- Location
- SomeWhereElse
...That is an actually legitimately clever thing to do in a dying final act of spite. Shame he didn't think of it sooner, but this is still certain to cause some fireworks in all the best way.
A Poisoned Chalice (Fate/Zero, Fate/Grand Order)
- Thread starter Rob Rimsill
- Start date
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Yes. Caster studied the after action reports of strategic bombing campaigns in Vietnam. One of the key elements of the Air Force's ability to attack their targets over North Vietnam and retain their forces was the use of modernized B-52s with onboard electronic warfare systems. Older aircraft taken directly from SAC to provide more airframes per mission suffered much, much higher casualties. The newer ones that had been built to oppose modern Soviet anti-air systems could strike from altitude and be very difficult to successfully attain firing data or guide an intercept aircraft to the target.
In short, Caster has applied late 20th century E-war techniques to Magecraft and Servants. The only downside is that Kiritsugu and Serenity are not in position to capitalize on what Risei fears.
With spite like this I'm surprised Kariya didn't summon Ahab. In essence, he's called out Risei's moral hypocrisy and secret support for Tokiomi by saying that he's sicc'ing his dad on him. Risei can either say nothing, letting his ally and innocents die. Or he can tell Tokiomi that Kariya has an ultimatum, and once again put his hand on the scale in front of the remaining Grail War competitors.
I mean, the church has always had a pretty hypocritical position in terms of the Holy Grail war. On one side you have their position that anyone who uses magecraft must die and on the other hand you have the reality that open warfare between the Association and the Church is catastrophic for everyone. The result is that they moderate the war so as to limit how much it affects others as well as mollify those who don't care that the holy grail isn't the actual holy grail but rather something piggybacking on the legend.
The church favoring Tokiomi is just a result of them favoring the master that doesn't change matters they care about. Tokiomi wants the Root which isn't a matter of concern for the Church. They are also the party responsible for keeping mortal authorities blind to the magecraft behind the scenes because the alternative is worse (you really don't want the MA sticking its hands in here).
Having Risei as moderator after his son became a master was foolish and all parties should have objected yet none of them do for some asinine reason. Leaving aside that cheating is a tradition in the grail war, having the supposedly impartial moderator be the father of one of the masters makes no sense and unlike the Tokiomi mess it is completely in the open.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
I think the justification they all accepted was Kotomine resigning from the church entirely and joining under Tokiomi as a student. As you say, a member of the Church's Executioners wouldn't dare learn magecraft and help a mage, right?
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Zouken vs Tohsaka isn't something I saw coming, and we're a decade and change early to boot! Least I think Rin fought the guy, definitely so if we're counting her fight with Sakura.
Ah, wait, Sakura killed him first. Guess not then.
Ah, wait, Sakura killed him first. Guess not then.
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I mean, this is the same person who repeatedly mastered things to the edge of mastery and then moved on. The Church's executors specifically do learn magic in order to fight magi + dead apostles + other heresy (hence the whole eighth sacrament thing for the Nasuverse church). It is also his father being left to oversee the war. For a culture where the big thing is institutional paranoia (generally justified since magi often lean towards amoral scientists) it is an incredibly stupid oversight. At least bring in an executor that served in a different region and isn't related to him if you really need an executor for the job.
I could understand them believing that he would be against Tohsaka because apprentices turning on their masters is a known deal but trusting the non-magus father to be impartial just wouldn't cross their minds. Of course he would favor his own son and lineage.
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Chapter 44 - Backup
- Location
- Probably at sea
Chapter 44 - Backup
What, in a castle, did you really need?
The furnishings, no, probably not. They made the place look slightly less sparse than it otherwise might, sure, but the Einzbern war residence had not exactly been furnished for comfort. In the end, they were hardly used, mere decoration.
The defences? Those were useful. Some might say they were, in fact, the main advantage to living in an isolated castle in the middle of the woods rather than, you know, a house in the middle of the rest of the city where everyone else lived. Certainly the public transport access wasn't anything to shout about. It would have been nice to keep them, but that wasn't an option.
The soldiers inside… ah, yes, those were essential.
Serenity watched from the rooftop of the Einzbern's new base, and watched the car roll up. She materialised long enough enough to open the doors to the property, then faded back out of sight.
This place had been bought, by Maiya via proxy, shortly prior to the start of the War as part of Kiritsugu's preparations. It was intended as a backup base, in the event of something happening to the Einzbern castle – one of Kiritsugu's first decisions, reasoning that while their main base had many advantages, the other two founding families knew precisely where it was and it was only sensible to have somewhere secret to operate from.
Events had proven this line of thinking prudent.
The car parked in the yard, and Maiya got out from the driver's side, and started carrying boxes from the boot to the house. Kiritsugu emerged from the back seat, and carried Irisviel into the house, bridal-style.
There were many things that Serenity wanted to talk to him about… but for now, she was by far the strongest person on the Einzbern team, and she could be more useful elsewhere.
Besides. Connecting with the other member of her team was never time wasted. As assassins went, Serenity was by necessity something of a people person.
