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

[Kieran]

And once again, Iskander never fails to entertain . . . And what a nice gesture of holiday spirit.

I admit, I'm curious to see what Arc was up against, too - I don't think it matches the canon EXTRA's final bosses, but I can't be sure . . .

[pureauthor]

Iskandar always knows how to make you smile

Fuck. Yes.

And once again, Iskander never fails to entertain . . . And what a nice gesture of holiday spirit.

You know when writing a fan favourite character there's always some pressure to make sure you can keep what people like about him and at the same time not going too over the top.

There's also the fact that Hakuno is a pretty different Master from the Waver of Zero.

Next chapter should have a lot of chatting, so I hope I can bring out more of his character well.

I admit, I'm curious to see what Arc was up against, too - I don't think it matches the canon EXTRA's final bosses, but I can't be sure . . .

Yeah, it's not any of the canon EXTRA final bosses. As to the real identity... well, I wrote in a couple clues although I don't think it was too specific.

I thought that how you devoted chapter space to Shiki and Kara doing research into their opponent was very much in the spirit of Fate/EXTRA's homework weekly assignments was a nice touch. It makes the setting feel more like an authentic Moon Cell-based Holy Grail War.

Additionally, thanks for being a nearly constant source of Arcueid and Illyasviel interaction. Even if it's only through magic radio there's still this girlbro, respect and appreciation sort of vibe.

It's the little things that I like.

Keep on at it. I wish to find out what was up with those crazy hands and the distorted space.

Well, I try to balance transfer of information with showing/developing the involved people's personalities. Sometimes I read my stuff and worry it might be too dry but that's really the way I write and I'm working on it.

Thanks for all of your comments!

[Kieran]

You are, of course, quite welcome.

[pureauthor]

Chapter Fifty Seven: Rule/D

*~*

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, Courtyard

“And then!” Rider said as he brought his mug of beer down onto the table with a bang. “When I saw that knot, I realized that the answer had been with me the whole time!”

“Oh, you mean you needed to look deep inside yourself to focus and find the answer on how to unravel it?” Arcueid said, hanging on to every word of the story the ancient king was telling about his life.

“What? No. I realized that I had a sword. So I cut it with the sword. Knot untied, everyone was happy, morale amongst the men shot straight up, and we had a party that night!”

Shiki sat close to Arcueid's side, eating quietly as he watched her, Rider, and Ms. Taiga from the school continue on an animated conversation about everything and nothing. At one point he thought he had heard the three of them discussing the finer points of how to properly skin a rabbit for a stew, but then again he hadn't really been paying attention. Then again, given what he knew of Arcueid and Taiga they were both entirely capable of holding a conversation solo so he supposed the both of them joined with someone as boisterous as Rider would result in freely moving tongues.

Leo was sitting several seats down the table, sipping some kind of clear liquid from a glass and giving every impression that he was content with simply observing the proceedings of the rest of the night. Next to him was King Arthur, who looked annoyed at having to be there – but not so much that she hadn't loaded her plate with a small mountain of food and appeared well on her way through eating most of it.

Still further down was the last remaining Master... and Servant, he supposed, but the diminutive had apparently decided that her Servant should still remain hidden and she was the only one visible. Given the way she appeared to wish to keep mostly to herself, Shiki was honestly a little surprised the last Master had turned up at all.

Then again, it wasn't as if this banquet was anything ordinary.

Shiki had honestly debated whether to heed Rider's invitation at all, but Arcueid had seemed interested in joining the proceedings and, well, at the end of the day, if an invitation was extended, accepting was the polite thing to do, wasn't it? And Kara, after emerging from the rest room, had said that she was also interested in attending.

He had half-wondered if he and Hakuno would be the only one's there, but shortly after he'd arrived, Leo and the last Master – had 'Mary' been her name? – had turned up as well.

On that note, he looked around and saw to his surprise, that Kara and Hakuno had quietly moved away from the table and were standing together at the very edge of the fire's light, apparently engaged with each other in a quiet conversation.

As the trio next to him broke into uproarious laughter – had he misheard or had Rider been discussing fishing techniques? – Shiki turned his gaze back to watching the two.

