Melancholy of One (A Grail Works. LTD. Story)

[pureauthor]

WMG LANCER IS LU BU

Heh. Maybe. Dunno.

Highlight of the chapter was Leo's and Arty's on-going discussion about what it means to be king. My favorite part.

Spent a lot of time working on it to get it right, so I'm glad you liked it.

The most fearsome of weapons.

Agreed. I also enjoyed the bit about sacrifices. Kinda makes me want Leo to straighten up before he dies...

Boy, that'd be pretty pointless, though, wouldn't it? :P

It was the sort of task-taking I'd been hoping Harway would get from her. Though not as loud or violent as I might've done it, it seemed perfectly in-character - so well done, on that score.

And, before I forget - go Shiki and Kara!

Saber doesn't get loud or violent like that; that wouldn't be in keeping with her nature, after all.

Besides, she's Leo's Servant, and she cares for him in her own way.

You know what sucks? A cold. I'm feeling better now, but still.
Summaru: in which Leo and Extra!Arturia talk about kings and countries, Lancer has yet to fall to the class curse, Yuuno changes focus, and Aoko deals with hacking.

Berserker already took the whole 'kill yourself' thing earlier, so Lancer's in the clear, at least on that front!

. . .



For some reason, I have chills down my back seen these words. . .

Well, don't let Aoko know about it lest you end up even worse off...

[Kieran]

Spent a lot of time working on it to get it right, so I'm glad you liked it.

It shows, and we did.

Boy, that'd be pretty pointless, though, wouldn't it? :P

And yet, completely in-line with anime (and Type-Moon) in general . . .

Saber doesn't get loud or violent like that; that wouldn't be in keeping with her nature, after all.

True - I'm a little too used to the Grail Works version (a little angrier, more hormonal, and prone to lash out when frustrated) by now. Although hopefully, she'll have calmed down for future fics.

Besides, she's Leo's Servant, and she cares for him in her own way.

There is that.


And I suspect the hacker is Julius - but I've lost track of him, at the moment.

[Ergast]

Well, yes, Julius is a known hacker for everyone who played the game, so he is my main suspect, too.

And finally I got to date! Truly a magnificent story, so far, pureauthor. If I had been here, my answer about Kara's true identity would had been FemMC. And a pity about Rin, but this is F/E, so there would be deaths of simpathetic characters. Luckily for us, there is also deaths of assholes.

[pureauthor]

The recent delay in updates or news or… well, anything brought to you by



OPA DENDI

Chapter Forty Six: Decei/Ve/nom

*~*

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, Arena, 5th Chimeric Lunar Sea

Scorpion

Julius stepped into the floor of the arena, slowly scanning the environment around him. No immediate threats presented itself, and so he stepped forward slowly, always aware of Assassin’s presence at his back.

His Servant apparently did not feel like chatting right now, and that suited Julius fine. He had a task to focus on, and so as he advanced he kept his thoughts focused on his opponent.

The Atlas Alchemist had been a relatively quiet presence in the War so far, fighting her way through her assigned matches with little in the way of fanfare. Aside from her part in aiding Shiki Tohno, her role in the war was otherwise unremarkable.

Except, of course, for having made it through four weeks of the war all on her own. No one would be foolish enough to discount that, certainly, and her background was enough for Julius to have placed her rather high on his list of priority targets.

Despite that, though, he’d yet to find out much about her. Whatever secrets she had, she kept close to her chest – except perhaps for whatever it was she shared with Shiki Tohno.

He shook his head. Now that he was facing Rani as his opponent, she would have to show more of herself one way or another. And if worst came to worst, he had other resources to draw upon as well.

On that note… he drew to a halt as he noticed a figure standing in the distance. His eyes narrowed. It was not a person he recognized, but the rules of the Arena restricting the number of people he could interact with made it rather obvious who it could be. As he watched, the figure reached for the wall, a soft glow coming from his hand.

A ward spell of some kind? Julius pursed his lips. He couldn’t sense Rani nearby, but still… Best to strike while the iron is hot.

"Assassin," Julius' voice was calm. "Strike."

Ther was no word of acknowledgement - there never was, whenever Julius called upon his Servant to hunt. But the brief sensation of whipping wind and the faint blur of motion was proof enough that his Servant obeyed.

