2

There goes sixty years of planning (Fate Apocrypha)Shinji117

Chapter 2: Chapter 1 Day 1

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

I notice my first difference between my old and new bodies as soon as I wake up. Rather than having to spend a few seconds groggily looking for my glasses, the instant I open my eyes I can make out the unfamiliar ceiling above me in perfect detail, with no glasses or slow boot-up time required. I also feel full of energy- like I could just jump out of bed and run a marathon, which definitely was not how I'm used to waking up.

The ceiling is white, not in the sense of the void I had previously been in, but just an undecorated white paintjob. At the mildest flicker of "this could use some improvement", however, the ceiling suddenly changes into the design I had been thinking of a fraction of a second ago, which I guess means I'm in my new House. Which means I should stop repainting the ceiling with my mind in procrastination and get out of bed and introduce myself to Artoria who I'm fairly certain will be nearby.

She's there, sitting in the seat at the desk beside my bed and watching the ceiling change. The first, most obvious difference between how I remember Fate's Saber Artoria and the Artoria before me was that she resembles her older, Lancer version- likely the Shroud's adjustments. The instant I begin to rise she turned to me, and I half-expected her to say the oh-so-famous words. She doesn't, instead calmly acknowledging me.

"Master."

This is really not how I had expected these past few hours to go. I return her acknowledgement with a nod. "Saber- I'm sorry, would you prefer Arthur or Artoria or just Saber?"

"Artoria is appropriate when we are alone, Master. When outside, Saber might be more prudent. My summoning does not seem to have involved the Grail, so please explain the situation and where we are."

I grimace. "That's going to be complicated. Effectively, I've been…employed…to bounce between worlds while building a retinue of sorts from the worlds I visit. One of the powers my…employer gave me is the ability to summon people into a retinue of sorts, at the effective cost of personal power, and you were my first choice for a number of reasons."

Artoria pauses for a moment. "Master, please show me your Command Spells."

I mean, it's something of a non-sequitur but I can't see any harm. I raise my arm and show the three shapes on the back of my hand.

"...You still have all three. I had thought that you might have used a Command Spell to make me believe what you said was true."

Ah, I get it. I give her a nod and shrug. "I didn't, but I can hazard a guess as to why; my employer might not have wanted to have to deal with disbelief about the situation."

"Something to consider, then. Very well, as I cannot disbelieve you about your overall situation, tell me of the circumstances I have been summoned into."

Time for the rundown of Apocrypha, I guess. Still, we can probably move out of my room for this.

"Sure. You mind if we move out of here first? We can probably plan better at a table and whiteboard or something."

"Lead the way, Master."

-

To my non-surprise, I seem to instinctively know where everything in the Pocket House is located, as if I'd lived in it for years. Leaving the master bedroom, we're met with the dining room and living area, and then it's through the living area and into the study. Thankfully, there's a big table set up like a meeting room table and a whiteboard already set up at the head of the table, opposite the door. I move to the whiteboard and, as Artoria takes a seat, begin to exposit.

"So, we've been called into what's known as the Great Holy Grail War. Darnic Yggdmillennia, a participant of the 3rd Standard Holy Grail War, called in the Nazis to help steal the Greater Grail from Japan and move it to Romania, where he's been studying it and building up a coalition of Masters and catalysts for the past six decades in the hopes of conducting his own Grail War."

As I'm saying all this, I've found the markers and have drawn big red and black squares on the board, as well as a small square in the corner.

"The Grail decided that all Masters being allied would definitely break the system, so used what I assume was the built up energy from the 3rd War to summon a second set of Servants. Rather than a normal free-for-all War, it's a team match where the Black- Yggdmillennia, and Red- the Clock Tower, factions have a full roster of Servants each."

At this point, I turn to Artoria, but she seems to have absorbed it all just fine.

"I see. You may continue."

"Ok, so the main complication is from the Red side. One of their Masters is secretly the incarnated Ruler of the 3rd Grail War that the Einzberns summoned to, as usual, try and cheat the system. He hijacks the entire Red Faction, baring Red Saber and their Master, in order to achieve his Wish, which'd be disastrous for everyone else."