*~*

Five minutes earlier...

Kara took a deep breath as she stood watching the apparent banquet around her. Coming out here, watching so many people make an attempt to socialize with each other really was a delight in and of itself.

So she hadn't really been lying to her Master when she'd told him that she wanted to come here and see what it was like.

But really, the main reason was that she had wanted to get out of the room and get some fresh air.

That... she couldn't describe it, really. That stench that had covered Lady Arcueid had affected on a deep, almost primal level. She didn't even know what it was – all she knew was that when she had smelled it, she had to fight the urge to retch and to keel over.

What made it stranger was that Arcueid and her Master apparently couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. In that case, the obvious conclusion was that the smell was affecting her so strongly because of her unique nature.

But why?

And for that matter, what had Lady Arcueid been doing to pick up a smell like that. Even if she hadn't noticed the smell, it was obvious from her reaction that she had been getting into some kind of trouble and thought that Kara's reaction had had something to do with it – and she didn't want Shiki to find out.

Kara paused. And sighed.

“Something the matter?”

“Huh?” startled, Kara turned to see Hakuno walk up beside her and raised her glass in a gesture of greeting. “Ah, Master Hakuno. My congratulations on hosting a successful banquet.”

The female Master chuckled, a light and airy sound in the gloom. “Thanks. But it was mostly Rider's doing. I just helped with a couple of spells here and there. Still, I doubt it can compare to any of the grand parties you were used to in life.”

“O – oh yes,” Kara smiled. “Well, one makes allowances for circumstance... although, how is it you surmised that I am used to far grander things?”

“Oh, it wasn't hard to figure out,” the Master smiled. “What with your dress, your manner of speech...” she trailed off. “Finding out more about people based on how they act is something you need to learn quickly in a Grail War.”

“Ah, that,” briefly, Kara wondered about how there might have been other Servants who could spend the entire War working under a fake identity in order to throw people off – but no. Servants were Heroes of legend. They would be proud of who they were, not like her. She sighed. “Hm. Were you known as being particularly attentive? From before you entered the Moon Cell, I mean.”

She had just been making idle talk, but then she noticed the look on Hakuno's face. “Master Hakuno? Whatever is the matter?”

She shook her head, her gaze shifting to the sky above her. “I... have no memory of anything before this Grail War. I just remember the preliminary rounds, the façade of normality... and then I was thrust into this War.”

No memory...? Kara frowned. Then... maybe she's...

“I'm sorry,” Hakuno broke into her thoughts with a light chuckle. “I didn't mean to bring that up now. It's just... sometimes I wonder why I ended up here at all.”

“... It is possible that there is, in fact, no reason,” Kara said after a moment of silence. “None by any greater power, at any rate. In that case, you should make one for your own. Tell me, Master Hakuno. Have you found a wish to make to the Holy Grail?”

“Me...?” she laughed, a small, sad sound in the night. “What wish could I possibly make that would be worthy of the Holy Grail? Anything I want for myself seems far too petty... but if I try to make a grand sweeping wish like a better world... well, who am I to dictate how the future would go?”

... Master also isn't exactly sure what wish he should make either... he just knows that he wants to help fix the world somehow... Kara closed her eyes. I can't help him with that either. I know almost nothing of the world beyond the boundaries of the Moon Cell.

“That's what I keep telling her: to dream big! Something on the horizon, ever worth struggling for!” a massive hand clamped down over her shoulder and she looked up to see Rider beaming down at her. “Come, Saber! Us Servants should have a talk!”

“Oh? What about?” curious, she leaned over to the side to catch sight of King Arthur sitting at the table with arms folded and an annoyed expression on her face.

Rider's grin merely grew wider. “Why, about our Masters, of course!”

*~*

“Master Leonard, this is a massive waste of time,” King Arthur said as she glared. She wasn't glaring at anything in particular, so in another sense she could be said to be glaring at the universe at large for placing her in this absurd situation.

“Well, even if it is a waste of time, I would hardly call it a 'massive' one,” Leonard said with the air of someone discussing the weather. “After all we've already retrieved out Trigger and we have nothing else planned for the day.”

“... That was not my point.”