"Good evening," she said, materialising next to Maiya and picking up a set of latex gloves.
It was maybe a sad comment on how much Serenity had done this over the course of the War that Maiya only jumped slightly without screaming hardly at all, and handed Serenity the box to carry.
"Ah… Assassin. Good evening."
"Is this the last of it?" Serenity asked as Maiya heaved another box onto the first. It made a metallic clink, and it was heavier than Serenity might have expected, although the weight was still barely noticeable. These would be the weapons and traps, then – everything that had been left after Saber and their Master's assault on the castle.
"Not quite. I think it will take another trip to retrieve the rest of the weapons. I will handle that, naturally. Kiritsugu will stay here to look after Miss Irisviel."
Serenity accepted a third box. "Thank you for doing this. I hope you understand the need for it. We don't just make you drive across town with a small arsenal for fun."
Maiya blinked. "It hardly matters if I understand or not. If Kiritsugu thinks it's a good idea, then we'll do it. I'm just here to help, whatever he decides." She took the last box herself, then closed the boot. Serenity fell into step beside her, tread light and silent even while carrying three boxes stacked up higher than her head.
"Mmm… you're not just a tool, though, Maiya, please don't think that. Kiritsugu did let you know why we had to move, didn't he?"
A shrug. "Yes, of course. Caster has seen the castle, and has probably analysed the defences while she was there. Her betrayal means we needed to move to this new base of operations – likely she can find it if she chose, but with Kiritsugu's observation of how she seems to have antagonised Lancer… we are probably not the priority." Reaching the front door, Maiya opened it and carefully took a box off Serenity so she could fit through.
"Good," Serenity said, and smiled at Maiya. Even with the total obedience demanded by the Order, it was always preferable that its assassins knew why they were told to do things a certain way or at a certain time. It made them more flexible in the field, and meant they could achieve their superior's intent even if they had to go about things in a slightly different way.
Or, at least, that was how Serenity had run the Order when she was Hassan-i-Sabah. It looked like Kiritsugu shared her view.
Maiya paused to kick off her shoes in the entryway. Serenity just waited, not having any shoes to take off.
When they got into the living room, Irisviel had been carefully placed on the sofa. Next to her, Kiritsugu sat, still in his outdoor coat, head resting on her shoulder.
Seeing them Maiya paused, then carefully padded past to quietly place her box in the main bedroom. Serenity lingered a moment, looking at her exhausted Master and his wife.
This wasn't sustainable.
"So. Our strategy, going forward," announced Kiritsugu.
After a long sleep, it looked like he'd recovered a little vigour, although he would have had to get up much earlier to fool Serenity into thinking he was perfectly fine. Given that, due to the War wreaking as much havoc on their sleep schedules as it did to the city, this meeting was taking place at about a quarter past eleven, this really was saying something.
He, Maiya and Serenity sat at the kitchen table in their new house. After the bleak opulence of the Einzbern castle, the contrast was stark – much smaller, Japanese-style rather than Western (at least, so Serenity's information from the Grail informed her) and somehow much more… homely.
But also, yes, much smaller. Serenity held her breath, because filling the air with poison gas and killing her Master and his assistant could have been seen as impolite. At least in the Einzbern planning room she could lurk in the opposite corner and open a window.
"Caster and Lancer have, finally, moved against each other directly," continued Kiritsugu. "Caster seems to have conducted their fight in some alternate dimension – however, one of my familiars did witness them both emerge near the Mackenzies' house. Following this, Caster escaped to an unknown location after her Master used a Command Spell."
He placed his hands on the table. "To sum up: Lancer was not able to finish off Caster." He regarded Maiya and Serenity, to make sure that they both grasped the implications. Neither were particularly expressive people, but Kiritsugu seemed satisfied, and continued. "It seems logical that each sees the other as their biggest threat. While each remains focused on the other, we have options. Three realistic ones, in total: interfere in favour of Lancer in order to remove Caster, interfere in favour of Caster in order to remove Lancer, or do not interfere at all and hope to subsequently defeat the victor."
In actuality there were rather more options than that, reflected Serenity. They could attempt to engineer a situation where Caster and Lancer defeated each other, or interfere in such a way that one's victory over the other was rendered far more costly, or even simultaneously kill both Masters such that the battle was never fought at all. All of those would be very satisfactory results.
But, yes, the word 'realistic' was key here. In the end, Caster or Lancer would win – the question was which result better helped achieve Kiritsugu's dream and whether the risk involved in actively making that happen was worth it.
The other option, of course, was to fail to successfully interfere and expose themselves as a result. It wasn't like 'interfering' was a one hundred percent instant win for their chosen side, after all. As a Servant, Serenity was almost never an insignificant asset in a fight, but 'almost' was doing a lot of work there when it involved Enkidu – or, apparently, a Caster who could survive an alternate-dimension cage match with them.
So… Serenity thought. What was her preferred outcome? Kiritsugu's should be similar, given the connection guaranteed by the Grail. She waited to see if she was right.
