[X] Explain the situation, you think the Shadow will attack the Einzbern Mansion next, since it's the last mage workshop left in the city, and Sakura herself will be in the Grail Cavern with the core of the Shadow.
-[X] Suggest that you go retrieve Sella, Liz, and Sacchin, then take the fight to the Grail Cavern itself with everyone. Considering what the Shadow did to Caster and Tohsaka's workshops, you doubt a defense is going to hold for long, so you might as well go on the attack before it gets any stronger.
-[X] Or you could have everyone gather at Emiya's for tonight, since for some reason Arcruied seemed to think that it would not be fighting you there. Does Sakura have some attachment to the place? But if the Shadow does attack you there, the neighbors are all going to die, messily.
You take a calming breath, then another, as you try to come up with the least irritating way to reveal the situation to your allies of convenience - and Ilya and Deis, of course. "So she's not going to be helping us, I take it?" You scowl at Tohsaka.
"… Correct. Moreover, any fighting within the city is likely to see her attempt to engage in hostilities with me." Emiya frowns, a slightly confused look on his face, while Ilya sits up, clearly worried. Tohsaka, however, tilts her head in surprise.
"Really? I thought that was only if I asked her …." You glare at her and Ilya almost growls in anger. Tohsaka sits up slowly and waves her arms in protest. "Hold on, hold on. I was told that if I had trouble with you, I could call Arcueid. That was it, and I told you this before. But if there's any fighting she's going to go after you?" You shrug.
"If she thinks I've been doing anything either in the city or in the temple, she's going to attack me. Which … well, I could preempt her and attack her first, but Ilya's been consistently concerned about what could happen if I fight her, so I'm willing to put that off, at least for now. The big problem is that I don't necessarily have to have actually done anything, so if there is a fight and it looks like I might have been involved …."
"She may decide you were involved and take action against you." Saber finishes your thought and frowns thoughtfully. Tohsaka groans and lays against the table again.
"Yes. Fortunately, the likeliest location that will be attacked next is outside the city," you say, looking at Ilya. She nods. "Ilya's castle is the only magical stronghold left in the area, after the temple and Tohsaka's place, so the shadow-thing will probably go there in search of energy."
"So you want to get together at the Einzbern estate and fight the Shadow there?" You shake your head at Saber.
"No, not really. My own preferences aside, it swept aside Caster's protections with ease, then broke through the defenses Deis put up once it actually tried. And I suspect that Tohsaka's house defenses fared no better?" The mageling waves her hand in a lazy surrender, confirming your guess. "An aggressive defense may work - Archer seemed able to harm it, at least enough for Tohsaka to escape - but I was thinking of going on the attack. Get Ilya and my servants and everyone meets at the Grail. We go in, magicians deal with the Grail while everyone else holds off the shadow-thing, then see where we go from there." You're met with a series of astounded stares, except by Tohsaka, who simply waves her hand over her head again.
"Veto~" she says before sitting up. "I'm in no shape to go off and fight that thing again. Nor am I going to be much use in trying to figure out what, if anything, we can do apart from blowing everything up and hoping that it's not a problem in sixty years. And I need to go back home and see if there's anything I can salvage. It didn't seem interested in my stuff, but … well …." She frowns unhappily and trails off. It looks like she's thinking about something else, and she shivers before pulling her coat tighter around her. Ilya clears her throat and smiles shyly at you.
"I want to check some things before we make our next move, too. I … may be able to find something that could help with resolving this such that the ritual isn't wasted." You grumble and cross your arms - if neither of the two mages wants to go immediately, forcing them isn't likely to help matters. You could go with Satsuki, see if her ability to eliminate mana around her does anything, either to the shadow-thing or the magic circle. Or ….
"Can't attack, can't defend. Then -" you look at Emiya and he suddenly gets a nervous expression, "- how about we all stay here. If the shadow-thing were interested simply in growing stronger, it would have attacked here first, because you're the weakest Master and the house isn't protected - it would be no trouble at all to consume you and Saber either heading to or returning from either of its previous victims. That it didn't reinforces the idea that Rider's Master has at least a moderate directing influence, and so it may not attack here because it's your home. Does she have some affection for this place, or for you, that would cause her to hesitate?" Of course, with yourself, Deis, Ilya, and Tohsaka in addition to Emiya and Saber, it might prove too much for her to hold the shadow-thing back. He squares his shoulders and glares at you.
"Her name is Sakura." You hold his gaze for a moment, then sigh and look away.
"… Well, whatever. If we can't defend, staying here might give us some time when we won't be attacked … although if it does attack, a lot of people are probably going to die. It seems to damage everything around it, from what I understand, and driving it off takes some powerful magic." He frowns unhappily and Tohsaka groans into her hands.
"Why would you bring that up?" she hisses, and Emiya's focus shifts to her. "No, Emiya-kun, I'm not saying we shouldn't care about what happens to ordinary people, but she's probably right. You are the most logical option to attack, and that you haven't been attacked means you probably have something protecting you. Sakura's feelings for you probably are keeping her from letting the Shadow go after you - she's been coming here for, what, a year now? If she didn't care about you, she wouldn't have kept it up for so long, especially since it's so far out of her way." Emiya stares at her, confused or surprised at something, but she just sighs again and rests her head in her hands.
"… Illyasviel, what happened to the monks at Ryuudou Temple?" Ilya looks blankly at Saber for a moment but remains silent. "Then we must give it some target to attack. If this shadow is willing to consume normal humans then we must put it in a situation where it cannot attack civilians." Deis groans exasperatedly.
"Yes, except that's practically a death sentence! Right now we're in no shape to go after the Grail itself, where we can be certain the Shadow will come to attack us, and the only one here that has a chance of getting its attention and keeping it without being killed is Flan - but she's been shut down by this True Ancestor." She faces Tohsaka. "I don't suppose you know how to contact someone in charge, get them to have her stand down for the night?" Tohsaka shakes her head.
"Not really - there's bound to be someone at the temple who's in the know, but I don't know if they can or will be willing to pass a message along. Or how long it would take to get an answer. There's another agent who might still be in the city, but the same problems would apply." Silence falls, and everyone returns to thinking about how to proceed. You simmer, your irritation boiling over - attacking now is the right choice, before the shadow-thing can grow in strength … but Ilya wants to see if the situation can be salvaged and Tohsaka is a frail human mage with no stamina. Saber and Emiya appear to be willing, but what assistance could they lend you? And now you're constricted, restricted, and you're being denied an outlet … maybe Arcueid was right, and you will be seeing her very soon.
What do you do?
[ ] Wait patiently for them to come up with a plan and help implement it.
[ ] "Fine, figure out what we're going to do and I'll make sure it works."
- [ ] Take a nap until someone wakes you up.
- [ ] Sulk until they're finished.
[ ] Take Ilya back to her castle so she can start her research.
- [ ] Practice with Satsuki.
- [ ] "Practice" with Satsuki.
- [ ] Sulk.
[ ] Decoy the Shadow yourself at the Grail Cavern.
[ ] Other?