“If you truly feel so strongly against it, I give you leave to return to your room,” there was a teasing expression on Leonard's face, and Saber had come to realize that she never liked it when he had that expression on. “Although, I doubt Rider would be willing to retreat quite so easily.”

“Quite so!” Rider laughed and King Arthur noted that the Master Shiki's Saber winced visibly. Well, she was sitting right next to him after all. “Well then, King Arthur, you first! Tell us all about that Master of yours!”

“Are you insane? I am not going to divulge tactical information about my Master to someone like-”

“Oh, pshaw. Not the boring stuff! Tell us what he likes! His dream! Why you decided to Serve! That's more interesting!”

Resisting the urge to bite down on her tongue, she settled for aiming a glare at him. “In that case, shouldn't you go first, Rider? You're the one who started this, after all.”

Giving the expression on Rider's face, King Arthur was forced to conclude that he had in fact dearly wanted to go first and had offered that spot to her mostly out of a sense of polite obligation.

This was going to be a long night.

“Let's see, where to begin?” stroking his beard, Rider nodded thoughtfully. “The selections for Masters in the Holy Grail War were all but over and I was starting to think that, yet again, there would no Master I could ally myself to. I was all but prepared to depart as yet another candidate fell to join the others.

Except this one didn't. This one continued to struggle. Even though she had lost, even though the Moon Cell worked to erase her, she continued to cling on to life. She refused to allow her own radiance to diminish. Akin to always putting one step ahead of another, towards the goal you cannot reach.”

“Quite the paltry goal, is it not?” the fourth and final of the Masters, Marie, spoke up, turning her gaze to Hakuno who had decided to not to join this particular conversation. Rider's Master was now talking to Shiki and that strange blonde woman.

“The size of the dream changes depending on the dreamer,” Rider returned gamely. “My Master is free enough with this information, so I'll tell you this too – she remembers nothing of life outside the Moon Cell. Thrust suddenly into a battle to the death she knows nothing about – to live alone is a large dream to strive towards!”

“And yet here she is, on the sixth week of the War,” Leonard said as he looked down into his own glass. “So her dream is in sight, even now?”

“Indeed...” Rider cast a glance over at Hakuno, and not for the first time King Arthur thought she sensed a hint of fatherly pride from the Servant. “She insists that the Grail itself be claimed first before we worry what comes next, but I keep telling her that she needs to know where she's going now.”

“So that is why you fight? You wish to see her achieve something?”

“No, no. I want to see her reach out to grasp it! To have a dream you can dedicate yourself to is what's important!”

King Arthur nodded. Hakuno's lack of memories of her past was something she had already learned about during the previous week. It hadn't seemed especially relevant or useful, so she had let the matter be. Of course, that very lack of memories would have indeed become a driving force during the Grail War itself.

“But enough about me! What about you, Saber?”

“Hm?” shaken out of a reverie, Shiki's Saber glanced around. “Well, I cannot say I have had such a revelation as you, Rider. When observing how my Praetor fought in the preliminaries, I was impressed by his drive and will, so I agreed to Serve him.”

“Well, that's no fun. Ah, I know! Tell me, does he have any embarrassing bedtime habits?”

“W – what?!” Saber sputtered, going through three or four facial expressions in the span of a second – and nearly as many colours, too. “What are you – That is entirely inappropriate!”

“Oh, don't be so uptight! Here, I'll tell you one of mine – now, Hakuno over there? You would not believe how loud she snores.”

“I... I didn't ask,” Saber finally said. “And... no. No, I am not going to discuss my Master's sleeping habits with you.”

“Bad dreams.”

“What was that?” Rider swivelled over to face Leonard, who had once again raised his cup to his lips.

“King Arthur. My Servant. She doesn't sleep much, but when she does, she is constantly plagued by bad dreams.”

“Leonard Harway!” King Arthur said in as sharp a voice she could muster. Given that she had commanded armies for the better part of her life, that was rather sharp indeed.

“You once told me that they were of no great consequence,” Leonard glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. “So, mentioning it here at a casual gathering should be of no consequence either, shouldn't it?”

