Vol 2. Chapter 26. The Grail.

Artoria didn't hesitate and rushed past Irisviel and me, lunging straight for Caster.

All of us knew that now that we were within her 'Workshop' that we'd be on the back foot.

That fact only solidified itself when Artoria's slash caused Caster to pop like a balloon, creating a small green explosion.

Artoria didn't budge, but the ground under her gave way, causing the area around her to cave in.

"How garish," Caster's voice cackled through the courtyard. "I had been expecting something more…" Her words trailed off, Caster's tone almost sounding disappointed. "Well thought out, I suppose."

Slowly, a thick green mist started flooding from the temple's window, allowing it to spew onto the grounds, covering it like a blanket.

The sound of bones chattering echoed throughout the courtyard, causing me to turn my head to look around.

As the sound grew, bone-like appendages sprouted forth from the mist.

Raising a finger, electricity crackled at its tip, before it flew at the first skeleton warrior that managed to sprout out from the ground.

As it made contact, the skeleton burst apart, causing the electricity to coil and move to its next target, bursting another three that weren't finished forming.

Like hell I was about to allow them to fully form.

Caster had been stupid to not have just brought them out to begin with, rather than create them in front of us like some third rate villain.

While I was not a magus comparable to someone from the Age of Gods, I at the very least had some semblance of common sense.

As annoying as that freeloading corpse was, she had a fitting term for this situation: Posturing is not a free action!

Splaying my fingers, thunder crackled between them, before four bolts of lightning flew into the mist, causing a large explosion from where they landed. From the four spots my attack had landed, a web of electricity spread, causing droves of skeletons to fall apart before fully forming.

"Let me help!" Irisviel said from behind me, just as a silver hawk familiar, made out of a metallic string, flew past me, and lunged at the skeletons with its talons.

Raising my other hand, I shot another bolt of lightning. "Good, focus on the middle, I'll handle the fla—" My words were cut off as Artoria pulled me aside.

A giant beam of green light impacted the spot where I stood, causing me to grimace.

Not constantly having an eye on Caster was clearly dangerous, but right now, neither I, Irisviel, nor Artoria could really do anything… not without the split second opening we'd get when Alistair killed Lancer.

Artoria frowned while looking up at the sky. "Such cowardice! Must you stoop so low, Caster?"

As she let go of me, I fired off another volley of lightning into the forming crowd of skeleton soldiers, while listening to Caster cackling. "You are the ones attacking little old me in my own home, a three on one nonetheless," the witch snarked with great amusement.

I really wanted to stab her suddenly… Caster's voice was just really annoying.

I knew that Saber really wanted to rush at the witch, but in doing so, she'd leave us defenseless, and she couldn't even use her 'Strike Air' on the fodder, as that would strip her of her current best method at closing the gap between the two.

So all she could do was sit tight and keep me and Irisviel safe, while waiting for Alistair to finish off Lancer.

"Gah-haw!" The eerie voice of 'Kayneth' echoed through the mist, causing me to frown.

Looking away from the skeletons that kept on crumbling, I tried to spot him through the knee high fog blanketing the courtyard.

I should have put him out of his misery the second I saw him. It was my mistake that I was so caught off guard by the sight.

While I held no real grudge against him prior to the war, I found it hard to pity him after he sent his Servant at my front door.

"HGa!" 

Turning my head in the direction of the sound, my eyes widened at the sudden splitting of the fog.

Taking a half step to the side, I angled my body away from the courtyard.

A giant lance of mercury had extended through the spot I had been standing, coming straight from the spot in the fog I had heard 'Kayneth'.

But if his name wasn't enough to confirm who he was, the mercury certainly was.

Volumen Hydrargyrum, Kayneth's magnum opus… Of fucking course Caster would be able to tweak the so called 'Supreme Mystic Code' to function for a 'dog'.

The damn thing was an impressive Mystic Code, annoyingly so, and I feared what it could do even in the state that its wielder was in.

Pursing my lips, I conjured a ball of thunder in my hand, before grabbing the damn thing without hesitation.

As I made contact, I felt the skin on my palm start to sear at the heat the electricity created when touching the Mystic Code.

The mercury bubbled and boiled, before completely liquifying and falling to the floor.