"Disastrous?"

"I mean, it's not that it's a bad Wish itself- he's aiming for the Salvation of mankind, and he does plan for how to use the Grail's energy to achieve it. He just runs straight into mechanics of the universe that he didn't, couldn't, consider- timelines without the 'right' development eventually get cut to save the universe from having to maintain an infinite number of timelines. His plan would be good, up until the world line got snipped for stagnation."

"...and he does not know this?"

"Nope. There's no way he knows it. I'm hoping to use the information to convince him to edit his Wish so that, if he does get it, he won't have accidentally doomed the timeline if he gets it."

"...I am not sure about convincing him but go on. If we are to participate in this War, describe the opposition."

"Right, well first up you have the Black Faction." I turn back to the board and begin putting up names into the black box I've drawn. "To begin with, Black is effectively down their Assassin, Jack the Ripper, who killed her original Master and has gone completely rogue and started just up and murdering people with the help of her new Master. Other than that, Darnic summoned Lancer Vlad III due to his Romanian boost, Gordes summoned Saber Siegfried-" I hear some shuffling behind me at that name "-but he takes himself out of the War fairly early on. Celenike summons Rider Astolfo, Fiore summons Archer Chiron, Caules summons Frankenstein's Monster and...Roach? summons Caster Aviceborn."

Again, I turn to Artoria.

"Provided your statement about Siegfried is accurate, the main point of concern of the Black Faction would be Lancer, with Archer and Rider as secondary concerns. Aviceborn, Jack the Ripper and Frankenstein's Monster seem...unusual choices, with the amount of preparation you indicated the family had."

I give her a helpless shrug. "I don't know why Cauldes went with Fran, but Aviceborn was chosen because Black has had a lot of prep time, so he's made them an army of Golems to back up their Homunculi. But yeah, Black isn't the real issue. On that topic..."

Over to the red box.

"Other than Master-Ruler Amakusa Shirou, you have Lancer Karna, Rider Achilles, Archer Atalanta, Assassin Semiramis and Berserker Spartacus. Oh, and Caster Shakespeare. Almost forgot him. Before you ask, he wasn't the intended summon- I think the original Master was after a Shakesparian character- maybe Prospero given the Caster slot?"

That list of names gives Artoria pause. "The Red Faction certainly seems more powerful than Black. Though you did not mention Red Saber."

I wince but continue. "Right. As I said, the Master of Red Saber didn't get grabbed by Shirou, so he doesn't have Mordred under his control."

I pause, waiting for any reaction. As the seconds tick by, I realize there is none coming. Oh boy, this indifference is not going to go well when they meet…I cough to myself just to break the uncomfortable, lingering silence, and then it's back to the board.

With two strokes, I turn the two lists into tables, stick the title "Wish" over the newly made column, and then begin to fill it out.

"As far as wishes go, Darnic, Gordes and maybe Celenike want the Root, Fiore wants to be healed, Caules wants a slow path to the Root but is willing to adjust his wish as required, I can't remember Roach's wish, Siegfried doesn't have a Grail Wish, I can't remember what Jack's or Astolfo's wishes are, Vlad wants to retroactively delete the Dracula legend, Chiron wants to regain his immortality, Fran wants a male partner, and Aviceborn wants to finish his Adam-Golem, no Grail Wish required."

Darnic/Gordes/Celenike=RootFiore=Healing (Grantable)Caules=Slow root to Root/AdjustableRoach=?Siegfried=Save someone of his own free willAstolfo=???Jack=???Vlad III=Retroactively delete Dracula legendChiron=Regain his immortality (only due to parental link, not desire for general immortality)Fran=Get a male partner (Grantable)Aviceborn=Finish his Golem and turn the world into Eden (Bad!!!)