“Yes, I did, but...” she trailed off. How did Master Leonard even know about those? She almost always went to bed only after he did.

Regardless, she got the distinct feeling that her Master was attempting to tease her, in a manner not dissimilar to how Rider had... except the subject matter was rather more heavy.

Did he honestly not see the difference?

“Well, then, what are those bad dreams about?” Rider questioned with every appearance of sincerity, and Saber felt her bad mood only grow.

“Personal matters, of no interest to anyone,” she bit out. “Especially not you.”

“Indeed?” Rider looked her with a canny gleam in his eyes, and Saber fought to prevent herself from glaring at him. “Well then, let's go back to the more basic standby. Why did you agree to Serve him, King Arthur?”

She took a deep breath. “Master Leonard had... no, has a vision. He wishes to become king in order to help restore the broken world. I found it... a worthy cause. And so I agreed to fight for him.”

“Ah yes, I see,” there was now an interested gleam in Rider's eyes. “You told us about that already last week.

“Now then, Saber. Let me ask you. You've been with the boy for over a month. Do you think he'd make a worthy king?'

“Is that not too personal a question for a gathering like this?” Shiki's Saber said without looking up. “Making conversation is all well and good, but one must keep a sense of decorum regarding private affairs.”

“Indeed,” King Arthur nodded, trying not to show how tightly she was clenching her teeth. “I've no intention of answering that question.”

“We can take it from a different angle, though,” Leo smiled, and once again she was left wondering why her Master seemed so involved in the proceedings and conversations. “You've known me for far less time, Rider. What do you think of me as a king?”

“Me? I think you're completely unfit for the role and if you actually did become ruler of the world the whole place would go to hell in a handbasket,” Rider said without preamble.

If Leo was upset by this proclamation he gave no outward sign. “Indeed? Do you have any specific reasons for claiming that?”

“Oh, a few. You're just not the sort to inspire personal loyalty in, for one.”

“Personal loyalty?” Leo chuckled. “That's a rather intangible and unreliable foundation to build a kingship on. What happens when I pass on? I cannot guarantee my successor would be able to inspire the same loyalty – in fact any personal charisma might end up working against it, if people thought the successor is not as inspiring as the original.”

King Arthur kept silent.

“Now, what is good kingship based on, then? Ability to delegate properly, to order things, to ensure that everyone and everything is in their proper place to facilitate smooth functioning of the system? That is the mark of true kingship.”

“Hah!” Rider snorted. “If that's what you want, then what you need are bureaucrats, not a king! Anyone with sufficient training can crunch numbers and assign roles and create good order. You don't need a king for that!”

“Then what do you need a king for?” King Arthur finally spoke up as she glared at Rider.

“Why, to be an object of reverence!” sitting up straight, Rider thumped his chest once. “A king needs to command the people's devotion, and their absolute unflinching loyalty. Men who would follow need someone worthy to follow, and only a king can provide that! The king must live to the fullest of life, so that all who see him may aspire to follow him and gain some measure of that for themselves.”

“Absurd!” King Arthur snapped. “A king should be devoted to his people, not the other way around! What you have said makes you nothing more than a common tyrant!”

“A tyrant? Hah! Yes, that may well be true. But a tyrant who commanded the loyalty and admiration of his subjects nonetheless. And as for what you said? Now that's absurd. Will one man bear the weight of an entire nation or world on his back? You would crack under the strain. That or become cold and hard and... well, a machine, really. Someone whom the people can no longer place personal trust in, because there will no longer be anything personal about it.”

She could feel her heart clenching. What Rider had just said was... it had hit close to home. Far too close.

“I suppose if all you want is for a bunch of men to follow you as you chase some intangible dream on the horizon, then your method of kingship would work,” Leonard said. “But as history has proven, that fell apart very quickly once you died, didn't it, Iskandar? I, on the other hand, want something that will last.”

Rider nodded thoughtfully as he looked at Leonard. And then he turned slightly.

“What about you, Saber? You've noble blood in you, I warrant. What do you think about what it means to be a king?”

