2 Machinations and Haggling

A little earlier.

Unknown to Alaya she, as well as Gaia were being watched by one of the most well known magus of the current age. Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. He had been watching since before the aftermath of the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki.

He knew something was different in this iteration and came to see the results to understand. He could only sigh as he saw the destruction of the city it was the same in almost every iteration. There was nothing to be done. Though it pained him he continued to watch. He watched as the mud magma fell from the open portal upon the oblivious city. Zelretch was watching as the fast moving flood of mud magma devoured people. His eyes focused on the initiators of this whole situation; the fake priest, the old king, and the abomination. As he saw these people he saw a sight that made him dumbfounded in astonishment.

A boy was creating a barrier behind him that held up a stone column and the flowing mud magma. Zelretch had seen a lot in his long life, but this was a first. An uninitiated magus was holding back the corruption of the Holy Grail with his immense magical force, his body and his soul. Below the boy, Zelretch saw the body of a child he was very familiar with. One of Alaya's favorite, future, counter guardian.

So Zelretch had also saw when the child had reached the point all magus of the current age wished to. The First Magic, the magic of creation and destruction. From what Zelretch saw the boy had created three weapons while also saving the city from further destruction. In his last moments the boy used these weapons to attack the three causes for this event, all while saving his brother. A truly admirable feat for any hero, especially one so young and unknown to the reverse world. If he was not wrong then the boy and his weapons had also absorbed the remnants of the lesser grail. Zelretch frowned at this not understanding what would happen if the evil being was left alive in these weapons.

After a few moments Zelretch heard the death throw screams of the lesser grail and it's unwanted inhabitant, as all of the mud magma as well as the portal were absorbed by the final creation of the boy. 'Well, that answers that. Alaya wasn't planning anything…yet.' Zelretch thought after hearing the dying screams of Angra Mainyu, he looked upon the immense creation in awe. This was something that had not been created since the Age of the Gods. "Dear gods just what kind of hero was this child?" After seeing something this interesting Zelretch could not leave well enough alone. He had to see where this child would be going.

Zelretch had to be careful so that he wasn't detected by Alaya. He watched as each of the heroes all joined in the process of offering to the newly created hero. Zelretch was honestly amazed at the heroes who offered. They were some of the most powerful beings in known history. Zelretch was even more fascinated by the soul structure that Alaya was forming over the soul. 'Hmm seems as if I could add my own options to this soul if I find the right things to add.'

Alaya appeared looking about for the ones she had contacted before this event. Slowly two beings appeared one a golden dragon of eastern origin and the second a violet black dragon of western origin. They floated in the void looking at one another before Alaya raised her hand and pushed the spark, within the four pointed circle, toward the two dragons. The soul sat in the spanning void between the three gods. The two dragons examined the soul spark and all of its contents. They saw what had led to its current state and were surprised and glad. They had found one that could face their unintentional creation with out fear and save their world from collapse.

"Our father, Oum, thanks you for this gift of a hero Alaya." The two dragons chorused.

"Think nothing of it. From what I have seen, he is the perfect candidate for saving your world. With the powers that have been freely given to him he can face her without fear. Though he will need to be raised properly to achieve this. That may be hard with all the monsters upon that world. Be careful where you place him. Should she find him and corrupt him it will mean the end of your world." Alaya warned the two dragons.

"This is always the case with bringing a hero from another universe. They can save or destroy the world. We are willing to take the chance here, in this universe only, because here she is far more powerful than the others save for a few where the heroes from other worlds joined her forces." The dragons said to Alaya.

"Is it that bad?" Alaya said shocked. Though she had many universes where there was massive shift in power in any of the fractions power base she had the heroes as well as all the other beings to prevent too far of a shift in power.

"Yes we do not know where she is drawing this energy but we have guesses." The dragons said as they looked at Alaya.

"Wait you do not mean—" Alaya said shaken by the dragon gods words.

"We believe so. We are not sure which one, but it seems one of the broken grails is leaking power to her. You have a system out of control this is also the reason why we were told to set up this meeting. To gain a hero and for you to know there is one universe where you are blinded by some force from seeing the hole in the universes." The Dragon gods explained to Alaya.

Alaya looked on blankly for a short while, as she examined all the different verses she watched over, before fury over took her face. "I see it now. I seem to need to break a certain goddess to show who the true ruler of my worlds are. I thank you for your assistance in this matter, and I apologize for all the harm this goddess has brought upon your world. Once I break her would you two enjoy eating her power? It will weaken her across the verses but will be worth it."

