[X] Put Ilya in the armor and get out of here.
Maybe you could hold it off … but if it's actually after Deis or Ilya, it'll ignore you and go after them as much as it can, and unlike Deis you can't put up any wards. You look at the oncoming shadow-thing, judging its speed. And Deis might be able to help you stall it, but if it has any fancy tricks then fighting in an enclosed area might end poorly, especially since even Deis's wards can't stop it if it really wants to get in, and her best ones took some time to get set up, time that Caster's protections bought her and you don't have here. And she had a body, then. You leap back toward Ershin and Ilya; hopefully it won't suddenly speed up now that you aren't watching it, but even at its current speed you're not sure if Ilya will have enough time. "No, Ilya, we're leaving now. Ershin, open up." The magic circle comes alive.
"Shit." Ershin's helmet pops open and silver lines begin tracing over its body. You pull Ilya off the circle and lift her up. She stares at the ground below her.
"What …? This shouldn't …." You set her inside Ershin and the helmet closes on her.
"Well, what's the plan?" You snort at Deis and pick up Ershin.
"I was planning on running, actually. This isn't a good place to fight and I'm not sure we even have anything that's effective against it." She nods as you glide slowly toward the edge of the cliff, looking for the shadow. Can it fly? Is it going to take the natural way up or will it come straight up the side?
"Not a bad idea; I approve. It'll be a bit difficult for me to protect you, but -" You cut her off with a wave of your free hand.
"Just focus on yourselves. I'll be fine." You prevent any further communication by darting forward, disrupting Deis's speech. You halt, scanning for the shadow, and snarl when you see it - it didn't even try to approach the magic circle! Instead it backed off, closer to the entrance … but then, if the magic circle activated, it's not likely that you want to stay here anyway. Still, the shadow hasn't reached the tunnel yet, and you adjust your grip on Ershin, clutching at a plate with your right hand. Then you hurl yourself forward, holding your friends out to the side so your view of the shadow isn't blocked. As you hurtle across the cavern, swooping low to keep the angle manageable, the area around the shadow seems to dim somewhat, and its tentacles - far too many tentacles - lash up. A trap, showing that whatever this thing is, it's clever … but the tentacle that reaches up in front of Ershin dissolves in a flare of silvery light. Another lies in your path, however, and you plow through that one.
It's torn apart as well, unable to hold you still, but the ragged tatters of the tentacle try to wrap around you, try to constrict your movements, and suddenly Loki flares, drawing more energy from you as the tentacle burns away against your protection. You're through the shadow's trap, however, and you glide through the tunnel before landing and turning to face it. It's wavering, shivering and undulating, moving toward you. It's tentacles wave frantically, but it's just too slow. At least at this distance, anyway, and you have no intention of letting it get into range for a sprint. You readjust your grip on Ershin and fly back through the tunnel. You're forced to slow down, of course - not only to avoid running into anything, but also because of Ershin and Ilya. The faster you go, the more you have to swerve and jerk to keep them from colliding with anything, and you don't want to hurt Ilya. Moving so slowly, you shouldn't have missed Sasaki, but somehow you just don't notice him until he raises his sword. Your first reaction is to greet him, to see if he's alright, but that's obviously not the case. Not with his sallow skin and aggressive posture, that stance …. You frown and set down Ershin. He's actually using a stance, but when he dueled you at the gate he simply stood there. Then again, all he really needs to do is stall you, so maybe it doesn't mean anything …. You shrug and look back. You can't see the shadow, but it must be coming. You roll your eyes at his confident, arrogant smirk and throw yourself at him. You were holding back before, and you didn't have Loki then. Three pointless impacts hammer into you, but your arm is through his chest, and you pull him away, tearing out part of his chest, and slam his head into the tunnel wall with a wet crunch. His face caves in and you tear his head off, tossing it back down the tunnel. Then you grab Ershin again and continue out of the tunnel, only pausing when you rise above the treetops. You look back at the illusionary entrance, but considering how much faster you are than the shadow, it's no surprise that you don't see it.
"Flan, let's pick up Seven." You blink at Ershin, confused by Deis's request. Seven what? "The Church lady's weapon. If we can figure out how it works and get her to cooperate, maybe it'll be useful." That's sensible, and you begin flying toward Caster's old building. Your gaze flicks back to Ershin for a moment.
"Ilya, are you alright?" She doesn't respond, but neither Ershin nor Deis say anything is wrong, so you wait until you land at the edge of the pool where the weapon was buried before frowning worriedly at the armor. "Ilya?" Ershin's helmet pops open once again and you help Ilya climb out.
"Thank you, Ershin," she says. She seems fine, but … distant. You keep an eye out - and on her - as Deis goes to work dredging the coffin. Thank goodness the monks are usually asleep at this time. "… I'm sorry, Flan. I'm just … trying to figure out if there's anything that can be done to fix this. The Greater Grail … there's something wrong with it, and I think you're right that it's older than this War." She hugs herself tightly and you wrap your own arms around her; she left without her coat, so she's probably starting to feel the chilly air already. You glance at Ershin as it lifts the weapon from the coffin and suppress a giggle at the incongruous image - the squat, almost dumpy armor holding the long, bulky firearm it has no hope of using effectively. Maybe Leysritt? If it does have a magical component, and if that doesn't need a magician to operate, it would let her contribute more effectively than just with the halberd.
Now, though … well, Sakura seems to be the source of the shadow, so maybe you should just go kill her? Although you should probably discuss it with Ilya first, since she knows more about this than you. Should you get any of the other Masters involved? Again, this is more Ilya's choice, but it's possible she isn't thinking about that right now ….
What do you do?
[ ] Take Ilya back to her castle.
- [ ] Then go see if there's anything at Tohsaka's mansion; Ilya did say the shadow attacked her, after all ….
- [ ] Then try to track down Tohsaka.
- [ ] Then go see if you can find Arcueid.
[ ] Go see Emiya.
[ ] Try to find Tohsaka.
[ ] Other?