“Hm? Noble blood? Perhaps, depending on the reckoning of the person,” she shrugged. “But I will say this: I have known... many, many rulers of men. And I have known those who swore to follow those rulers and those who swore to resist and overthrow them. … In the end, I believe that first and foremost you have to believe that your own path is right. Otherwise, if you cannot walk it with confidence, you won't succeed.”

King Arthur felt a frown coming on her face at Saber's statement, but at the very least Rider seemed satisfied. Standing, he drained his cup and turned to face Leonard.

“Good luck, boy. You are most certainly going to need it.”

*~*

“So... let's say you had the Grail right now. What would you wish for?”

“To be honest, I'm still not one hundred percent sure. I want a better world of course, but... can I really be the one to dictate the fates of potentially billions of people?”

“I know what you mean. It's a daunting prospect, really...” Hakuno trailed off. “Sometimes I do wonder if it would have been better to let myself be killed early so that someone with a more concrete wish could take my place.”

“... I don't think that's a good idea,” Shiki replied after a moment. “You're... right now, you're alive. Even without a past, even with an uncertain future, you're still alive. You should treasure that.”

“Yes, I suppose that's true,” a brief smile crossed her face.

“Well then, Shiki,” she raised her glass. “To the future?”

Shiki nodded and softly clinked his own glass against hers.

“To the future.”

*~*

Chapter End

*~*

Thanks for reading. Please review.

Just a heads up - I will be out of the country for a while starting today, so updates will go on a brief hiatus again.

[adaira]

Well, I just binge-read this from start to finish. It's absolutely amazing. By far my favorite part was the Shiki vs. Shiki battle. It seems like you pull out something new and interesting every single week, and for a Grail War with such a rigid structure I think that's incredibly impressive. I can't wait to see what you have planned for the finale.

[Kieran]

Well, I just binge-read this from start to finish. It's absolutely amazing. By far my favorite part was the Shiki vs. Shiki battle. It seems like you pull out something new and interesting every single week, and for a Grail War with such a rigid structure I think that's incredibly impressive. I can't wait to see what you have planned for the finale.

Me, either.

This was a nice slice-of-life chapter - you handled all the competing viewpoints well, and fairly, making it interesting to see the contrasts between them (and considering that most of us are already familiar with them, that's quite a feat!).

. . . I'm still curious to see how Shiki's experiences with King Arthur will influence his interactions with Arturia, once he returns to the Works - but that's for the future, obviously.

[ZidanReign]

Remind me, which chapter was Shiki Vs Shiki

I cannot recall it

[pureauthor]

Shiki vs Shiki is in chapter 30, FYI.

Well, I just binge-read this from start to finish. It's absolutely amazing. By far my favorite part was the Shiki vs. Shiki battle. It seems like you pull out something new and interesting every single week, and for a Grail War with such a rigid structure I think that's incredibly impressive. I can't wait to see what you have planned for the finale.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. In some ways I'm following up on the game itself; they needed to provide 7 weeks worth of content too. So please look forward to the rest that's coming up soon*.

*after the new year.

[Xamusel]

Awww... not sooner?

...well, I guess it can't be helped, then.

[ZidanReign]

Shiki vs Shiki is in chapter 30, FYI.

oh yes

that was splendid, my memories came back

[pureauthor]

Chapter Fifty Eight: Purpo/Se/cretive

*~*

As a brief heads-up, I'm might cut out posting music links altogether from now on. In my brief *cough* absence, it appears Tindeck started getting into the habit of shitting itself, so until I can figure out if things stabilize, I'll probably pass on keeping a soundtrack for this story.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, Room 3-A

“It's been taking far too long,” Kara said to herself as she stared down at the terminal in her hand.

“What, you mean about the triggers?” Shiki raised an eyebrow as he walked over to stand by her side and look over her shoulder.

“Well, yes, more or less,” placing the device down on a nearby table, Kara folded her arms and let an expression of displeasure show. “We've been idle for far too long instead of doing the work we need to do. That banquet of Rider's must have led us into a false sense of docility.”

“Well, it's only been three days...”

“It certainly seems a lot longer than that,” Kara shook her head. “But regardless, we can't afford to sit back, Master. We've yet to locate the first Trigger, and today is the day the second one spawns as well.”