The two dragons shivered at the outright hostility and rage the Goddess Alaya the Collection of Humanities Dreams showed. The two looked at one another and they nodded their heads at the suggestion. "This will help us to balance the scales with her cross the other out of control worlds. Thank you for this and we eagerly await the goddesses' power." The two dragons said as they licked their chops.

Alaya smiled at the dragons and then upon the soul spark. "Please do take care of him. He will become a true hero of the verses if he reaches full maturity. With him we will have another hero to send to other out of control worlds. We may even be able to gain some things from the other verses to help our cause. Per our agreement I have the option of summoning him to my world should I need his assistance, agreed?"

"Certainly. At that time tell us and we will work to slow time so he can complete your task for him. He will become a true hero and we will see to it that he reaches maturity. Though, it will be up to fate most of the time since we left that world long ago and she will see any interference. So only slight nudges and pushes will be possible. Allow us time to prepare for his transfer so that his absence will not cause too much danger." The dragons said.

"I will agree to this prerequisite. True enough. Fate and Karma sure do like to play with mortality more than even us gods." Alaya said. "I will return and deal with the goddess. Once I am done I will contact you again."

Alaya left through another portal into the world where a goddess had exceeded her bounds and affected other verses. Alaya needed to show that no one had the right to break the law of the goddess known as Alaya.

As she left Alaya looked back upon the two gods. She felt that these gods were different to the ones she knew. They honestly felt like scientists or even children to Alaya's acute vision and mind. She hoped she hadn't just given away a hero of ruler or saber class for nothing. And if she found out she did, Alaya would make those two dragons rue the day they tried to trick her. She would apologize to Monty afterwards.

Zelretch was watching and listening as the gods spoke. When he heard of a god from the Nasuverse affecting another verse he winced as he saw the rage on Alaya's face. He knew the wrath that Alaya would place upon the perpetrator. He sent up a prayer for the goddesses soul. Now Zelretch watched the dragon gods. He noticed how the soul was siphoning a tiny portion of the two gods' powers as they drew closer. The siphon was so small that the two dragon gods, especially for the gods being so young, did not notice it. Zelretch smiled at this. Seems this hero would make things interesting for him again.

Plus Zelretch had already seen through Alaya's ploy and the hidden agenda she had for the young soul before him. He just needed to throw a wrench in those plans in a way he will not be implicated. At least for a short while. For now he needed to set up the secondary soul binding. This binding would include all of the presents he could to help this hero escape the strings the gods had placed upon him eventually. He could only make his addition at a time that it would go unnoticed by the two dragon gods.

Zelretch knew from Alaya's interaction that she planned on bringing the hero back in the future to play as her pawn. Zelretch would have to watch for his appearance. When he comes back, Zelretch would be able to finish his plans for the hero at that time. Hidden from Alaya's eyes as to not endanger the hero. For now what he scrounged up should be enough for now.

Zelretch in his travels had gone to multiple verses and done many things. In his travels he came across heroes and gods who had in one way or another 'gave' him a shard of their soul. He also had his newly created spirit magnification crystal that would, when combined with the Holy Grail present in the soul increase the rank and type of the soul it connected with. When it was used the multiple versions of the heroes present will appear. "Can't send him out without a full set. Otherwise the grail will fail to activate. Plus since he was such an amazing mage at the end of his life why don't we send him my magic circuit design that replicates the nervous system. This has taken a long time to develop but I think this hero would use them well. With the addition of the dragon core he will likely be considered the strongest mage of our world if he is ever to return. And from the state of the world it seems he might just need as much help as possible."

Since Zelretch had been a part of the creation of the grail he felt a connection to the structure inside the soul of the young hero. He connected his 'presents' to this tether and sent them down the line. Zelretch had pulled these 'presents' together on the fly as he didn't have much time before the soul was out of his reach. But he wasn't called the Magic Marshall for nothing. He made sure to mask them, save for the magical circuits as they would be helpful from day one, until the time was ripe for the hero to fully awaken his powers. He also designed it to fit the structure that Alaya had created so when he was eventually summoned back he could utilize magic as any magus.

Now all Zelretch had to wait and watch as the hero grew into a hero unlike any seen for a very long time. He smiled at the mischief that the hero would find himself in. For now he had a certain twin tailed magus to train. 'Should I also train her sister? I have a feeling that the hero will return to this place so him having some companions to survive the next Holy Grail War will be beneficial. Though it is likely he will be pulled into one of the Great Holy Grail Wars. Anyway I will prepare this iteration for his return.'