"Shirou wants to Save humanity, and Red Saber's Master wants to try and revive his step-daughter. Karna, Shakespeare and Achilles, like Siegfried, don't really have Wishes for the Grail. Atalanta wants to save all the children of the World, Semiramis wants to rule the world, Spartacus probably wants to destroy "Oppression"." A large sigh. "And Mordred wants to go back in time and try pulling the Sword from the Stone in your place"

Shirou=Wants to save all of humanity (Good wish, but QTL problems)Kairi=Wants to revive stepdaughter (Grantable)Karna=Wants to achieve his Master's wishAchilles=Wants to live and die a heroShakespeare=Wants to watch a good story (Grantable)Atalanta=Wants to save the children of the world (Good wish, but QTL problems)Semiramis=Wants to rule the world (being tricked by Shirou)Spartacus= Probably destruction of OppressionMordred=Wants to return to the past and try to pull the Sword from the Stone (-)

"Foolish"

I almost think I misheard at first, but no I definitely heard Artoria's comment. There was a surprising amount of emotion in that one word, especially given her prior non-reaction.

"You mean Mordred's wish?"

Artoria gives a sigh, and nods. "Mordred should not be King."

Fuck, I have a fair idea what Artoria means, but that's not how you diplomatically say that.

"You mean Mordred wouldn't be suited to be King?"

"Precisely, Master. To be King, one must close oneself off from both yourself and your subjects. To do otherwise is to bias yourself, and leave yourself unable to truly rule justly and risk falling to tyranny"

"Mordred has a couple reasons for wanting the crown. It isn't just so she can rule, you know?"

Artoria waves a hand. "Whatever the reason, it is a foolish wish."

Wait a sec- "Hold on, don't you have the exact same wish, just from the other perspective? Aren't you going to want to return to the past to change who drew the Sword? I thought I'd have to push and convince you not to do that?"

This, for some reason, causes Artoria to glower at me. "While I did experience failure and, in the end, Camelot fell I am, overall, satisfied. I did the best I could, and while my path harmed some and failed others, I tried to protect my people and their wishes to the end. I could not save everything, but I am confident my struggle was not in error. I do not have the wish you seem to believe I would have."

Wait, hold on. Did I get a post-Character Development Artoria? The one from Grand Order? Well, shit. That's...that's good. I let out a bark of relief. Artoria's glower intensifies, probably thinking my bark was a laugh. Better clear that up.

"Sorry. That wasn't a laugh, that was just...relief. I was worried that I would have to try and convince you of your wish being unnecessary. I'm glad you've already come to that conclusion."

After a moment's consideration, Artoria's frown fades. "Very well. But why the focus on the Wishes of the participants, Master? I assume we will be aiming to win the War to achieve your Wish, making the wishes of the other participants irrelevant."

"Before I get to that, there's a few more participants in this War." Here I move over to the small box I drew in the corner. "First up, the proper Ruler of this war is Jeanne d'Arc. She's about as strait-laced and honourable as they come, and is concerned with keeping the War fair, making sure no-one innocent is hurt in the crossfire and stopping any disasters or irregularities - Vlad going full Dracula on Romania, Aviceborn's Golem turning the planet into Eden, Shirou's Wish, those kinds of things. Other than Jeanne, you have Sieg. He's a homunculus who inherits Siegfried's powers when Siegfried dies, and decides to pursue Homunculi emancipation against Black, but winds up having to fight Red after Darnic and Vlad bite it. Getting him on-side should be as easy as helping him with his goal, and he's both powerful and not officially part of either Faction of the War."

All major participants listed, I turn away from the board and take a seat facing Artoria, who takes it as her cue to speak. "Master, you did not answer my question regarding your Wish."

"Well, other than preventing unnecessary destruction I want to try and get people, especially Servants, to join me. There are several Masters or Servants, like Fiore or Fran, whom I could grant the wishes of myself. Ideally I'd fight as little as possible, instead granting what wishes I can in exchange for them joining me, while preventing any wish that would lead to mass destruction. Us staying effectively neutral and not pursuing the Grail also has the benefit of not getting the Ruler upset at me, while making the recruitment of Sieg easy enough."

Artoria nods at the noteboard. "I see; so that is why you have listed their wishes."

"Yeah. The wishes I can grant myself are Fiore's, Fran's and Kairi's. Semiramis' is also possible to grant, provided she doesn't want to rule specifically this world and would be fine with a world to govern. I can also effectively incarnate Servants at will if they wish." I hesitate for a moment, but decide not to bring up Mordred's true wish quite yet. I'm not entirely sure how Artoria would react to my private desire to clean up the communication shitshow of the Pendragon family just yet.