“Well, you have a point,” her Master conceded as stood, tucking his knife into his pocket. “In that case, shall we be on our way, Kara?”

“Oh, you're heading off already?” from the further corner of the room, Arcueid gave the both of them a cheery wave. “See you, then, and take care, Shiki! I'll be heading off soon too.”

As Arcueid turned away, Kara found her gaze lingering on the True Ancestor for a moment longer than was necessary. The stench of... whatever it was that had been clinging too her so strongly had faded over the course of the night, enough so that Kara could stand to be in the same room as her without feeling the urge to retch.

That didn't mean the smell wasn't still lingering around Arcueid, but at least it was at a level where Kara could deal with it in the process of getting a good night's sleep.

Going incorporeal, Kara followed behind her Master as he walked through the hallways of the school, his footsteps the only sound breaking the silence.

“... It really has become empty, hasn't it,” she heard her Master say, so softly it was almost to himself..

“Yes, it has,” she glanced at the second floor foyer as they walked past it. A few weeks back it had been a hotspot for the masters, meeting there to discuss opponents and to compare their abilities.

Now the area was deserted.

“Hey, Kara?”

“Mm? What is it, Master?”

“Why do you think the Moon Cell insists on battles to the death? Why do have it so that so many have to die every time someone wants a wish granted?”

“That... I do not know,” even though I owe my existence to all those deaths. But then, it's not as if I'm truly part of the Moon Cell or anything like that. “But I believe you discussed this with Father Kotomine near the beginning of the War? He said that it was because the fear of death would push people onwards to do their best.”

“Yes, he said that. But still...” her master looked a bit thoughtful. “I wonder. Sometimes the realization that you need to kill someone to move on can also make people lock up.”

Can it? She supposed it made sense. “I don't think I've ever held that point of view, Master.” Perhaps it is simply because death has always been a constant ever since I came to be.

“And regardless,” she continued as her Master stepped onto the first floor. “I would warrant there are many who have no wish to fight for their lives at all. In such a case, they would not participate in this War, even if they want to make a wish to the Moon Cell.”

“So you think that makes it okay?” Shiki raised an eyebrow. “As long as they are willing to accept the premise of kill or be killed?”

“I don't know about 'okay',” she paused, trying to pick her words carefully. “But, well, the rules are the rules. Those who entered would have known what it could cost them. At least, those who ended up as participants through ordinary means.”

Her master was silent.

“And what brought this on, Master?” Kara asked. “I mean, it's been nearly six weeks.”

“Yeah, that's true,” Shiki shook his head once. “I was just thinking about Hakuno.”

“Our opponent?”

“Yeah. She doesn't remember life outside the Moon Cell. She doesn't really know why she ended up here, participating in a duel to the death. But here she is, anyway.”

Kara was silent.

“We talked about her goals. She's not sure what she would do with the Grail even if she claimed it. And I'm not sure either. But we've both left a trail of corpses behind us. And we'll need to do it again to move forward.”

Kara remained silent. She knew the pain and hesitation that her Master was wrestling with. But it was also true that he could not afford to flag now. Still, she was not sure what to say to make him feel better.”

Perhaps it was better she did not say anything at all.

“Ready, Kara?” standing in front of the entrance to the Arena, Shiki looked over his shoulder at her as she willed herself into visibility.

“Indeed, Praetor. Let us be on our way.”

*~*

King Arthur sat back in her chair, watching as Leo flipped through his terminal, reviewing their information.

She supposed she could be glad that after the inanity of Rider's banquet, her Master had at least gotten himself focused once more on preparing for the next round of the War. Of course, her relief at that was somewhat blunted by the knowledge that he was throwing everything he could into this so he wouldn't have the time or energy to think about Julius.

She resisted urge to sigh. Leonard was badly unused to grief and loss. More than anything, he would need time to come to terms with what had happened, and how to move on. But time was precisely what they did not have now.

Perhaps if they succeeded in their task, Leonard would have more time to deal with it.

But the end of the war was so near and at the same time so very far away.

“King Arthur,” Leonard turned back to look at her. “May I trouble you for your input in this matter? Do you have any insights about the identity of our opponent's Servant?”

