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There goes sixty years of planning (Fate Apocrypha)Shinji117Chapter 3: Chapter 2 Night 1

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

We pull up into Sighisoara as evening just begins to fall over the city. The two-hour drive was nice, even if nothing really happened in it- there was some small talk about what to expect from Black Assassin, but nothing of any real import- fast but weak, watch out for mist, messes with memory, here's her Noble Phantasm and so forth. While we technically could just walk around the city later at night to attract Jack and Reika, I want this done ASAP so let's head to them and force their hand. As much as I hope to generally solve things slowly and peacefully, that…isn't an option with Jack, so she has to go, preferably tonight. As Artoria parks the car, I let my finger be guided around the street directory by Reinhard's intuition. Probably...there.

Once we're both out of the car, I show her the map and where I've located Jack and her Master. 'I'm fairly sure they're somewhere around here.'

'And you will follow the plan if we do encounter them, Master?'

'Yes yes. You engage Jack, I'll deal with the Master. You remember what I told you about Jack?'

'Yes, Master. However, if all goes to plan, I doubt Assassin will be able to use her Noble Phantasm.'

-

We fall silent, even telepathically, as we draw closer to where I feel Jack and her Master are located. It was unnerving how silent my instincts were, after having relied on them to get this close. I'm confident that Jack and her Master are within a few hundred meters of here, but I can't detect anything at all. There isn't even a dampening feeling, it's as if nothing is wrong in the first place. Thanks to my blessings, my vision isn't even obscured by the sudden mis-!

I see the incoming trajectory of the attack without seeing the blade and bring Reid up into it, just as a thrown knife curves around me to embed deep into the wall behind me. Reid's sheath deflects Jack's blow aimed at my neck, and she leaps over my head to crouch on the windowsill of the building behind me.

'Go, Master!'

I take off, bursting away from the Assassin, heading towards where my instincts are telling me her Master is hunkering down. Another knife is launched at my back, but it arcs into the pavement by my feet before it can clip me. Saber can easily handle Jack, especially with her immunity to the toxins of the Mist, while all I need to concentrate on is-

As I round a corner, I catch a flash of green and hear a gunshot. Unfortunately for Jack's Master, at the speeds I'm now operating at I can see the bullet, moving absurdly slowly, gradually twist in a physically impossible manner to miss me. In a single step, I'm in front of Jack's Master, already ramming my sheathed sword into her stomach. She collapses with a gasp, as I bring my arm down on the back of her head with just enough Reinhard-assisted skill to knock her unconscious. The white coat I'm wearing disperses into strands that engulf Assassin's Master and I start counting down. Assuming I've worked this out, this should take only fifteen or so seconds. 15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7.

"Mother!"

I pull myself to the side as Jack's knife flashes at where my stomach had been, while simultaneously lashing out with Reid. Jack doesn't even try to properly disengage, instead trying to dodge past the blow to reach the cocooned Reika. Still-sheathed Reid connects and sends her flying away, deeply embedding her in the wall at the end of the alley. 6.

With barely an instant to re-orientate herself, Jack lunges from her crater. I throw a punch in her direction- the air pressure alone takes out the damaged wall behind Jack, but Jack manages to twist around the blast, landing feet-first on another wall and kicking off towards me. Again, seeing the blow coming towards me in slow motion I deflect but Jack just continues her charge past me, rebounding off another wall back at me. Another parry, another rebound, another charge, again and again, with each pass leaving empty tunnels hanging in Jack's mist- the whole exchange happening too fast for the gaps to be filled. 5.

Suddenly, Saber is there between Jack and me, lashing out with her wind-covered blade. Jack only just sees the blow coming in time, managing to pull her knife up and contort her body unnaturally. Artoria's strike still lands, and while Jack's efforts save her life, the knife and accompanying arm go flying away from her body. Jack falls, rolls away from Artoria's followup and dives into the thickening mist. 4.