"And you have no desire for the Grail yourself?"

"Personally, I have no interest in the Grail, other than controlling who will have access to it in the end." I pull out my phone to double-check my mission. "And while my 'employer' would prefer I win the Grail War myself, or at least recruit the winner of the War, I'm not especially concerned about that."

"So, as I understand it, you mean to intervene in this war not to win it personally, but to ensure that wishes that you 'support' are made, while sounding out longer-term allies to join us."

"Something like that. There are three wishes I outright support- Shirou's salvation, Atalanta's child protection and Sieg's homunculi liberation, with caveats for the first two. Then there's wishes I'm neutral towards, like Chiron's or Vlad's, wishes I could grant myself and wishes I would work against being made, either because of the wish itself or the character of the wisher- for example, an unchanged Shirou wish, Aviceborn's wish or Darnic or Celenike succeeding."

Artoria nods, face still passive. "We likely will have to discuss this later, but broadly those are all goals I can support. As the person most familiar with the situation, do you have any planned steps forwards?"

"I think trying to eliminate Black Assassin right off the bat would be best. They're an immediate danger to bystanders and civilians in a way that the other groups aren't, they're isolated, Jack can't stand up to you in a fight and I have a fairly good idea where they can be found."

Feeling that we've wrapped things up I stand. "We can discuss anything else about this later. First, we should have some food. Hunger is the enemy, after all."

Artoria doesn't seem get my joke, and the instant she doesn't I feel stupid. A reference to something she might have said in another timeline doesn't quite land the same when the person you're saying it to doesn't get it. Whatever. I let the conversation trail off as I head to where I somehow know the kitchen of the house is. Let's see what Faerie Feast combined with Reinhard's multiple cooking blessings can turn out.

-

It turns out, having three skills all focused around supernaturally boosting my cooking means that I can throw together a meal, if you'll excuse me, fit for a king with my eyes closed. The stocked pantry that came with the Home means I have a wealth of options to choose from. Eventually, though, I go with something pretty basic- pasta with meat and mushroom sauce, to check just how much my skills enhance the food.

As soon as I've decided, I can feel my own body begin to move almost automatically, collecting what I'll need, and soon I have an array of ingredients; beef, spaghetti, mushrooms, tomatoes, olive oil, butter, cheese and various garnishings on the tabletop. Artoria, while I'm doing this, has sat herself down on the kitchen counter and is overlooking the proceedings with a curious glint in her eye.

Preparing the ingredients, with my new speed and skill, is a matter of literal seconds. Now comes the sauce; a few tablespoons of olive oil into a heated pan, followed by the meat and salt and pepper seasoning. After a few minutes, separate out the meat, and put butter, onions and garlic in its place. After a bit, add mushrooms, more salt and pepper, ground nuts and tomatoes. Return the meat, mix it all together, and leave to simmer. Now, while that's happening, time to work on the spaghetti; boil water, add a pinch of salt, place spaghetti in and leave to cook.

"Have you cooked before, Master?"

Artoria's voice snaps me out of my trance. I guess she realized, once I stopped moving, that now I was stuck waiting around - despite my skills, I can't speed up some aspects of cooking by much.

"I mean, kind of. I've cooked before, but I'm positive that this is going to turn out better than my previous attempts."

Arotira gives a quiet 'hmmm', and with no more questions coming I turn back to watching my pans. Eventually, the pasta is ready, and I drain the water away and put the pasta near where the sauce is simmering. Once that is done, I mix the spaghetti thoroughly into the sauce to infuse the spaghetti with the flavours, garnish with herbs, pepper and olive oil and serve in two bowls, with a small grating of parmesan on top of each. For the first time in my life, I've found myself having fun cooking- no fear of scalding or cutting myself when I've the skills of a master chef while having a body that is effectively immune to damage.

-

Artoria sits in front of the bowl, taking in the scent of the pasta. After a moment, she sticks her fork in, twirls, and puts the pasta into her mouth. Her enjoyment is obvious- it isn't quite a Shokugeki no Soma clothesplosion reaction, but it seems a shockingly close thing from the way her face and body expressions both change.