"My decision is to support Caster," stated Kiritsugu. "Despite their betrayal, and despite the fact that they know more about us than any other pair, and despite the fact that they are the best-suited to coming up with countermeasures, I believe they are still an easier team to defeat than Kotomine Kirei and his Lancer. Like Caster, Lancer is now also aware of Assassin's poison tactics and shapeshifting – and, more, Kotomine has proven far more cautious than Waver Velvet. The latter may yet still give us an opportunity to defeat him quickly and decisively. Kotomine is unlikely to."
Maiya nodded. "I had come to the same conclusion. Caster is a true wild card, and I'd rather not find out first-hand exactly what it was she needed Lancer alive for. It is likely she'll bring out whatever trump card she's been working on against Lancer, giving us the opportunity to figure out how to work around it."
Serenity sat quietly, frowning beneath her mask.
That had not been her conclusion.
For a few moments, she simply stayed silent. Had this been a simple mission when she was alive, she would never have dreamed of doing anything different. You did not argue with the client, and you did not argue with your superiors in the Order. When she had led the Order, Serenity had never been quite as lethal about enforcing discipline as her predecessor – part of being a people person was valuing alternative opinions. Even so, no-one would have dared to gainsay her once she had made her decision without a very good reason.
But this wasn't the Order. Kiritsugu was her Master, but also her partner. He deserved all Serenity's service – and right now, that meant her disagreement.
Tactful disagreement.
"If I may offer an alternative viewpoint…" she started. Kiritsugu stared at her. Maiya froze, and looked between them both, as if unsure how to process this.
Eventually Kiritsugu nodded, although his frown was clear. "Of course. Go ahead, Assassin."
Serenity took a (mental) deep breath. This was going to be a hard sell.
"I believe Kotomine Kirei is someone we can work with," she said. "In a permanent sense."
"Out of the question." Kiritsugu's response was immediate. "He is too dangerous – too unpredictable. Of all the Masters, he is the one whom I most fear. You know this, Assassin."
Serenity didn't back down. "I do. Even so." She held her Master's gaze, and after a moment he grunted and motioned for her to continue.
"Your fear comes from how similar you are to Kotomine Kirei, coupled with your uncertainty as to what goal drives him. This allows him to be exactly as unfettered as you are… less so, even, without your ideal of sacrificing as little as possible. From our conversation with Kotomine, even speaking through Lancer… I think you are right. You are similar, despite how different your Servants turned out. But that same similarity means that there is a chance you could work together."
"Explain," Kiritsugu said.
Serenity remembered Kotomine's words – spoken through Lancer's lips, but surely his all the same.
I respectfully ask as one man lost in the night to another who seems to have found a beacon of his own to follow…
I have lately been giving much thought to wishes, and what it is to desire something…
Kiritsugu may not have focused on what the man he'd decided was his greatest threat was saying. With the reveal that Serenity had been talking to Lancer the entire time, he may well have discounted everything said as some sort of trick. His fear of Kotomine wouldn't let him truly connect.
But for Serenity, there was no doubt. She had been talking to Kotomine.
She was a people person. And she didn't think she was wrong about this.
"Kotomine Kirei strikes me as a man in search of a wish," she said. "In my opinion, he can be talked round to our way of thinking. He can be persuaded to fight for your ideal."
Kiritsugu's mouth opened, just a fraction. It was enough to convey his shock.
"No-one would throw away their chance at a wish for a goal like mine," he said at length. "The temptation of the Grail is too strong, and without going through what I have, no-one could simply be… sold it, as if I were some politician hoping to change minds on a doorstep. Who else would support what I am trying to accomplish?"
Under her mask, Serenity's eyes flicked to Maiya.
No good. She followed Kiritsugu out of respect and love for him, not his ideal.
Irisviel? The same, she'd told Serenity as much.
But there was someone else.
"I do," she said.
Kiritsugu blinked. "You?"
"Yes. Master, you never pressed, so I never told you… what would you say was my wish for the Grail?"
"I had assumed…" Kiritsugu glanced down in thought. "Something to do with your body. I never did press. It wasn't important."
"Correct. My wish was to have a normal body again." Serenity stabbed the table with a fingertip. "Was. Then, I met you. I learned of your dream. Suffice to say, I found it persuasive. In the unlikely event that I somehow get the chance to wish on the Grail without you? Now, my wish would be: to end all conflict in the world, forever. No matter what I have to give up to see that realised, I will. Even if that be myself." Serenity removed her finger. In the centre of the table, a black corrosion mark remained.
The room was silent for a moment. Then, Serenity smiled.
"So you see. Your goal is not quite so unique to you as you believe."
"That's… I never…" Kiritsugu seemed at a loss. The look in his eyes could only be called bafflement. Then, it hardened to scepticism, and Serenity's heart sank. "No. Even if you have taken my goal as your own, Assassin, you have a Grail-given guarantee of compatibility and we have worked together more closely than I have with anyone else for years. Kotomine Kirei shares neither of these things.