Hissing at the pain, I raised my other hand and pointed it at the spot where the remaining parts of the mercury still protruded out from the mist.

I knew that despite the fact that I had disabled a part of the Mystic Code, it was only a matter of time before it reconnected with the greater whole, as it was aggravatingly resistant to magecraft.

Firing off another volley of thunder blasts, I watched as a large ball of mercury sprung out from the mist.

Pointing my hand at the ball, I cast five distinct spears of lightning at it.

As they made contact, not even a dent was made, only a few ripples spread over the surface.

Damn, Archibald was certainly talented… that or Caster had given it a few improvements, which I was inclined to believe as I was rather confident in my abilities.

As I was about to cast a few stronger attacks, I felt someone press their back against my own, leaning on me, while placing the back of their head on my shoulder. "He makes for a good guard dog, does he not?" 

The second I recognized Caster's voice, I instinctively reacted by slamming my hand, crackling with electricity, atop her face.

But as I made contact, I felt her body shatter like glass, turning into green butterflies.

"Not one for physical contact I see," Caster said with clear amusement, her voice echoing from somewhere in the sky. Frowning, I glanced up at the sky, only to see her floating midair with a few magic circles at the ready.

Clicking my tongue, I returned my focus to the courtyard.

I dismissed Volumen Hydrargyrum as a threat for the moment, as while he would be a problem later on, currently there was a backlog of skeletons that had arisen while I had been distracted.

Irisviel's familiar had been doing some work, but a dozen or so had fully risen, thanks to the lack of firepower her familiar possessed.

With a wave of my hands, they fell thanks to a barrage of my thunder.

"Rosalind," Irisviel said my name in a low tone, causing me to turn to look at her.

As our eyes met she gave a nod, and I felt a smile spread across my face.

Alistair had killed Lancer… My boy had killed a Servant!

Subsequently, that meant that our plan could move to the next stage.

Ignoring the proud feeling sprouting in my chest, I flooded my legs with Od and rushed for the stairs, or rather the edge of the Bounded Field.

Irisviel needed to heal Artoria ASAP, as while my part was important, without Irisviel's healing, we'd lose our only chance to kill Caster.

It only took three seconds for me to feel myself passing through it, causing me to come to a screeching halt.

Shoving my arm through the boundaries, I felt the odd sensation of being at the end of the anchor points, but I disregarded that feeling and waited for the next signal.

It only took another two seconds for Artoria's voice to carry over. "Now!"

Instantly, all sixty-five of my Magic Circuits sprang to life, filling themselves to the brim with as much Od as they could endure.

While Caster's bounded field was far beyond anything I could create—and destroying it in one move was impossible for me—disabling it for even a fraction of a second was within my capabilities.

Focusing all my Od, it exploded out of my arm at the point where it connected to the Bounded Field in a wave of electricity.

My large pulse of electricity worked as an EMP, the Od would work like a magnetic field, but for magecraft, and as it spread over multiple anchor points, it would warp the binding magecraft, before quickly collapsing in on itself.

Most normal Bounded Fields would simply collapse, as their mysteries wouldn't be strong enough to bounce back and restabilize, but Caster was of a different breed, so it would at most disable it for a moment at best.

A searing pain shot through my arm, as if I had plunged it into burning coals, causing me to fall to one knee. My vision blurred, and sweat dripped down my forehead, but my job was done.

Focusing back to where Artoria and Irisviel stood, I watched as Artoria had already positioned the invisible sword behind her as if ready for an upwards slash.

Clearly having felt the Field being disabled, the air around her swords suddenly burst, propelling her into the air, straight towards the skyborn Caster.

Golden particles could be seen accumulating around Artoria's sword as she propelled herself through the air, opposed to Caster, whose magic circles had suddenly fizzled out of existence thanks to them being disturbed due to their connection with the Bounded Field.

"Ex—" Her blade's glow intensified, causing it to glow bright enough to dispel every shadow in the courtyard.

Caster raised an arm to defend herself from the incoming attack, while her mouth moved in a desperate attempt at casting a single spell, just as Artoria began her slash. "—CALIBUR!" "TORFA!"