'I apologize, Master. As soon as she realized you were after her Master she disengaged as fast as she could-'

'No problem. We're almost done here, anyway.'

"Why? Why why why are you doing this?"

The mist around us deepens. 3. With my Blessings of Mist, I can see Jack perched on a rooftop, looking down at us. She's torn up, missing her arm and with a number of cuts all across her body. But what takes me back the most is the expression on her face. I've never seen hate like that before, let alone directed at me.

'Saber, up there!'

Invisible Air howls, and suddenly the mist in a column around us is blown away. Saber raises her now-visible blade to Jack, the challenge obvious. 2.

"Your Servant's a woman, right?!" Jack shouts, completely ignores Saber and her challenge, focused entirely on me. "If that's the case, then I know what I need to do..." 1. I drop Reid and pull up my phone.

"Hell is Starting. We are flames, rain, power. Let there be a slaughter…Maria the Ripper!"

0.

As Jack's eyes turn red and she bursts down from the roof towards Saber, I tap twice. And suddenly, mid-charge, Jack, the cocooned Reika and the mist surrounding us are all gone, as if they were never there to begin with. No dramatic fading-into-gold-sparks, no holding-on-through-willpower, just there-one-second-gone-the-next. All that's left is the debris of the destroyed wall and craters all through the alley walls and street. Everything went exactly as planned, which is itself surprising; I was expecting some out-of-nowhere swerve to derail everything, but no. Mission complete.

...And it is only now that I realize my entry into the war was to burst in out of nowhere to put a stop to a black-clad, knife-wielding maniac assassin who enjoyed organ munching. Not sure this is what was meant by history repeating itself, but I'll take it. Still, the thought ups my spirits before the most dangerous part of tonight.

Telling Artoria that I want to try and talk with Amakusa Shirou right now.

-

I climb the stairs up to the church on the hill. This was probably going to be one of the most important conversations of this war. With luck, I could effectively disband a whole series of potential threats. If I was unlucky, this was going to paint a target on my back across the war. Still, one thing I had decided was that if I felt a situation might be resolvable diplomatically, I would at least attempt to do so, and unlike with Jack there was the possibility of diplomatic success- Shirou even had a goal I didn't even disagree with; it's just that later, retconned in, information revealed it to be a doomed effort from moment zero.

Artoria, in Spirit Form, is silent next to me. She pretty clearly wasn't, isn't, happy with my decision and is definitely-not-sulking about it. She had known I intended to try and convince Shirou to change his wish but had assumed I'd be doing so when already established and in a position of strength. I, on the other hand, wanted to strike when the iron was hot, before Shirou got the Hanging Gardens in the air and the War shifted gears from scouting and probing into outright violence.

It had its advantages, but my way was still going to be showing one of my trump cards early in an effort that even I knew mightn't work. Still, I was going to try tonight, and eventually Artoria had relented, provided I agreed to a number of conditions; that she stay by my side in Spirit Form, that I retreat at the very first sign of a threat and, once I informed her that I had daily regenerating Command Seals, that I burn as many Command Spells as required to escape if it came to that.

Shirou definitely knew we were coming. There was a field around the Church's compound that reacted to my presence, and my intuition could tell that a number of birds perched on trees near the Church were watching unnaturally- from memory Semimaris had some kind of bird control, so they were probably hers. As I breached the field, I made a show of coming in peace to the observers, and only began to slowly climb the stairs when I heard the hilltop church's lock click open.

Reaching the top of the hill, I find the heavy doors open, and Shirou very-obviously praying before the altar. The whole shot would have been very well-composed to reflect his façade as a member of the Church sent to the Grail War had I not known about his true nature. Without turning or standing, he speaks.

"Ah, our mysterious Master of White. I was wondering if you would obey the formalities of the War, given the…situation we all find ourselves in."

I try to smile, but it is hard given my nerves. "I didn't know we had a faction title. I guess it's appropriate, given Red and Black. As for my visit, I felt it would be polite. I know my arrival must have caused some concerns, so I hoped to at least clean them up with you." I'm still just outside the doorway. "May I have a guarantee of safety?"