"My decision stands. We will ensure that Caster prevails. Until then, we wait, and prepare." He looked around, from Serenity to the stiff, freaked-out statue that was Maiya. "Am I understood?"
In response, Serenity rose, bowed, and dematerialised.
The morning sun rose over the rooftops of Miyama. Serenity perched on the rooftop of the new Emiya house, deep in thought.
Perhaps Kiritsugu's stubbornness shouldn't have been surprising. Kiritsugu had had years as a solo operator – even Maiya acted as more of an extension of him than anything else. During her time as his Servant, Serenity had rarely challenged him. Had rarely needed to.
The only time she could remember doing so, in fact, was over the issue of Kotomine Kirei. She'd advised that Kiritsugu let Maiya and Irisviel handle him, precisely because Kiritsugu's almost instinctive fear had clouded his judgement where that man was concerned.
In the end, that hadn't really worked out, had it? Berserker's rampage had overtaken events, Maiya's one attempt on Kotomine had been repelled, and after that they were busy working on behalf of Caster. But it hadn't been the wrong decision, at the time. If Kiritsugu had been as objective as he usually was, he would have been just as in-step with Serenity as usual.
That time, Kiritsugu had listened to Serenity's recommendation. She supposed she was asking rather more this time… and he was significantly more stressed. Even now, he slept only fitfully, clinging to his unconscious wife for comfort.
If Irisviel had been awake, to lighten to mood, to joke and cajole her husband out of his most hardheaded tendencies… Serenity was sure she could have convinced him. While Irisviel knew almost nothing about war, or tactics, or killing, she knew her husband better than anyone. Without her, there was just Maiya, who was no use at all when it came to contradicting Kiritsugu.
A memory floated to the top of Serenity's thoughts – Irisviel, in the last conversation she'd had with her.
It has to be you, Serenity. You understand my husband, so you'll make sure his goal is reached. Even… even if he isn't there to see it.
At the time, Serenity had thought Irisviel had just forgotten Serenity's status as a Servant, who couldn't possibly outlive her Master. Now… in light of the conversation they'd just had, another meaning presented itself.
It wouldn't be perfect, but… Kiritsugu was scared of Kotomine precisely because of how similar he believed them to be. Serenity, as a Servant, was guaranteed by the Grail to be similar to Kiritsugu.
So…
Serenity closed her eyes and imagined… herself. Not as she was now, but as she was in life. Hating herself, hating her nature, hating the life she'd never chosen for herself but had been thrust into. All she had had was her faith, and that only scant comfort.
One man lost in the night to another…
Her wish, as she'd told Kiritsugu, had been nothing more than to save herself. A fundamental change to her nature.
What had changed?
Only one thing. She'd been shown an example, a better wish than her own. The woman she'd been had found that enough reason to abandon her own salvation in favour of the world's.
If she was right, and she thought she was, then Kotomine Kirei could very well be brought over to their side. Through Lancer, she'd told him of Kiritsugu's wish. All that was left was to show that they were serious about it.
Serenity stood, and leapt from the rooftop to land silently in the yard. Dematerialised, she padded through the house, to retrieve a certain tool Kiritsugu had prepared.
What, in the end, was their objective? Their real objective?
Win the War? No. A ruse. The War was just a ritual, built to emulate the Third Magic but capable of being used for other things. The real win condition was 'be the Master of the last Servant standing'. That would allow you to claim the Grail, and wish on it.
But… the Grail was just a means to an end. What mattered to Serenity – and her Master, if he was being honest – was that the wish get made. Not that one Master in particular be the one to make it.
A real assassin cared about results, not methods.
While Kiritsugu slept, Serenity slipped out of the house.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Great chapter, happy holidays.
Kiritsugu trusts Serenity more than he has anyone else in a long time, but...not more than he fears Kotomine. Fears himself.
Kiritsugu trusts Serenity more than he has anyone else in a long time, but...not more than he fears Kotomine. Fears himself.
Missing a "know"?
- Location
- Probably at sea
Thank you, fixed! Every time it's something...
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Thanks for the Christmas present.
I am of mixed feelings about Serenity's plan.
Based on what she knows of Kirei it is the correct decision.
And to honest, it is the sort of wish Kirei may feel morally obligated to make.
The problem is that it is not the kind of wish that will do anything for Kirei personally.
And he knows it.
Not to mention, Kirei is only interested in Kiritsugu because he has bought into Kiri's presented persona.
If he figures out that Kiritsugu had everything Kirei ever wished to have (family and friends he loved and trusted) and that Kiri would and has thrown it away...
He is going to upset and spiteful.
I am of mixed feelings about Serenity's plan.
Based on what she knows of Kirei it is the correct decision.
And to honest, it is the sort of wish Kirei may feel morally obligated to make.
The problem is that it is not the kind of wish that will do anything for Kirei personally.
And he knows it.
Not to mention, Kirei is only interested in Kiritsugu because he has bought into Kiri's presented persona.
If he figures out that Kiritsugu had everything Kirei ever wished to have (family and friends he loved and trusted) and that Kiri would and has thrown it away...
He is going to upset and spiteful.