It was over in an instant. Even Julius, trained as he was, could barely read his Servant's movements when he was invisible. A single strike, delivered with bone-shattering force and -

CRACK!

Julius' eyes narrowed.

What Assassin had struck hadn't been a Servant at all. It was...

"Wood," he said softly as he walked over to where his Servant was standing, staring down at the shattered remains. "A wooden block?"

"Huh. He managed to fool even me! Not bad!" Assassin said. "It looked just like a person until I struck."

"You seem unduly excited by this."

"Why shouldn't I? All our fights so far haven't stirred my blood yet," a brief chuckle from the Servant. "Maybe I'm just hoping I'll find someone who can put up a real challenge."

Ignoring the remark, Julius stepped closer to the ruined effigy. "Something's... not right," he murmured as he stared down at the pile.

"Hm? What is it, Master?"

"Some sort of spell was placed on this structure."

"Well, isn't that obvious? No way it'd be able to look like a person if there hadn't been a spell on it."

"Not that. Something else," crouching, he picked up one of the larger fragments, turning it over in his hand. "Recording spells. They wanted to see what we could do without exposing themselves to any direct danger."

"Too scared to take me head on, huh?" Assassin said. "well, we're not exactly ones to criticize others for hiding and fighting from the shadows, are we, Master?"

Julius merely grunted as he straightened up again. The skittering of hooves told him what would be rounding the corner shortly. "Guardians. Take care of them, Assassin."

He turned away, not waiting to hear Assassin's reply before the Servant launched himself into fighting the digital creations. He had more important issues on his mind.

"So this is how you wish to handle things, Rani VIII?" he said softly. "A battle of wits it will be, then. I do hope you are prepared."

*~*

Rani frowned as she glanced down at the terminal in her hands. "Disappointing results," she said, to no one in particular. Nevertheless, her Servant answered.

"Not much information to glean, is there?"

"Indeed," she tucked the terminal away and glanced in the general direction where they had set up that effigy earlier. "Julius' Servant destroyed the decoy in a single blow."

"I had placed several reinforcement spells on it too," Caster sighed and smiled wanly as he recalled the wasted effort.

"Indeed. The only information I could gather from the encounter was that he used his fists as his weapon, and that he did not need to drop his invisibility in order to attack," both of which I knew already, albeit from secondhand accounts. I suppose empirical observations have value all their own. "If we want to learn more about him, we shall have to alter our plans."

"And so put ourselves at greater risk," Caster did not seem particularly troubled by his own statement. Rani glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Do you have any suggestions, Caster?"

"Not at all, Master," Caster bowed slightly, almost managing to keep the mocking tone out of his voice. "Why would I, after my own brilliant plan had failed?"

"It wasn't entirely your plan - at least, not as you had originally envisioned it," Rani said slowly. "The magics on the effigy..."

"You told me to decrease them to lessen the danger of Assassin realising there was something wrong before he struck," Caster raised both arms in a gestured of feigned helplessness. "Of course I deferred to your greater experience in such matters, Master."

Rani felt another spurt of irritation that she quickly stamped down. "The modifications you suggested would have made it obvious to even an amateur magus that something was wrong about that effigy. it would not have served as an effective decoy."

"And it would have led our opponents into making several assumptions about us. Assumptions that would not necessarily prove correct. As it is, I believe you yourself acknowledged that this decoy was not particularly successful in gathering information."

A silence amongst the two of them for a long moment. Then Rani sighed and closed her eyes, "Caster, I would appreciate that you explain the entirety of your plans and tactics to me first before we actually begin trying to implement them."

"Ifyou say so, Master," the note of amusement in Caster's voice was unmistakable. "For now though, what shall we do? Continue our hunt for the Triggers?"

Rani closed her eyes and sighed. "The longer we stay here, the greater the risk of encountering Julius and Assassin. I would prefer to avoid such a confrontation until we are better prepared."

Another slight bow, "Whatever you say, Master."

(X)

The beeping of the terminal sounded through the room.

"Master Harway?"

“I know,” Leonard replied as he grasped the device and looked through it. “Ah, Julius’ Report. Everything appears to be going well for him.”