Shirou stands, turns towards me and nods. "Of course. I'm willing to extend a hand in peace. Once you step inside this Church, I will not cause nor order any physical, mental or spiritual harm to befall you as long as you are on the grounds of this Church and do not initiate any such acts yourself."

I've played enough Umineko to be wary of specific wording (would he consider painlessly drugging me and stealing my Servant to be 'harm', especially given his intended wish?), and my social blessings are bouncing off of him, but this whole thing is an act of, pardon the pun, faith, so I'll accept it. I step inside the Church, Spirit-Form Saber in tow.

With a kind, mature smile Shirou introduces himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Shirou Kotomine, and I am the acting overseer of this Great Holy Grail War."

"My name is…I suppose you can call me Reinhard van Astrea. You probably haven't heard of me; I'm something of a wanderer, who got himself caught up in this War due to some troubling visions of what might come to pass in it."

Shirou's smile doesn't visibly change, but it feels there's something just a little crooked to it now.

"Troubling visions? To the point where you feel the need to accomplish the impossible and insert yourself into the War just to address these visions?"

I nod.

"And you feel that I, as the Church's representative, should be made aware of these visions?"

This time I shake my head. "Not as the Church's representative. As Amakusa Shirou, Ruler of the previous Grail War and one of two true Masters of the Red Faction."

There. Truth bomb dropped.

In an instant, Shirou's face changes. Gone is the disarming charm, and in its place is an impossibly serious expression, befitting a Ruler Servant. "I see. I assume you won't be willing to materialize your Servant?"

"Sorry, but no. I understand why you want to get a look at all the Servants, but I'm not going to play along with that."

He gives me a long look, probably wondering just how much I know and how I know it. "Understandable. I have a feeling our conversation is going to be an involved one. Would you care for a seat? Some refreshments?"

As if on command, a pitcher of water and some glasses appear next to Shirou. Well, I did figure something might be tried, but would it really be as blatant as this? Still, with Reinhard's poison immunity and Body Defence 2 I'm confident that whatever Semiramis might have put in the water isn't going to work. I take a glass of water, but don't immediately drink it, and take a seat at one of the pews.

Shirou takes a seat across the aisle from me. He takes a glass of water and sips before speaking. "I hope you won't be insulted, but I also will not be materializing my Servant."

"I would never dream of compelling Queen Semiramis to do anything she doesn't want to do."

And now I can feel a hostile presence right next to Shirou. He sits forward in his chair, upper body tilted to face me. "Your visions do seem startlingly accurate. Before I ask for more about them, may I ask a question?"

I lean back. "If it's about the recent defeat of Black Assassin, then yeah, I did that right before visiting you. Black Assassin was too much of a threat to the general populace to leave alone. I knew where they were, what they were doing, what they would do so I...stopped them."

Shirou nods. "It was indeed about the recent defeat of Assassin of Black. Defeating a Servant of Black and then moving to open dialogue with a Master of Red could be seen as indicating which faction in the War you are more supportive of."

Ah. I guess I could see where he was coming from. "Jack, sorry Black Assassin, was operating independently. Black's original Master was murdered by the Servant and someone else took over as Master. Removing Assassin won't have hurt Black any more than losing their planned Master did."

How to best break this…let's just not beat around the bush and be direct. "As for allying with Red, you're definitely someone I support more than Darnic. The problem is your wish; Salvation for mankind through the Third. It's not that I disagree with the principle, it just won't work. I can't support that wish being made. If you want my help, you'd need to change your plan."

And now I feel a burst of hostility from Shirou in addition to Semiramis. He's trying to keep a calm façade, but it's easy enough to tell that he isn't receptive to the idea that his wish can't come true.

"And why do you say that? Was this from another vision?"

Time to dump everything I know about this on him and hope it manages to convince him. "How much do you know about the mechanics of parallel worlds, and Quantum Time Locks in particular?"