I'm not to sure about that. An "I may die but my ideals will live on" plan requires a faith in both other people and the power of ideals that Kiritsugu has never shown.
If anything it's kind of anathema to his character concept. Ends justify the means dudes are not known for their abundance of faith in ideals or others.
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Chapter 45 - Crippled
- Location
- Probably at sea
Chapter 45 - Crippled
Of all the places Martha had expected to find herself over the course of the War, anxiously waiting outside a primary school was not one of them.
She was actually surprised Sakura was still attending, after… everything. Apart from anything else, half the schools in Fuyuki were still closed, pending essential repairs. Sometimes, this was as simple as volunteers working to clear the roads leading to it. Others were missing rather more important parts, like power. Or walls. Or vital members of faculty.
Or members of the student body.
Berserker really had caused a lot of damage, and not all of it had been immediately apparent.
However, by what Martha could only call a miracle, Sakura's school was… relatively unscathed. It was even still open. After all, children still needed somewhere to spend the day while their parents were at work – whether that work was what they'd previously done, or the ongoing repair work to put the city back together. And, sadly, there were all too many children who now had nowhere else to go, to whom school represented the last untouched thing from their former lives.
Tokiomi had – after some discussion over the phone with Aoi – decided that the routine would do Sakura good, and sent her to school.
The plan had been, today, for Aoi to pick her up, and take her to… wherever it was she was staying with Rin, where Sakura would wait out the rest of the War. Instead, Martha had been roused from an afternoon nap by Tokiomi, requesting her to handle it instead and bring Sakura back to the Tohsaka house.
Well, Martha could hardly blame Tokiomi for taking an interest in what his daughter did with her day, even if that interest was a rather wishy-washy, undecided sort, so she happily agreed. Getting over to the school had been very simple in spirit form, and Martha thought she could rather get used to all this roof-hopping nonsense… although now it occurred to her that this wasn't really an option on the return trip.
Ahead, the school doors opened, releasing a gaggle of children into the schoolyard. Martha smoothed down the skirt she'd borrowed from Aoi's things, and craned her neck to try to pick Sakura out of the crowd. With her hair, it wasn't hard. As Sakura made her way over, Martha realised it was a similar sort of colour to her own.
Some of the other young mothers had also noticed, and were whispering behind their hands.
"… did you see…"
"… hear she's been living there for a week already…"
"… poor Aoi, completely kicked out and sent away…"
… well, Martha was here to defend Tokiomi's life, not his reputation. She'd have to apologise to Aoi later, though – it couldn't be any fun having people think your husband was unfaithful, and in Martha's opinion her Master' wife had already had it quite hard enough.
"Hi, Sakura!" she said, as Sakura came to a stop in front of her. "How was school?"
Sakura considered this, as though the question was of vital importance. "Everyone was very sleepy," she said, eventually.
"Sleepy?"
Sakura nodded. "Everyone kept falling asleep in class. Even the teachers. I was fine, so I mostly studied until it was time to go home. Are you taking me back to Father's house?" Martha couldn't tell, from Sakura's face, whether she was disappointed or pleased by this state of affairs.
"I am. Shall we go? Do you need to say goodbye to anyone? Any of your friends?"
This last statement was greeted with a blank look. "… Brother is away," said Sakura. "There's a War on."
"I see," said Martha, carefully not asking any of the questions that reply raised.
Instead she reached out, and Sakura took her hand.
Naturally, this prompted another round of whispers from a certain group of gossipy hens who apparently had nothing better to do than comment on an upstanding family's love lives when the city was in ruins. The nerve!
A very small part of Martha was thinking of what she could do to set them on the right path… but it wouldn't do to set a bad example for Sakura. Turn the other cheek, and all that. Instead Martha simply left, ignoring the other women completely as was only appropriate for a gentle and merciful saint.
"… seen her at the window sometimes, and the things she's wearing…"
"… a nun fetish, of all things, never would have thought Mr Tohsaka had it in… him… erk!"
As Martha passed close by, Sakura in tow, she turned to glance at the women, just to show them that they'd been heard. Their voices choked off. Half of them turned white as a sheet as Martha looked at them, and one outright turned and fled. Martha wasn't sure why, she was even favouring them with a gentle smile to show there were no hard feelings!
Guilty conscience, probably. She carried on her way.
"Rider is scary," came Sakura's bland voice from waist-level.
It wasn't far from Sakura's school to the Tohsaka house – or, Martha supposed, to the Matou house either, which was obviously why Sakura went there in the first place.
As soon as the pair arrived – Martha reminded at the last minute to kick off her outside shoes by Sakura automatically doing so – Tokiomi's voice came from the living room.
"Welcome back, Rider… Sakura."
Martha paused, then put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Come on, Sakura. Let's go and greet your father." Sakura went, without resistance.
Tokiomi was in his armchair, reading a newspaper, but looked up as the pair arrived. Sakura placed herself in the centre of the room, eyes on her shoes. After a moment, it became obvious she wasn't going to speak, so Tokiomi cleared his throat.