From there, unlike how I imagined she does not simply guzzle the food down in one or two mouthfuls, rather taking her time and clearly savouring each forkful of pasta. However, she does eat inexorably, and it quickly becomes clear that the amount I prepared initially is going to be, heh, eaten away before the conversation is over.

"So", I say, "now that we've talked strategy and overall objectives, let's talk tactics. You've probably noticed some changes, and just haven't brought them up because they weren't relevant, or you weren't sure what you were feeling?"

Mouth full, Artoria's head bobs up and down.

"One of my powers purchased from my employer is this Shroud." I disassemble the sleeve of my jacket, letting it assist my hands in cooking. "Think of it similar to a cloth-based mystic code, with a number of effects- from being supernaturally tough to being mentally controllable to being able to be imbued with a variety of special effects". On cue, my Shroud shifts from white to its star-specked Void nature.

Artoria, mouth now empty, works out where this is going. "And I'm wearing such a Shroud?"

"Yeah- anyone I grab gets a basic one, but I can give special powers to select Shrouds. Mine is focused on time and space, while yours is focused on light. It also adjusted your body and might be providing you with a boost to your physical ability, but yours could be too high to notice the improvements. In any case, it should hold up to Servants well enough, while also giving you more options as you get more used to controlling it."

I lose my train of thought for a second, as Artoria experimentally tugs at a portion of her dress, finding herself unable to tear it. A second later, I can see her cape begin to move on its own, hesitantly at first before becoming smoother and more controlled. Watching it happen is weird- I got an instant understanding on how to use it, so thankfully bypassed this process but it sure does feel like she's getting the hang of it shockingly fast. Noticing my distraction, she stops. "You said 'More options'?"

"It depends on the elements, but yours should eventually allow for the manipulation and generation of light, plasma and solid light constructs and even lasers. I was thinking that it might have synergy with Excalibur, or Rhongomyniad if we get our hands on that, when choosing it. Mine is focused on spatial warping, gravity manipulation and even time control, but that's going to take a while to learn to use."

Artoria nods, probably comparing it to some flavour of magic or equipment she would have experienced during her reign in Camelot.

Now here's where problems might arise, but I should deal with this now, rather than later in the field. "It also can be used to bind people."

Artoria turns to me, a questioning look on her face. "Bind?"

I sigh, hoping this'll go well; "Basically, I can forcibly create something similar to a Servant bond with anyone I engulf in my Shroud for a duration dependent on their strength. It won't force total obedience or give me complete control, but there'll be a link between me and them. I could steal Servants with it, or steal Masters and through them steal their Servants." And here's the big one: "And if I want to, I can effectively trade those I bind in worlds for personal power- it'd be my preferred way of removing enemies we'd otherwise kill."

While Artoria hasn't quite stopped eating, she's definitely slowed. "You never did explain how your power functions, just that you summoned me 'at the effective cost of personal power'."

"Right, so I have something like a power-buy-through-points system. I can buy improvements for myself or retinue members or summon Retinue members using points, and I get points for binding people to me, or even more points for binding and then deleting people."

"So, you can capture foes and turn them while getting more powerful, or…absorb them for even more strength?"

I blink. "I guess you could put it that way, sorta like how the Grail powers itself by sucking up the energy of defeated Servants." I try to quickly clarify "I don't intend to run around binding everyone willy-nilly- only outright enemies or people who request it after it's explained."

Artoria nods in understanding and goes back to eating.

I…expected more of a reaction, honestly. Is it the binding messing with her ability to be concerned about binding others, or is she just accepting the value of our faction getting stronger from the defeat of our foes? Is there even a way to tell any more?

"As for why someone would ask for such a binding, in addition to giving them a basic version of the Shroud Mystic Code , it would also restore them to peak health, give them biological immortality, an immunity to diseases and poison and hostile environments, a boost to one's natural talents, as well as a resistance to various supernatural forces and a number of instant full-heals. Servants would be incarnated, and-"

"Master," Artoria interrupts, "you do not need to sell me on the benefits of such a binding."