Golden light spilled forth out from the holy sword, consuming the night in a brilliant glow that seemed to wash away the darkness itself. The sheer force of Artoria's attack sent a powerful gust of wind rippling through the courtyard, causing debris and loose stones to scatter.

I raised my uninjured arm to shield my eyes from the overwhelming glare, the intensity of the light making it hard to keep them open.

Caster was instantly enveloped by the flood of golden light, her form disappearing within the radiant beam. 

Not stopping, the golden light continued forwards, instantly collapsing a wing of the temple, while destroying a large section of the forest behind it.

As the brilliance began to fade, the afterimage of the strike lingered against the backdrop of the darkened sky. My ears rang from the residual shockwave, but I strained to catch any sign of movement.

I could feel the Bounded Field start to implode in on itself, which was no surprise given what it had been hit by.

Sighing, I used my one good arm to push myself up from my kneeling position.

Walking over to Irisviel, I gave my surroundings a cursory glance.

The mist that had governed the ground had dissipated, leaving only bones, along with the mutilated Kayneth, drenched in mercury.

It would seem that the only thing tethering him to the lands of the living was Caster.

Looking at the collapsed building, I let out a slight wince. Explaining it and the forest away as a gas leak felt rather lackluster, though I was thankful that they had left on a pilgrimage a few days ago.

It was only thanks to Vivian's pointing out that there was an article about them vacating the place a few days ago that we felt confident enough to attack the place so blatantly.

As I made my way over to Irisviel, I saw her somewhat hesitant look, causing me to tense up.

She said that she'd know when a Servant died, and seeing as Artoria was healed, I was inclined to believe her, but with the way she was acting pointed to one thing.

Caster had survived.

And as if to confirm my fears, space folded behind Irisviel, revealing a battered Caster.

Her cloak was torn, her hood was missing, revealing a frowning woman with light blue hair and eyes, with slightly pointed ears. Cuts littered her form, and one of her arms was missing.

Caster grabbed the back of Irisviel's neck with her remaining hand, and lifted her in the air, causing the silver haired woman to clutch at the hand grabbing her.

"Did you truly believe you could outmaneuver me?" Caster's smooth voice was edged with clear anger. "Such naïveté is almost endearing."

Caster suddenly yanked Irisviel to the side, dangling her in front of Artoria. "Not a step forward, or I'll destroy the Grail's vessel!"

The threat caused Artoria, who had positioned herself to move, to stiffen and widen her eyes. An action which I mirrored as well.

"The Grail's vessel?" I asked hesitantly, causing the erratic looking Servant to turn to look at me.

Her grimace slowly morphed into a smirk. "You didn't know," she said with utmost satisfaction, before turning to look at Artoria. "Neither of you knew."

The mad Servant began to giggle, before falling into a full blown burst of laughter. "And you called this doll a friend, didn't you!"

As she laughed, the sound of multiple gunshots being fired echoed through the courtyard, only for sparks to appear around Caster.

The sudden sneak attack caused Caster to turn her head, and glare into the forest, before turning to look at us. "Fool thinks I'll fall for the same cheap trick twice, though I suppose it isn't the same person attacking me," she huffed dismissively.

Pointing her stump arm towards the corpse of Kayneth, the mercury on him floated away from his body, and flowed up to her stump, forming an arm made of silver.

Flexing the arm, she gave a contented sigh, before releasing Irisviel, causing her to fall to the floor while coughing.

Before she could move, Caster planted a foot on her stomach, causing Irisviel to be pinned to the floor. "I believe that we are done for today, though I must thank you two for handing me the Grail on a silver platter," she taunted.

Frowning, I stepped forwards.

Right now, I needed to stall her, so as to give Alistair time to come over. With him, we might be able to kill Caster, now that our plan failed.

"What do you mean that she's the Grail, it doesn't make sense!" I exclaimed in confusion, causing the Witch to turn to fix me with an amused gaze, seemingly knowing what I was thinking.

"Allow me to enlighten you, though I fear it may be beyond your comprehension," she remarked with amusement, causing me to purse my lips. "If you had eyes, or even a hint of ability, you'd have noticed how Lancer's soul entered our little doll here," she said while grinding her foot into the struggling homunculus.