"How was school?" he said.
"Fine," said Sakura. "… I performed well and did not cause trouble."
Not really what Tokiomi meant, Martha thought.
Tokiomi waited to see if there would be any more, before sighing. "Very well. …good. I'm glad your studies are adequate. And, naturally, I would expect an exemplary disciplinary record from a Tohsaka."
At his last words, Sakura glanced up with a confused expression, before continuing her study of the floor.
Martha smiled to herself. Tokiomi didn't even seem to realise what he'd said.
"Well," he went on. "So much for your regular education. As it has been some time, I would also like to assess your knowledge of magecraft. Such things should be conducted in the Workshop."
He stood up, and therefore missed Sakura's reaction. Martha, with her hand on the girl's shoulder, could feel the sudden tension, and hear the almost-completely-suppressed gasp of fear.
"Accompany me down there, and on the way please recount the basics of elemental theory," said Tokiomi, making to leave.
"Master," cut in Martha. "I believe Sakura would be more comfortable outside the Workshop."
Bad associations, she sent privately. And why do you care about her education all of a sudden?
She is a promising magus once more in my care, came the reply, suspiciously quickly. As an elder magus… and a father… it is my responsibility to make sure she has sufficient grounding to not bring notice to herself.
Now, of all times? asked Martha, with what she thought was justified scepticism.
Yes. I was going to tell you later – I have just received a call from Risei. Apparently, I stand to gain a lot if I permit Sakura to visit Matou Kariya at the church this evening before sundown. Aoi and Rin will meet her there, and take her with them. This is why I had you pick Sakura up today – no need for Aoi to make two trips into town, especially as it is with the damage caused by Berserker.
Sensible. Martha had never actually met Tokiomi's wife and elder daughter, but from what Risei had said about them they would hardly be impressed by having to hang around a wrecked city for an afternoon. I take it I am to go in your place this evening?
Correct. I have no intention of leaving my wards while Assassin remains at large. I have already said as much to Risei, and he assures me he expected as much. Besides, putting Matou Kariya and myself in one place has usually been a recipe for… distraction. I think, all in all, the whole thing will go rather more smoothly if you are there instead of me.
Martha nodded. She had no objection to being used as a messenger, and indeed she was rather more confident in her ability to safely ferry a small girl across her city if she didn't have to worry about her Master at the same time.
Sakura, for her part, was looking back and forth between Martha and Tokiomi as they held their silent conversation. She didn't seem bothered by being left out of the conversation, instead just waiting passively until it started affecting her again.
… in the unlikely event that Martha ever met this 'grandfather' of Sakura's, she really would have to have a few strong words. Words like 'repent', and 'sinner', and 'lest'. You could never go wrong with a good 'lest', in Martha's opinion.
Tokiomi continued, stirring Martha from what definitely weren't idle thoughts about descending with fire and brimstone into the ruins of the Matou house and cleansing it of evil and then laughing in its stupid face and then going home to give Sakura a hot chocolate and a hug.
Thus, he was saying, I have an extra afternoon with Sakura, and I find myself curious as to what direction, exactly, the Matou have taken with her training. I do take your point as to her… experiences, however.
"In fact, we shall do this in your room," Tokiomi said to Sakura, out loud. "I trust you have sufficient pens and paper in your school things to illustrate the principles of Formalcraft also." He hesitated, then crossed the room and held out a hand to Sakura. Confused, she stared at it for a second, then took it.
Father led daughter out of the room, and Martha could not have said which one looked less comfortable.
Still. A start was a start.
In his room in Tohsaka's mansion, Kirei meditated.
The room was lavish. In the Western style, it was done in carpet rather than matting with a bed rather than a futon, the furniture elegant to match. The dresser, the wardrobe, the chair, the desk, the lamps, all were solid, well-made items that advertised their quality without seeming gaudy. Nothing in that room cost under ten thousand yen, and it was all cleaned and polished to a mirror shine.
While this was, technically, a guest room, it wasn't as temporary an arrangement as, say, Rider's room down the hall. This was the room in which Kirei had stayed while undertaking his apprenticeship under Tohsaka Tokiomi. He'd been graciously invited to make himself at home, to use anything he wished as though it were his own, and to come and go as he pleased.
Tohsaka hadn't invited Kirei to acquire his own furniture, or get rid of anything that wasn't to his taste. Kirei was almost certain the thought hadn't even occurred to him.
Well. Kirei had never bothered that much about his surroundings. The bed was serviceable. There was space for his clothes. Other than that, Kirei didn't think he'd touched a single thing in the room, apart from to keep it all clean.
Keeping a nocturnal schedule was harder than it sounded. Fortunately, as an Executor Kirei was very used to erratic sleep schedules, and found that stillness and body rest was almost as good as proper sleep if the latter could not be obtained. And, of course, emptying one's mind did tend to send one to sleep anyway.
Kirei had had significant trouble emptying his mind, of late.
The afternoon sun streamed in through a gap in the curtains, and dust motes danced in the beam.