A few seconds were spent thumbing through the information within before Leonard tucked the device away again, “Everything appears to be going well for him. We’d best get started on our own tasks as well, King Arthur.”

He kept a close eye on King Arthur as he spoke. She nodded briefly and stood, every inch the perfect Servant ready to fulfil her Master’s orders.

Then the mask slipped a little. Just a little, as a look of concern flashed across his face. And then it was gone, as quickly as it had come. Perhaps she had tried to hide it, but Leonard had been sharp enough to spot it.

Perhaps in other situations he would have let it pass. But now he was more… alert. Aware of his Servant’s feelings and moods. If nothing else, he did not want to risk alienating her further.

“Is something the matter, King Arthur?”

She blinked in mild surprise before composing herself. “I just… I was merely wondering about your brother.”

“Julius? What about him?”

“About his… duties.”

Leonard sighed. “His more… underhanded duties had dropped off along with most of the participating Masters. He’s mostly fighting as you and I would now.”

There was a momentary pause, and a frown appeared on her face, “But still, Master Harway, I do wonder… why is your brother even relegated to tasks like these?”

“Meaning?”

“A close relation to you… I don’t see why he would be forced to engage in such affairs at all. Even if you say his aptitude was suited to it, surely there would be less… demeaning tasks for someone of his stature.”

Leonard took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know that I’m comfortable divulging my family’s methods with you.”

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“No, it’s no matter,” Leonard glanced out the window at the sun that was just beginning its long descent beyond the horizon. “But, suffice to say that… Julius is not well favoured amongst the Harways.”

He could feel King Arthur’s curious eyes on him, but he left the matter at that.

“Come on, King Arthur. We’ve much work to do.”

“Hm? Ah, yes…”

And the two of them left the room.

*~*

“Kh!” Arcueid frowned as she stepped onto the roof of the school. A quick glance up at the night sky revealed the artificial moon – and showed her how much time she had spent chasing after the presence.

“That was a waste of time,” Arcueid said as she flopped down onto the nearby bench. The presence, whatever it was, had successfully eluded her every time she had come near. And all the while she couldn’t shake the feeling that it had been leading her on, somehow.

Well, she could always try again tomorrow. Either that, or look to Shiki to see how he was doing. Especially with that Kara girl…

The soft tap of footsteps interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see the Mediator – Kotomine Kirei walking up to her.

“A lovely night, is it not, True Ancestor?”

“It’s whatever the Moon Cell wants it to be,” Arcueid replied. She wasn’t particularly interested in this virtual reconstruction – no matter how skilfully the SE.RA.PH. had weaved the world, it just couldn’t compare to the bustling, chaotic wonder of an actual place, freed from constraints and constant calculations. “Anything you want, Mediator?”

“Not particularly,” the man shook his head once. “I simply didn’t have the chance to interact with an actual True Ancestor before now.”

Arcueid shrugged. “I don’t think I have much to say that you’d care about.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not,” Kotomine was silent for a brief moment. “Even in the world you came from, you never had much interaction with the Moon Cell, did you?”

“Nope,” Arcueid said. “It’s got nothing to do with me. Why do you ask?”

“Well, your actions today has revealed that you don’t understand it very well. Whatever quarry you’re pursuing would be hard pressed to keep away if only you knew more about the inner workings of the place.”

Arcueid’s confused look changed into a glare. “What do you want?”

“As little interference with the workings of the Moon Cell as possible,” Kotomine said, his expression steady. “Your presence here is due to that being – whatever it is – interfering with this Grail War. If you’re willing to expend the energy to neutralize him… then the Moon Cell is willing to show you how.”

A brief silence, and a thin smile split Kotomine’s face.

“Well, True Ancestor? Will you accept our offer?”

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, Room 3-A

Shiki sighed and sat up in bed, glancing out the window at the early morning sun.

“Master?” Kara’s voice from behind him. “Ah, you’re up!”

“Yeah,” he smiled as he turned to face her. “Did Arcueid come in?”

“Not that I know of, Master,” Kara glanced away. “Why?”

“No, I was just wondering,” Shiki pursed his lips. “We’ve gotten the Trigger from the first floor of the Arena, so there’s no real need to start searching the Arena.”

