that it was the obvious decision, but at the same time, it could be playing Bazett's hand too early.

Decisions... decisions...

[ ] Where is Kirei? If you want the war to kick off, then I want to start with him.
[ ] Where is Wodime? It's best, for both our sakes, that he doesn't stick around.
[ ] Where is the Einzbern Master? It would be better if there wasn't three great families involved in the war.
[ ] Write in someone else you'd like to look for.