“... Not much, I admit,” King Arthur said as she stood. “All we know is that the Servant is an Assassin.”

“And that he seemed to recognize you,” Leonard nodded as he stepped forward. “That is a huge clue, is it not?”

“It should, but...” King Arthur sighed. “My apologies, Master Harway. I did not recognize the person at all.”

“So he's not a Knight of the Round Table?”

“I knew all of them personally, so no,” King Arthur pursed her lips. “And anyway I do not think any of my knights would have met the qualifications for a member of the Assassin class.”

“An enemy, then? One who fought you before, and lost.”

“... Possible. But I could not recall meeting such a person before. Especially if he is an Assassin. He would most likely have decided to remain hidden and not even let me know of his presence if he could.”

“So in the end, we are at an impasse,” Leonard cupped his chin thoughtfully. “If we'd realized he knew you earlier we could have taken the time in the library to go through your history more thoroughly and see who might qualify. But we're halfway through the week, and we don't really have the time for this.”

“Perhaps we should seek them out instead,” King Arthur looked over. “When we met them in the Arena the other day, we did not have a chance to fight. Analysing his fighting style should give us more clues.”

“Yes, we didn't even get a chance to see his weapon,” Leonard stood. “Though I do wonder. I would have thought a member of the Assassin class would have concealed his presence as a matter of protocol. Yet he was walking alongside Marie in the open.”

As Leonard continue to talk, King Arthur closed her eyes.

I knew my knights personally. And yet... so many of them stood against me at Camlann. Because I failed to be a king the people could trust.

Was Assassin yet another who had some personal grudge against her? The way he had reacted when they had first met in the Arena... he had to have been surprised, for sure. But the way he'd carried himself after that had been a sort of resigned annoyance. Or at least she thought so. Assassin hadn't gotten the chance to say much, after all.

A soft beeping noise from Leonard's terminal shook her out of her reverie.

“It appears the second Trigger has been created. We should handle that first, if nothing else.”

“Very well,” she stood. “Lead the way, Master Leonard.”

*~*

Home Base, Avalon

“Ilya?”

The voice was coming from somewhere else, far away. She could feel on an instinctive level that 'somewhere else' in this case referred to a place that was not the warm and comforting darkness of slumber, and so she did her best to ignore it.

“Ilya!” the voice was sharper now, and accompanied by a hand on her shoulder. This was harder to ignore and so it was with a mixture of irritation and confusion that Ilya allowed herself to be roused to wakefulness.

“Whazza – maher?” she asked. 'Mumbled almost incoherently' might have been a more accurate description, but her brother appeared to understand her well enough anyway.

“... You fell asleep.”

Ilya was silent for a moment, waiting for her brain to catch up with the rest of her now-awake body, but she nodded and stifled a yawn.

“Oh... sorry. I was... I must've tired myself out more than I thought.”

Shirou glanced over at the console in front of Ilya. “Monitoring something?”

“Trying to dig out information, really,” Ilya slumped back in her seat and waved a hand vaguely at the controls. “So you remember how Arcueid vanished for over half a day but for her it was only a few minutes?”

“Yeah, I saw how worried you were.”

“Right, so, I was wondering who or what it was that could pull something like that. First I had to check if the Moon Cell itself acknowledged the time anomaly, so there was a lot of digging around for data on that, and then I had to check to see if there was any information on the kind of phenomenon that could explain this,” Ilya paused, noticing for the first time that someone had placed a cup of steaming tea beside on the desk beside her. Grabbing it and taking a sip, she paused for another minute before continuing. “Well, that turned out to be a bust in the end, but since I already had the hypothesis that it was worknig with the anomaly the Moon Cell wants Arcueid to hunt down...” she trailed off as she realized Shirou wasn't really following.

“... Long story short, it's something powerful that didn't originate in the Moon Cell,” she concluded. “I was trying to find out more about it and why it was able to trap Arcueid, but... well, guess I had a bit of a burnout.”

“And now Arcueid-san is still trying to hunt it down.”

Reaching over to flip a switch, Ilya gazed at the monitor as a figure in white continued walking through a digital landscape.

“True.”