"I'm not familiar with the second term, and only know as much about the first as any other modern Magus."

"Ok, so as far as I understand it, world lines continue advancing in parallel, like the trunk of a big tree. Each line branches and branches and branches at points, until they all hit a…point of culling. The universe can't support an infinite number of infinitely branching timelines, so every century or so every universe is compared to each other. The ones judged to still have potential for civilisation, and that are close to the "average" progression of humanity are kept, while lines that are either far too similar or too divergent are culled. Those timelines either blink out of existence or continue for a while until they run out of energy and fade. Your wish would certainly result in the culling of this universe, as humanity would completely diverge from its current state."

Shirou sits there, still for several seconds, then spits out his next words like they were venom and he was trying to poison me. "Do you have any proof of this, or are you just babbling incoherent terminology at me? Trees of time? Quantum Locks? Are you secretly master of the Second, to know so many details on the operation of parallel worlds?"

"You might be able to contact the Clocktower and get them to get in contact with Zelretch. You have contacts at the Clock Tower. All you'd need to do would be to hold off on the hostilities enough to confir-"

"Thank you for your time and concern."

Ah. Crap.

"I realize you don't want to hear this, but I'm being serious. If you could adjust your wish even slightly to-"

I trail off, as I notice Shirou has completely turned away from me in a way indicating absolute dismissal. Damnit. It looks like I won't even be able to try and clarify anything or make any other arguments. I guess this is what a natural 1 diplomacy roll feels like. It always was a long shot, but I had hoped that maybe it might work. I gaze into the water for a moment, raise it towards where Semiramis is, and drink the water in one gulp. Nothing. Heck, there might have even not been poison, at least at the time the drink was offered- I have a feeling that if I was offered one now it'd be 190 proof hydra venom or something. There's a burst of...surprise? from where Semiramis is positioned, but Shirou continues to resolutely ignore me.

"I'm sorry I couldn't convince you. Let me know if you change your mind."

He doesn't even reply, and I make my way out of the Church.

-

"Well, that didn't go well. I suppose knowing that someone else knows of us is useful in itself, but…"

Semiramis trails off, noticing Shirou is barely even paying attention to her words, still boring a hole into the walls with his eyes.

"I take it you won't be checking up on his claims? He must have some form of clairvoyance or precognition, to know-"

"I'm not going to delay this war over the ramblings of some mad visionary. In fact, let's do as you suggested after meeting the Master of Saber. Fighting among allies is one thing but removing such a threatening piece is another thing altogether."

Semiramis seems almost taken aback by how cold the false-Saint has turned. "Lancer is already on a mission tonight, and we don't know the capabilities of this Master or his Servant. It could be dangerous..."

"Sending both Rider and Archer after him should be sufficient; with their speed they can break off from Berserker and get back here fast enough. Rider can engage the mystery Servant, while Archer eliminates the problem. Neither should have a problem with this mission- while Rider might not have accepted being made to eliminate a neutral Ruler he has no reason to balk at being sent to fight an enemy Servant, and Archer is invested in winning the War and should have no qualms about targeting a Master."

Without pausing to hear if Semiramis has anything further to add, Shirou gives his commands to Archer and Rider though their insensate Masters. Far away, two Heroes receive their new orders, look to each other in bewilderment and eventually turn around, away from Trifas and their pursuit of Berserker.

Notes:

AN: So yeah. First attempt at an actual fight scene (even if it was fairly onesided due to being against a Servant who lost almost all their advantages right from minute 1), and my first attempt at diplomacy goes swimmingly- it turns out, Amakusa Shirou is actually fairly invested in his Wish and isn't open to some weirdo with some unknown type of clairvoyance going all Nasu-babble "the mechanics of your universe, that I can't prove and you have no reason to believe I would know, say that your wish is bad so change it please", despite attempts to prove legitimacy through revealing info that sh/couldn't be known.