"Which is odd, as it is the Lesser Grail's job to contain the souls of the Servants before they are consumed to turn into fuel," she explained while tapping her chin with her mercury arm.

"But when you consider that the Lesser Grail is always supplied by the Einzbern Clan, the dots suddenly start connecting," she said smugly, while subtly glancing down at Irisviel. "Meaning that you are this Grail War's prepared vessel, the treasure we all seek, which has been hiding in plain sight."

Oh…

I don't know what's worse... finding out that Irisviel is going to die, or the fact that the Grail inside her is about to fall into Caster's hands...

Wetting my lips, I opened my mouth to rebuke her, or try to start an argument, but Caster had other plans.

"Oh well," she huffed, while slightly peering behind me. "I believe that is my cue to go, I bid you all adieu."

Space folded around her and Irisviel, causing Artoria to lunge for Caster in a last ditch effort.

As she reached the spot where they had been, they had already disappeared.

I could hear Artoria's grip on Excalibur tighten, as her gauntlets strained under the increased pressure.

The sounds of rushed footsteps caused me to turn my head.

Alistair was slightly limping as he made his way up over the last few steps on the staircase.

His left thigh had a clear wound, with fabric from his clothing being used as a makeshift bandage to stop the blood from spilling out. His cheek had a shallow cut on it, still leaking some blood, while his torso was littered with smaller cuts.

All in all, he looked worse than when he had fought Lancer when he invaded our home.

Ignoring Saber, I ran towards Alistair.

Grabbing him, I pressed him into a hug, wincing slightly at the use of my burned arm.

"We fucked up the operation, didn't we?" Alistair asked in a slightly muffled tone, as his face was pressed into my shoulder.

I knew it was bad when I didn't even feel the energy needed to reprimand him. "Yes."

~~Fate/False Order~~

Hook, line and sinker.

Closing the door behind me, I let out a sigh. Finally we had the Grail, and Caster had 'ruined' my non-existent 'spider web' that 'I' had over Fuyuki, meaning that I now needed to 'fix' it.

Aka, I had a bullshit reason to not be around.

Glancing up, I saw Morgan leaning on the wall while crossing her arms on the other side of our workshop.

Seeing me, she pushed herself off from the wall and uncrossed her arms. "I have some good news," Morgan said with a hint of amusement.

Raising a brow, I moved towards her. "More than acquiring the Grail?" I asked with interest.

Morgan gave a quick snap of her fingers, and her scrying orb floated up from the shadows.

Peering inside it, green smoke started to form a scene.

The mist swirled and solidified into the familiar streets of Fuyuki City, bathed in the golden hues of the setting sun. Two figures stood beneath a flickering street lamp—Kariya Matou and Aoi Tohsaka.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Kariya moves fast it would seem. When did this take place?"

Morgan leaned closer. "It happened while we were watching Monty Python, and I thought that it would be too much of a shame not to record this."

Humming in affirmation, I focused on the orb.

As Kariya stepped forward, the light revealed his pale skin, and disfigured face.

Aoi gasped, her eyes widening at his altered appearance. "Kariya? Is that you?" she whispered, a mix of shock and concern clear in her voice.

He offered a strained smile. "It's been a while, Aoi."

She quickly composed herself, taking a hesitant step closer. "You've... changed. What happened to you?"

"That's not important right now," he replied, waving off her question. "I'm here about Sakura."

Aoi's expression softened momentarily before hardening again. "Sakura is no longer my responsibility, as she is a Matou. And I'd rather not bring up sad memories."

Kariya's jaw tightened. "Do you really believe that? She's suffering, Aoi. She needs her mother."

She looked away, her voice barely above a whisper. "Tokiomi knows what's best for her future. He said we must let go."

"Let go?" Kariya's voice rose, tinged with frustration. "She's your daughter! How can you just abandon her because he said so?"

Aoi's eyes shimmered with slight anger. "You wouldn't understand! She's a talented girl! She'd never reach her full potential without a crest! Her leaving was for the best for her!"

He took a step closer, desperation creeping into his tone. "What's best for her?! She's been abused! From where I stand, it looks like you've turned your back on her!"