I cough. Right. "Outside of the Shroud, there's only really two other things worth noting- first is that I can transform into a relatively small dragon with gravity powers, and the second is my body." I gesture downwards "One of the options available was to mantle the form and abilities of people from other worlds, and the one I have now is a Servant-level combatant with a variety of special blessings, as well as a highly skilled mage." I gesture at her nearly empty bowl. "Like how I got my newfound chef skills."

Artoria gives me another look, this time of serious evaluation. "I apologize, but in this matter I will need more than your word if you intend to be a primary combatant on the field with me."

"That's fine. This house should have a dojo out in the garden that I'm fairly sure will self-repair."

The meal begins to conclude, despite Artoria's almost-despairing reaction when no more food is put down and I begin packing everything away. Having Artoria making puppy-eyes at you for more food is very compelling, but we do have our practice bout to move on to as well as a supernatural organ-eating assassin to track down, so we do have to get a move on.

-

The dojo is large- significantly larger than my room or the kitchen. As an experiment, I disassemble my coat's sleeve into a spike and leave a deep scar in the wall of the dojo. As soon as I step outside the room, the scar vanishes, as if never there. That's handy; self-repair is probably going to be handy for this next bit.

I turn to Artoria. "Is this going to be limited to just melee, or is it a general skillcheck?"

Artoria considers for a second, before coming to a decision. "We will begin with swordplay, and then expand on anything else you feel should be brought up."

"Fair enough."

We move to grab practice swords, though on the way I let my hand trail over some of the other practice weapons available. As my hand touches each one, knowledge of how best to use them enters my mind. Just more confirmation that the blessings are working as intended, I guess. Once I have a wooden sword in hand, I move towards the centre of the room, where Artoria waits.

Artoria pauses for me to signal my readiness, and then kicks off the floor towards me. I see the white trail of her attack's trajectory, my body's instincts and blessings tell me precisely how and when to parry, and as her sword completes the foreseen trajectory it only takes a single tap to send it off-course. My riposte darts out almost before I think to launch it and lands cleanly on her shoulder.

She takes a step back, re-evaluating, and darts forwards at faster speeds. Again, I see the attack's path and tap it aside. This repeats a number of times, as Artoria gradually builds up to what I assume would be proper Servant speeds, though I still find myself keeping up without any effort and it's hard to tell if Artoria could be faster towards the end. Eventually, the test comes to an end. The floor around us is torn up from the speeds Artoria was moving in, and I managed to defend myself from every blow. I'm honestly feeling pretty pleased with myself at this point.

"Would you mind explaining where you received your sword skills?" Artoria asks, brow furrowed.

Oh, right. Knowing that might be useful in planning. "I have blessings that give me mastery over different forms of combat, with a special focus on swordplay. I also am granted an instinctual knowledge of how to defend against any attack I see for the first time, while getting a significant boost responding to an attack I've already seen."

"It is as I feared."

When I hear this, I'm honestly confused- I thought I did pretty well, myself. "Huh?"

"You truly have the body and skill of a master swordsman. However, your mindset is that of an amateur. You fought completely reactively, never once trying to take the initiative or attack; after your first blow landed you were too defensive to truly attempt to land a counter-attack."

She plants the sword tip-first on the ground and places her hands on the hilt with a sigh.

"Against most combatants, you are likely as skilled as any Servant. However, were you to face a foe who could fight with equal skill but the mindset of a warrior, or who had a method of bypassing your blessings, you would likely be doomed. Of the foes you previously described, there are several who might meet one or both of those categories- the Lancers of both Factions and Rider of Red are most prominent."

I wince. Honestly, that's entirely fair. Coasting on Rein's blessings was the plan, but after hearing Artoria's criticisms and thinking back on Apocrypha, I was fairly sure that, for example, Achilles had a Noble Phantasm that explicitly disabled both luck and blessings, and its exact activation conditions escaped me at the moment. Something about gender? And maybe it was voluntarily? I shake my head. Enough about that.

"If it's an experience and mindset thing, is there any solution other than actual battle?"