“In that case…”

“Yeah,” Shiki ran a hand through his hair. “We’d start trying to figure out how to defeat Lancer. Learning more about him, trying to figure out a way to counter his fighting style. Anything we can use, basically.”

“Very well,” Kara nodded, and a brief shimmering of light showed the form of the red-clad Saber once more. “Lead the way Master.”

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, Chapel

Aoko sat back in her chair, clutching a single sheet of paper.

“Well, what do you know,” she muttered to herself.

Well, I know who did it. Question is: Now what?

*~*

Chapter End

[Kieran]

Your stuff is always worth waiting for - and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it.

A few corrections, though:

1) It should be his "invisibility" that Assassin didn't need to drop

2) "Realising" is spelled with an "s" or a "z," depending on your style of English, but not an "x"

and

3) You missed the "e" on the first use of "effigy."

[Megaolix]

Oooh, I wondered what happened. Glad to see this back.

[gwonbush]

I forgot this existed and that I was following it.

[kuniKaiRoe]

*smiling* Well. I'm back in good form.
Shinryu: *in a full body cast, muffled* At expense of our continued functioning...
Raftel: *smiling despite being unable to feel any of his limbs* You should be happy, helping kuni get some sanity back.
Shinryu: As if! I don't care about that stupid idiot's well-being!
Raftel: Tsun tsun dere dere.
Shinryu: What.
Enough, you two.
Summary: in which I don't know what OPA DENDI means, Assassin is fooled by the ninja log, Caster doesn't share plans, Kirei proposes an alliance with Arc, and Aoko asks 'What next?'

[Fafnir]

He's Kongming, isn't he.

[pureauthor]

Your stuff is always worth waiting for - and I hadn't realised how much I'd missed it.

A few corrections, though:

1) It should be his "invisibility" that Assassin didn't need to drop

2) "Realising" is spelled with an "s" or a "z," depending on your style of English, but not an "x"

and

3) You missed the "e" on the first use of "effigy."

Thanks for pointing those out. I'll be sure to look to them once I have a free moment.

Oooh, I wondered what happened. Glad to see this back.

Thanks. Glad to see people stuck with the absence.

I forgot this existed and that I was following it.

Well, it has been a while. Sorry it took so long!

*smiling* Well. I'm back in good form.
Shinryu: *in a full body cast, muffled* At expense of our continued functioning...
Raftel: *smiling despite being unable to feel any of his limbs* You should be happy, helping kuni get some sanity back.
Shinryu: As if! I don't care about that stupid idiot's well-being!
Raftel: Tsun tsun dere dere.
Shinryu: What.
Enough, you two.
Summary: in which I don't know what OPA DENDI means, Assassin is fooled by the ninja log, Caster doesn't share plans, Kirei proposes an alliance with Arc, and Aoko asks 'What next?'

You could google the meaning of that line, you know.

He's Kongming, isn't he.

Now whatever gave you that idea? >_>

[Kieran]

Thanks for pointing those out. I'll be sure to look to them once I have a free moment.

OK.

Well, it has been a while. Sorry it took so long!

Like I said, it was worth the wait - and it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so.

[Flere821]

Now whatever gave you that idea? >_>

Cause that's the first Caster that we would think of that's Chinese? Though with the log substitute trick I was expecting a ninja or something, therefore Japanese ^^;

[walrus]

Phew, this story continues. Make me happy.
By the way, I was a NaVi' fanboy.

[pureauthor]

OK.




Like I said, it was worth the wait - and it seems I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Yeah, I'm glad people like the story. Also I went through and fixed all the typos. Yay me.

Cause that's the first Caster that we would think of that's Chinese? Though with the log substitute trick I was expecting a ninja or something, therefore Japanese ^^;

Well I've already referenced one historical deed out of Caster. A pretty decent clue to go on, really.

Phew, this story continues. Make me happy.
By the way, I was a NaVi' fanboy.

I'm a fan of anyone who provides Big Plays!

Zenith's Axe, 100% winrate! OPA AXE

[pureauthor]

Chapter Forty Seven: Tru/St/rong

*~*

I really need to start getting these out faster. And making them longer, that too.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*~*

Stargazer - Rani's Theme

"I see," Rani said, her expression thoughtful. "A Lancer class Servant, you say? Have you had much success in identifying him?"