It shone on the one new addition to the room – a small potted purple wildflower. Lancer squatted next to it, nose almost touching the petals, so still they could have been… well, carved out of clay.
After Caster's escape from Lancer, Lancer had not left Kirei's presence.
Kirei wondered if they, too, felt less secure than they had twenty-four hours prior.
For one thing, it had seemed impossible that anyone, even a self-proclaimed genius, could get away alive from a fight where Lancer was actually trying to kill their opponent. Even with Caster having prepared the ground so thoroughly as to have an entire separate dimension in which to attempt to trap Lancer, Kirei found it incredible that it should have even made a difference.
That wasn't to say that Kirei's faith in Lancer's strength was shaken, however. Rather, he simply revised his estimation of the threat Caster posed upwards. This kind of thing just happened – there was no sense in denying the obvious and insisting that Lancer would win a straight-up fight. Caster clearly wasn't willing to offer a straight-up fight, so Kirei would have to adjust.
One easy thing to implement, for example, was a check-in system. Caster's ultimate strategy, in a nutshell (and discounting whatever secondary purpose Lancer was convinced she had) had apparently been to confine Lancer, deprive them of the ability to alert Kirei to that fact, then kill Kirei while Lancer was unable to do anything about it. Simple, direct, effective. Kirei half-suspected Emiya Kiritsugu of having had a hand in making it.
Lancer had in fact happened to have the means to escape the method of confinement Caster had planned – but Kirei was unwilling to rely on such chance. Now, whenever the two were out of sight of one another, or at a prearranged signal from either one, they would send each other a coded telepathic call-and-response at regular intervals. This was standard procedure when Executors had to operate in company but at range (albeit with modern communicators rather than telepathy), and Kirei could only put it down to complacency that he had not thought to do the same with Lancer.
Suddenly, Lancer stood, in one fluid motion. Their lovely face was as inscrutable as ever, bearing nothing but a faint smile.
"Peculiar," they said.
Kirei opened his eyes. "What is?"
Lancer gestured at the flower, which turned towards them like a heliotrope following the sun in fast-forward.
"My eyes, ears and nose all tell me this is a particularly lovely Arctium lappa, also known as Greater Burdock or Gobou, thirty centimetres in height. I brought it in from the woods, so I know this to be true, and it responds to me as though it is such a plant. And yet," Lancer closed their eyes, "I still cannot help but believe that it is a female Servant, somewhat over a metre and a half tall, standing calm and still. I can even feel her heartbeat through the soles of the feet which this plant does not have.
"And I feel her lying in your bed, which is her. I feel her sitting in your chair, which is also her. I feel her in Sakura's room, talking to herself. I feel her in Rider's room, relaxing on herself. I feel a city full of nothing but Caster, as though she had become the entire world. It is… extremely disconcerting."
Disconcerting was one word. Much more importantly, however, it meant that their unbeatable answer to the threat of Assassin was gone.
To be fair, even Lancer had only been able to detect Assassin at close range. How close 'close' was hadn't been precisely clear, but Lancer had assured Kirei that he was safe from attacks while he remained within earshot.
Now, however, Lancer could be within the same room, and if they were facing in the wrong direction Assassin could be right behind Kirei and they would never know.
The question was whether Emiya Kiritsugu and Assassin knew about Lancer's new disability. Which was to say, whether Caster and her Master had told them, because Kirei was certainly not about to let such information slip.
He honestly didn't know. He was confident that Caster and Emiya had been working together. But Lancer was just as confident that they had now parted ways. Given that, there was no reason for Caster to let Emiya know… but, equally, no reason for her to conceal the fact, especially as Lancer had proved more dangerous than she'd expected.
The more Kirei thought on the subject, the more sure he became that Caster would have told Emiya. She stood to profit significantly – if Emiya's Assassin did make an attempt on Kirei's life, they would either succeed or die, in either case removing one more obstacle to Caster's victory at no risk to herself. Even if, for whatever reason, Emiya was sceptical and refused to act on the information, Caster was no worse off than before. It was the intelligent thing to do, and despite a marked tendency to over-confidence Caster was nothing if not intelligent.
Needless to say, the erratic sleep schedule was not the only reason why Kirei had not slept particularly well.
"You cannot simply disregard whichever of your senses Caster is fooling?" he asked.
"Can you simply choose to stop hearing things, without someone plugging your ears?" responded Lancer, without heat.
Kirei nodded acceptance. "Tokiomi may well have some kind of item to 'plug your ears', as it were. We will ask when he is finished with Matou Sakura."
Lancer frowned, but subsided.
Enough worrying about things beyond their power to change, thought Kirei. In a few short hours the War would start again. Until that time, he intended to rest. He closed his eyes, put his worries to one side, and breathed deeply, focusing on nothing but the repetitive action. In. Out. Seconds turned to minutes, and the stillness and silence deepened, until all he could hear was his own breath and the low murmur of Tokiomi and Sakura, rooms away. Of Lancer, he could hear nothing whatsoever.
