Interlude Zouken

This was a complete and utter disaster. Zouken writhed in the sewers as he commanded his families to seek out the nearest grate.

He had lost the vast majority of his worms, including the ones in Sakura and Kariya, which left him with only the ones he had with him, not even enough to form a human body.

Zouken could rectify that with a few victims, but that still didn't solve the other problems. Since he had kidnapped Sakura, Kariya was most likely on the strange magi's side.

It was clear that he was a magus; as one of the founders of the Holy Grail War, he was quite knowledgable in its functions, and that included knowing if somebody was a servant.

While an Assassin could hide their presence, Assassin was already accounted for along with the other classes. Saber was with the Einzberns; Lancer was dead along with his Master.

Rider was with a young clocktower magus. Kariya had summoned Berserker, Assassin might be dead, but it was also likely that he had faked his death.

Archer had, of course, been summoned by Toshaka. Zouken's lips would have curled if he had any. Trust the Toshaka to summon a loud and arrogant Servant.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he directed his worms to crawl out of the sewer grate. Looking around, he spotted a target: a woman in her late 20's. She was alone and distracted talking on a phone.

Creeping nearby, he waited until she turned the corner and was hidden in the darkness. Very few people were around, and any noise would be attributed to her tripping.

The worms sprung and climbed up her legs as she took another step. As she shrieked and stumbled back, worms dropped from the nearby walls and landed on her face.

She stumbled as they swiftly slithered down her throat. Lodging themself in her airway, her face soon turned purple as she collapsed, clawing at her throat.

Zouken took a moment to peer around and saw, to his relief, that very few had even noticed what had happened. The few that did notice frowned at what they believed was a simple case of drunken stumbling and continued on their path.

Soon enough, the woman's body had been devoured and rendered into more worms. Shifting them around, Zouken relaxed as he walked out of the darkness in his human form.

He didn't have a backup workshop which he was kicking himself for now. He did know various locations that would work; walking, he started to travel towards the sewers. They were nasty, but they also offered unparallel access to the town.

As he walked, he cast his mind back to the strange magus. While he knew he wasn't a Servant, that did not discount the fact that he was powerful and dared to face him in his house.

It was unfortunate that whatever fire he used seemed to disrupt his focus. Zouken didn't know what exactly it was, but he would have to avoid it in the future.

The fire had incapacitated him long enough for the magus to burn the house down and flee. As he approached the center of the vast sewer system underneath Fuyuki, his body broke apart and was rebuilt once they had passed through the grate.

The last remaining question was whether or not Caster had been summoned. While it was possible, Zouken erred that he had not been summoned yet.

The main reason was that he could sense with his familiar network where the Servants roughly were. Such beacons of energy and his worms fed off that energy, so they were easy to see.

This included other sources such as powerful bounded fields, and Caster's territory was simply an extraordinarily powerful bounded field.

The lack of such a powerful source and no other Master candidates led Zouken to believe that the magus entered the war sans Servant, most likely hoping to steal Command Seals.

Unfortunately for them, Zouken was the creator of the seals and had a few tricks up his sleeve. Summoning a Caster would allow him back on the field where his pitiful son failed.

He didn't have a catalyst which was an issue. While he could summon and hope for a good Servant, that was a fool's errand with all of the powerful Servants in the war.

However, he didn't have a better choice. His house was burnt to the ground; he didn't have time to collect a proper catalyst. In addition, Casters required time to work, and Lancer was already dead.

Drawing out a circle, he stepped in front of it and slowly, with precision, chanted the aria he and his compatriots had made so long ago.

As the summoning finished, he took a step back and placed his hands behind his back, regretting the lack of his cane for a moment.

As the light faded, he beheld Caster's young and seemingly gentle form. Raising an eyebrow, he saw dozens of bloody hands claw their way up from the ground. Dismissing them, he spoke, his voice underlayed with dozens of incest wings.

"I am Zouken Matou and have summoned you, Caster. Cease with these jokes; we have work to do."

Pouting, Caster waved a hand, causing the appendages to vanish. "Sure, fine, fine, ruin my fun; why won't you."

Scowling at his irreverent tone, Zouken barked out. "What is your true name, Caster?"

"Francois Prelati, Caster Servant and grand illusionist!" He boasted while throwing his arms to the side with a grin on his face

Sighing, Zouken started to walk back towards the entrance to the sewers. He could already tell this would be an annoying Servant to manage, but he had work to do if he was to retrieve his daughter, and their no better help than Servants.