She shook her head, hugging herself tightly. "Tokiomi has told me that magus training is harsh, but that after you get through it, you'd be fine! He assures me it's for the greater good."

Kariya ran a hand through his disheveled hair, exhaling sharply. "The greater good? While Sakura suffers alone?" He hesitated before adding, "She's not just been treated poorly, Aoi, she's been tortured! Violated! She needs you!"

A pained expression crossed her face. "Please, Kariya, don't make this harder than it already is."

"Harder?" His voice cracked. "You're the one making it hard by refusing to help her!"

Aoi's composure began to crumble. "What would you have me do? Defy my husband? Break the family's decisions?"

"Yes! If it means saving your child!" Kariya's frustration boiled over. "I thought you, of all people, would understand."

She took a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

He stared at her, disbelief etched across his features. "Can't or won't?"

A heavy silence hung between them. Finally, Aoi whispered, "Please leave."

Kariya's face contorted with a mix of anger and sorrow. Grasping the damaged side of his face, he muttered, "I see how it is."

He turned away, his voice cold. "I'm leaving. I just hope you can live with your choices."

As he walked into the shadows, the scene in the orb started to fade. Just as Aoi sank to her knees, the green smoke dissipated into nothingness.

Glancing up from the orb, I saw that Morgan's veiled face was staring straight at me.

There was a beat of silence, cueing me to internally groan.

"Is this your attempt at emotionally blackmailing me to keep Sakura?" I asked dryly.

Morgan merely nodded. "Your Mother has tasked me with the emotional blackmail part of our plan to have you accept her adopting Sakura. And I'd be a terrible daughter in law if I didn't help," she explained matter-of-factly. 

Of course, sure, sure, that's the reason.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I released a sigh. "Fine, just scrap the recording, I don't need something as depressing as that lying around."

Morgan gave a satisfied hum, and plucked the scrying orb out of the air with her hand, and walked away with an extra sway in her hips.

"I'll be keeping the recording, as I am sure this would be enlightening for Sakura when she's a little older," Morgan said with mirth, causing me to frown. Before I could comment, she continued. "Answers, no matter how cruel, will be important to her once she overcomes her depression, we just have to make sure that she doesn't relapse."

When did she become an expert on psychology?

"Are you sure about this?" I asked seriously, causing Morgan to sigh, as she placed the orb on a shelf. "It's for the best that she learns of her family's attitude and reasoning for her being with the Matou in a controlled environment, and not in a random interaction between herself and her sister or Mother at the Clock Tower."

Sighing, I stopped pinching the bridge of my nose.

Fuck it, I don't know if I want to take psychology and parenting tips from Morgan, but I can check with Mom, or ask experts on the topics later on, rather than waste time on trying to refute her points.

"Let's drop the topic, you got what you wanted, let's leave it at that," I explained tiredly.

Morgan huffed a bit, and seemed to glide over to me, seamlessly linking her arm with my own.

"Oh come now," she said placatingly while patting my linked hand. "Let us tip off Rider and Archer about the appearance of the Grail," she said in a happy tone.

"After that, we can relax, as I believe you owe me some us time, no?"

Oh right, I suppose I did.

"Sure, let's just get done with the boring stuff, and then we can relax," I punctuated my sentence with a large yawn.

Though I have this odd feeling that relaxation was the last thing on Morgan's mind.

—

56 Hours, 58 Minutes And 22 Seconds Until Zero 

—

----

A/N

Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and Reviews, as it would be much appreciated.

Ass-kissing done, now I can move on to more important stuff.

Sorry for not posting yesterday, I had an Exam, so I was slow on the whole writing thing. Pluss I am still sick, so it was a rather slow process.

Anyways, from bad news to worse news, I have two exams next week... Yay?

I should still be able to post both chapters, but be patient with me, as they are my last exams for the semester.

FML, am I right?

Anything you guys liked? Anything you'd like to see? Once again, sorry for being a smidge late, but the flue has hit me like a truck! So I hope you all don't mind <3 < p>

Btw, I have made a Discord server for the fic, come on and chat with me!

https://discord.gg/KakqQPyb

Now I'm tired and have a cold to duke it out with, so have a nice day, and send me some stones or some shit, as I need motivation, since I am losing this battle!