Some time later, he couldn't guess how long, he was roused by a soft tapping on the window. Branches, he thought, drowsily – then snapped awake. While the Tohsaka house did back onto the forest, there were no trees this close to his room.
The tapping came again, quiet but insistent.
Kirei was upright in a heartbeat. "Someone at the window? Lancer, who…" Kirei turned to his Servant automatically, then stopped himself.
Lancer gave an ironic smile. "Why, I can tell you that it is Caster, naturally." They stepped across the floor, putting themselves between the window and Kirei. "But let us greet them, and be sure."
With a firm wrench, the curtains were flung open, and evening sunlight filled the room. Kirei peered out.
And, perched on the windowsill, a skull mask grinned back.
- Location
- Philippines
This is Serenity independently deciding to try and negotiate with Kirei, right? I wonder if they'll even listen to her.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
That's a great counter to Enkidu's detection ability - just make everything read as Caster. Kinda curious how she's pulled it off, honestly.
Seems Sakura & Tokiomi are slowly getting to know one another again. The latter is even accommodating her trauma regarding magecraft Workshops.
Seems Sakura & Tokiomi are slowly getting to know one another again. The latter is even accommodating her trauma regarding magecraft Workshops.
ExNihilo
SPACE!
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Everyone being sleepy at Sakura's school is almost certainly mana drain of some kind, right? Said information got passed to Martha, who didn't seem to recognize it being tactically important, and didn't get passed to Tokiyomi (I think) who would have presumably recognized the significance. Poor communication kills.
- Location
- Southern California
Oh boy
Is it time?
Is it time for Tokiomi to realize that Zouken didn't teach Sakura a damn thing!?
I want your mouth to taste like ash as you realize that you've been played!
- Location
- Philippines
That'd certainly be egg on his face.
Tokiomi wouldn't bat an eye at Sakura's suffering if it was legitimately the way the Matous teach magecraft. But simply using her as a glorified ingredient? That'll get his heckles to rise.
Who knows, mayhaps he gets Martha to do some smiting
- Location
- Southern California
Tokiomi ask some bare basic Magecraft questions like what is a Greater Magic Formula
Sakura: I don't know
Tokiomi pauses
Tokiomi: What do you mean?
Sakura: Grandfather never taught me that
Tokiomi nods and then ask another question
Sakura: I don't know that either
Tokiomi: What exactly did he teach you?
Sakura: Don't defy him
- Location
- Probably at sea
To be fair, she was testing out the presence-spoofing throughout Serenity's talk with Lancer and then throughout her own fight with them - this is just the same thing on a larger scale.
If you mean 'how exactly was she able to fool Enkidu and their A+ ranked skill'... well, I plead Pioneer of the Stars and wave my hands vaguely.
The lesson is to always pick your daughter up from school yourself and don't delegate! Because, yes, such a thing would definitely sparked some kind of bad feeling in Tokiomi, whereas Martha just figures, 'yeah, everyone probably is a little tired, who can blame them'.
it is, of course, anyone's guess as to who might be behind such hypothetical mana draining, although I'll give you a hint and say that Lancer would still be able to make a guess even now. The better question is what reason such a hypothetical mysterious figure might have for doing such a thing...
Now, I had a vague idea that Sakura might have had at least some kind of grounding in at least the background knowledge - you know, even without a formal education, she did grow up in a magus household and therefore would have absorbed a little by osmosis if nothing else. I'll admit it's been a while since I've read the VN (or watched the Heaven's Feel movies), but I'm sure I remember her using at least basic magus terminology (like circuits, magical energy, and familiars at the very least), which means she must have picked it up somewhere.
That said, although I don't know exactly how much magecraft Sakura knows I doubt it'll be enough to reassure Tokiomi. I will note, however, that were Zouken here to plead his case he'd probably claim something along the lines of waiting to make sure Sakura's body was fully remodeled and compatible with the Matou magecraft before bothering to start the training, just in case it didn't work and he'd started revealing his family secrets for nothing. (He'd be lying, but Tokiomi wouldn't be able to prove that.)
- Location
- Philippines
To quote Lancer this chapter, "Why, I can tell you that it is Caster, naturally."
Even if we don't look at Da Vinci's class first thing, the only classes left are literally Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Lancer. Lancer gets all he needs from the land, while Rider has no clue about Magecraft.
This leaves us with either Assassin or Caster. I imagine Kiritsugu and Irisviel might be able to pull this off, but I highly doubt it and it's not like they have anything big they'll need all that energy for. Serenity isn't exactly a manahungry Servant after all. Thus, by process of elimination, Da Vinci and all the magecraft she has been doing is behind the draining - though knowing her, it wouldn't be as harmful as Medusa's Breaker Gorgon or Medea's similar attempts.
From that, all that's left is to ask what Da Vinci is working on to need all that energy. I have two hypotheses - either she is building that superweapon to deal with Enkidu once and for all, or she's breaking the rules again and trying to invoke the Grail with only three dead Servants. After all, FGO Da Vinci certainly manages to make and/or mess with a Grail or two in her spare time, and we know Medea attempted the same thing in the Fate route.