One of Artoria's hands leaves the hilt and rubs her face. "While training attempting to address your mindset and reactivity would be helpful, you're correct in that actual combat experience is likely required. Which is what concerns me; as a faction we are too small to not rely on your considerable skill, but your inexperience is a flaw to be planned around."

Well, this dampened my previous confidence.

From there, we move on to testing my other abilities, though with considerably less pride than I otherwise might have had. Arrow Immunity works as advertised, though the description causes Saber to wince, clearly imagining it failing at a key moment. Roswaal's magic also is instinctual, and while Four and Five-fold magic is beyond me I am still able to fly and triple-cast, though not simultaneously. None of the spells I test could harm a hair on Saber's head, but she does rate my Al spells as approximately A rank in power- still not enough to pierce her Magic Resistance, but sufficient for most foes. I also use this as an opportunity to test my various magic resistances and debuff immunities, and they all seem to work as expected.

And just like that, we're done with the dojo. Replacing the swords, we leave to let it repair. Time to get going into Romania and hunt down that Assassin. And from there, we'll see. I have some plans, but those all start with dealing with Jack.

As we're at the door, I realize that I'm still wearing Reinhard's ensemble, and Artoria is still in her armour. That…might have caused a stir. I give my Shroud a pulse, changing my uniform to a more casual jeans and shirt and jacket. "By the way, I forgot but the Shroud also can change form entirely in an instant. It might help blend in when outside, assuming you don't want to astr-"

My voice is taken away when I see Artoria's Shroud flicker, and suddenly she's in a white and blue suit with gold highlights similar to Reinhard's clothing. God damn she is pretty.

"That's…very good, but also a little eye-catching. Do you think you could-"

Another flicker, and Artoria is wearing a casual black and white ensemble. My mouth goes dry.

Aaaaaaaaahhhhh-

"That's…perfect. Thanks."

-

Leaving the apartment and closing the apartment I took a look around where we had emerged- a shadowed alley with old-fashioned walls. No-one, at least at first, pays us any attention when we step out into the street proper- a street sign giving the name "Strada Sfântul Ioan", which does little to tell me where we actually are. We wander down the street, attracting more and more looks.

Eventually, Strada Sfântul Ioan ends, connecting to Strada Republicii. Across the road, I spot what looks to be a hotel named Casa Albert- finding information like where exactly we are, a map of the area, and a newspaper to track down the latest victims of Jack all could likely be sourced from a hotel's reception desk.

-

It turns out we had arrived in Brasov, a city I don't remember being mentioned in Apocrypha at all. It seems to be located about half-way between Bucharest, where Kairi summoned Mordred and where Jack began her Romanian serial-killing, and Sighisoara, where Shirou's church is located and where Jack eventually moved to. A newspaper, obtained from a receptionist before I dash his hopes regarding our staying at the hotel, tells of how a victim of the "mysterious serial killer" has, for the first time, been found outside of Bucharest. I guess we're off to Sighisoara, then. Two birds with one stone, given who else was based there at this time.

Finding a car salesman is harder- no luck just wandering Brasov's Old Town to find one, but eventually I bite the bullet and just ask someone I instinctively feel might know. Once we arrive, it turns out buying a Logan L90 for a bit over half my monthly Company budget is easy enough and we are off (the car dealer may have forgotten to check our license when I bought the car outright with cash whoops), Artoria driving.

Notes:

AN: Oh boy this chapter. So this chapter went back and forth a lot as I was writing. The exposition-dump to Artoria is definitely something I'd do- knowing who all the Servants are from the getgo is pretty necessary after all, but at first I wanted to have it offscreen. But then I was "readers who didn't read/watch F/A should probably not have to refer to wikis and so on for stuff that stories could work in" and so it got put in. It also allowed me to introduce the whole "I'm aiming to diplomatically recruit people by offering/helping them get their Wishes" thing. I'm not exactly happy with the chapter as a whole, but at least that'll cover most of the exposition in the future and I can offscreen the things this talk covered.

Also note that I'm basing what my MC knows off what I knew before doing a deep(er) dive to research for this, so if my MC says something wrong/incorrect there's a chance that that's intended and he's, you know, just wrong and basing it off the memories he had of reading/watching Apocrypha a while back.