"Not really," Shiki's smile was rueful. "His weapon looked pretty distinctive, so we tried going through the records in the library, but we couldn't find anything."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours."

"Yeah, but that's not the real reason I came here. I wanted to ask you about the Master instead of the Servant."

"Master? You mean Yuuno Mikawa?" Rani raised an eyebrow. "Why him?"

"Rin told me before that the Moon Cell chooses Servants based on their compatibility with the Master. I thought that if I knew more about Yuuno, I'd have more clues to figuring out his Servant's identity."

"However, that is not a hard rule. You are aware that a skilled Magus would be able to manipulate the Moon Cell and influence the choice of Servant he or she receives?"

"Yeah, but in that case, knowing his personality might also help with figuring out what Servant he got," Shiki said. "At the end of the day, any extra information I can get would be helpful."

"True enough," she conceded the point with a nod of her head. "Though at this point I am hardly surprised that you appear to lack even the basic means of discerning more about your opponent."

Shiki managed a sheepish smile as Rani busied herself with her terminal for a moment, scrolling quickly through various lists. When she looked up again, her expression was thoughtful.

"Yuuno Mikawa," she said softly. "He does not come from any prominent Magus line. Nevertheless, he has succeeded in gaining the notice of the Clock Tower and Atlas of late. What reports are available speak highly of his inventiveness and willingness to try unorthodox solutions - but they also say that those same traits manifest in a lack of a respect for established boundaries and traditions."

"Anything specific?"

"I could send you the incident reports if you'd like," Rani smiled briefly. "One more thing: It is stated repeadtedly here that Yuuno Mikawa is an ardent nationalist. He has gone on record as desiring to find ways to make Japan a strong nation amongst the world again."

"If that's the case, maybe that's the reason he wants the Holy Grail?"

"That is certainly a possibility," Rani nodded as she looked up. "Although exactly what he means when he says a 'strong nation' is still up for debate."

The world's in a mess right now. At least, that's what Rin and Leo said. The lack of any real progress in the world would probably have hit Japan too, so it shouldn't be surprising that there are people who feel there's a problem with that country. Shiki sighed once, “Everyone does have their own reasons for fighting, after all.”

“Mm,” Rani nodded once. “Well, there’s not much else I would consider terribly important. He received his formal training under a fairly obscure Magus line; I suspect that their readiness to accept an outsider would have contributed to their lack of prominence.”

“Well, what you’ve told me is already a great help,” Shiki smiled. “Thanks for everything, Rani.”

“Do not mention it,” Rani pushed her glasses slightly up the bridge of her nose. “It does not interfere with my own match, after all.”

“Yeah, speaking of which… how are your preparations going, Rani? Facing Julius is…” he trailed off.

Rani shook her head, “I’m acquitting myself well so far. Or at least I believe I am. Julius and his Servant have fearsome abilities, but thus far they have been predictable.”

“Predictable?”

A slight smile came over the alchemist’s face, “Well, yes. It’s unlikely that my Servant could match his in a contest of physical prowess. Fortunately, we’ve been able to avoid that while still gathering information on him. I do have my guesses about Assassin’s identity, but of course I cannot verify…” she trailed off and shook her head. “Forgive me, am I boring you?”

“No, it’s fine,” Shiki raised a hand. “Although, I guess if you’re going to defeat Julius this week then I won’t need to know anything about him anyway.”

A brief, almost uncomfortable chuckle between the two of them that faded away into silence.

“Well,” Rani said after a long moment. “I shall see you later, Shiki Tohno.”

“Yeah…” Shiki nodded once. “Stay safe, Rani.”

And the two of them turned to go their own ways.

*~*

“Master?”

“I told you to call me Shiki, didn’t I?”

“I know, I know…” Kara sighed. “But it doesn’t feel right.”

“It doesn’t feel right to me either,” Shiki said, but nevertheless he dropped the subject. “Anyway, what we found on Yuuno’s pretty useful, but I’m not sure it’s what we really need to be able to figure out his identity.”

“That means we’ll have to face him again,” Shiki could detect the undertones of worry in Kara’s voice. The last time they had fought had left Kara convinced that she wouldn’t be able to match him in straight combat.

“That’s true,” Shiki said. “But nothing says we need to face him in a fair fight.”

“Master?”

“Well, sneak attacks worked out okay for us last week, didn’t it? We don’t need to beat him in the Arena, we just need to force him to slip up and reveal a bit about himself.”

“That’s a plan, I suppose,” Kara nodded as they finally neared their room. Pushing open the door, Shiki stepped inside to see Arcueid sitting on her desk, swinging her legs back and forth as she stared out the window at the school courtyard.

“Oh, hi Arc!”

“Hello, Miss Arcueid,” Kara’s quieter voice.

“Oh, you’re back, Shiki!” a beaming smile crossed her face. “How’d today go?”

“Pretty uneventful,” Shiki shrugged. “Didn’t actually run into my opponent today, but I picked up a Trigger Key. What about you, Arc?”

She glanced off to the side. “Oh, the Moon Cell’s a lot bigger than I thought it was. I’ll probably be able to spend a lot more time exploring the place.”

“Well, good for you. I’ll be spending two and a half more weeks here anyway.”

“Yeah, but for now, I have some free time. Hey, Shiki, you want to go get something to eat?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “That sounds pretty –“

A knock sounded on the door behind them.

Stepping over, Kara pulled the door open to reveal Aoko standing there, waving her hand.

“Hello, Shiki. Think we could have another talk?”

“Another private one?” the last time that had happened it hadn’t gone on too well, and Shiki suspected that this would be no different. He took a quick glanced at Kara.

“Yeah, that’d probably be for the best.”

Shiki nodded once, “All right then, Sensei. Let’s go.”

*~*

The door closed behind her Master’s retreating back with a soft ‘thud’, and Kara exhaled, feeling a slight thrill of nervousness rush through her. The last time this had happened, Aoko had told Shiki about her secret – or part of it anyway. And despite her Master’s kindness, she still felt uneasy at the thought of revealing more of herself to… well, anyone.

There won’t be anything like that this time. I don’t have anything to hide. Silently she reassured herself.

For her own part, Arcueid seemed mostly bored, letting out a long sigh and slumping over.

“Miss Arcueid?”

"And there he goes," Arcueid said. "Figures. I get a bit of free time and then someone else drags Shiki off somewhere."

"Yes, Miss Aozaki appears to have been demanding his attention more of late."

"Well , I don't really mind!" Arcueid said as she smiled. "After all, it gives us time to talk!"

"Talk?" Kara raised an eyebrow. "What about, Miss Arcueid?"

Arcueid leaned closer, her crimson eyes shining with curiosity. Kara could feel no hostility in the True Ancestor's gaze, but nevertheless she felt a tiny shiver pass up her spine.

"Well, for instance, what's Shiki to you?"

"M - Master?" Kara said as she glanced at the door Shiki had walked out of. "I... uh..."
“You've been acting as Shiki's Servant for the past month, right? But, are you just his Servant?" somewhere in the back of her mind, Kara noted that Arcueid's face was alarmingly close now. "Or is there anything else?"

"Anything..." Kara trailed off, her gaze drifting down to the ground before her. Shiki had treated her... well, there wasn't any other way to describe it than 'wonderfully'. Even when he had found out that she had lied to him, he had accepted her anyway.

But the way Arcueid had phrased the question...

Is there anything else?

Else? What did she mean by that? Friendship? Kara swallowed. Did Shiki consider her a friend? She enjoyed being with him, spending time with him, talking to him, but that wasn't really the same as being a friend, was it? The relationship between a Master and a Servant could be close, but not intimate. It was, it would always be focused on winning the Grail War...

Suddenly, for perhaps the first time, she wondered what it would have been like had she and Shiki simply met... normally. Without the concept of one being a Master or a Servant of the other.

What am I thinking? I'm just leftover data the Moon Cell failed to delete properly. There's no such thing as a 'normal' meeting for someone like me. That I could meet Shiki in circumstances like this is already more than I could ask f-

"Hey!" Arcueid's voice snapped her back to her current situation, and Kara blinked. Arcueid now had her cheeks puffed up in a manner surprisingly reminiscent of a pout. The image was so incongruous that Kara felt a laugh welling up inside her, but she quickly stifled it.

"Uh..."

"I ask you a question and you just stand there staring off into space?" the pouting look failed to go away. "Are you ignoring me?"

"No, it's just..." Kara sighed and glanced away. "I'm sorry, Miss Arcueid, but I don't know. I'm - I haven't had much experience with, um, relationships, so I can't really say. I don't know how Master sees me either, to be honest."

"Huh," Arcueid leaned back, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, if you want to know, I can tell that Shiki likes you."

A Distant Union

"Huh? H - he does?" the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Sure!" an easy smile appeared on her face. "Shiki likes a lot of people."

Kara felt a smile quirk the side of her lips, "I suppose he would." The way he had behaved around her - around everyone he met, was proof enough of that.

"But do you like Shiki back?" Arcueid continued to press as she leaned even closer. The True Ancestor's eyes now filled most of Kara's vision.

Kara coughed once, "I... I'm glad to be his Servant. That will not change. But any more than that, I..."

Arcueid suddenly pulled away, folding her arms and nodding to herself, "I see."

"S - see what?"

"You're scared about something."

Kara could find no reply to give Arcueid.

"I think it's a little funny. Shiki told me before about what you did. About how you lied to him and everything. But he still forgave you, didn't he?" Arcueid was half talking to herself now, one hand cupped at her chin. "Yeah, Shiki's nice like that. But you're still scared. Why's that?"

There was a long moment of silence before Kara drew a deep breath.

"It's true. Master treats me very well. But..." I don't deserve to ask for more. But... but I want to. I want to, so badly. "But before anything else, we are Master and Servant, and that is the core of our relationship. If... if things had been different, then maybe..." she shook her head. "But I can't ask for that."

"Why not?"

"Huh?"

Arcueid smiled again, "I think asking 'what ifs' is good, you know. It's such a simple phrase, but you know, you can imagine almost anything with 'if'."

"But those 'what ifs' aren't true," Kara said, her voice almost a whisper. "And since they aren't, then there's no point."

Arcueid was silent for a long moment before she replied, "You know, a long time ago, there was no such thing as a 'what if' for me. You say your 'what if' isn't worth anything if it isn't true? Well, I didn't even have that."

"Miss Arcueid?"

"But then, that 'what if' I didn't even think of came true for me anyway," the True Ancestor's eyes were distant and sombre."Something I couldn't ever think about. I was saved before I even realized I needed saving," her gaze shifted back to Kara. "So that's why I think 'what ifs' are valuable. Even if they're not real now. If you have something, you can make it real."

She slumped back down in one of the chairs, and suddenly the elegant, almost melancholic air about her was gone, replaced by a bubbly smile.

"So, Kara! What's your 'what if'?"

*~*

“So why’d you want to talk to me in private?” Shiki asked as he settled himself down on the bench. “It isn’t anything else to do with Kara, is it?”

“Not this time, Shiki,” Aoko rubbed the back of her head. “Or, well, not directly anyway. You know the reason I felt I had to tell you about her was that someone had hacked the database?”

“Right,” Shiki nodded. “You thought that someone might be looking for weaknesses in the Servants.”

“Well,” Aoko paused. “I know who did it.”

Shiki took a deep breath. “Then why tell me this, Sensei? I’m just another participant in the war. Unless you think it’s especially relevant to me in particular.”

There was a moment of silence, “Well, it’s up to you what you want to do with this information Shiki, but… I still think it’s important that you know.”

“All right. I’m listening.”

Another uncharacteristic moment of hesitation from Aoko. And then she let out a long sigh.

“It’s Rani. Rani was the one who hacked the database to find out more about you and Kara.”

*~*

Chapter End

[burningclaw2]

mind=f*cked

[Megaolix]

Hey Shiki, forgot that only one person is supposed to come out alive of this War? Can you really be mad about it now when you'll probably remember shortly that she may have to fight you to the death next round if she wins against Julius?

[kuniKaiRoe]

I love you.
Shinryu: *steps back, somewhat disturbed*
Raftel: *rolls eyes*
Luna: *finally free* About time something attention-grabbing happened.
summary: IOU one summary.

[ItsaRandomUsername]

Welp. That complicates things.

[Vigilantia]

O cool, it's risen back from the dead. Intriguing results. PA, do continue on.