“... That's not good.”

“Also true.”

*~*

Moon Cell, 6th Chimeric Lunar Sea, 1st Level

“All right, found it,” Shiki held the first trigger up into the light. “And not a moment too soon.”

“Indeed,” leaning heavily on her sword, Kara wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “The amount of guardians they set to patrol the Arena today was nothing short of ridiculous.”

“They didn't hurt you or anything, did they?”

“No, I am fine, Praetor. A little drained, I must admit.”

Shiki paused, wondering if he should broach the subject. Today Kara had seemed more... driven, if anything. He wasn't sure how to explain it, really. But the way she had fought – a determined set to her expression, a strange clarity in her eyes, and an unflagging fervour as she carved her way through her opponents.

“Is anything the matter, Kara?”

“Why, no. Why would there be?” she gave him a puzzled look before it flashed into an expression of annoyance. “And Praetor, I appreciate the sentiment, but I request you refer to me as 'Saber' outside our room.”

“I doubt Hakuno will be on this level today,” Shiki shrugged. “The second trigger was generated already, so she'll probably be on the second level hunting it.”

“... Still, one must keep one's guard up.” Shiki frowned. There had been a noticeable shift in her demeanour at the mention of Hakuno.

“Is there anything about Hakuno you want to talk about... Saber?”

Kara sighed and glanced down at the floor. “Lady Hakuno... she says she remembers nothing of her life outside of the Moon Cell.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“And... well, Praetor, earlier you talked with me about what it is that drives a person. Yesterday, Rider spoke to me about Hakuno's determination. He told me that in circumstances like Hakuno's, simply desiring to live and to be willing to do what it takes to accomplish that goal is a a worthy enough dream.”

“I suppose it is,” Shiki smiled slightly. “I can't say I have the exact same experiences as her, but I know what it means to be happy enough that you can enjoy life.”

“Is that so?” Kara glanced up before she looked down again, her face brooding. “I suppose it got me thinking too. I...”

As she trailed off into silence, Shiki stood quietly, waitintg to let her speak.

“I suppose I just realized I didn't really have a goal myself,” Kara finally said, almost to herself. “Aside from serving you, I mean. For a long time, I just focused on that and nothing else.”

He remained silent.

“I shouldn't be thinking of this at all, really. It's...” she paused, swallowed. “I mean, what right do I have? Even if you accepted me... my existence is still just a statistical anomaly. A glitch.”

“Kara...”

“I know, Praetor,” she cut him off a second too soon. “It's... well, not something to worry about right now. That's why. My goal is still to aid you and help you win the war.

“And so...” she swallowed. “And so, don't worry. I'll devote everything I have to making sure you win this, Praetor.”

She smiled at him, briefly, and then turned on her heel.

“Come along, Praetor! We've accomplished our task for the day; we should return.”

Kara... As he began to walk after her, Shiki felt his heart tighten. I know what you want. But you feel it too painful to say it aloud, don't you?

The word were on the tip of his tongue. But he kept his mouth closed. There would be a better time to speak. For now... for now she wanted to focus on the Holy Grail War.

And as her Master, he would respect that.

*~*

Chapter End

*~*

Thanks for reading. Comments and criticism are most welcome.

[Xamusel]

Dang... it's been a long while since you posted a chapter of this here!

Hope you can continue posting the story here ASAP. I'm sure even Kieran wants to see what you have in mind.

[walrus]

Wow, after nearly 2 years... I hope someday I will see the final ending of this.

[ZidanReign]

You frigging spook.

WB

[MWkillkenny84]

IT LIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

Good return and good chapter!

[pureauthor]

Chapter Fifty Nine: Hidd/En/counters

*~*

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

*~*

Moon Cell, 6th Chimeric Lunar Sea, 1st Level

Shifting her grip on her blade, King Arthur lunged forward again, striking a darting blow towards Assassin.

And as before, just as the blade was about to bite into his flesh, Assassin's form blurred and once again he'd evaded the attack by a hair's breadth.

Reclaiming her steady stance, she shot a glare at her opponent and brought her blade up again. Thus far Assassin had fought entirely defensively – the heavy dagger he was holding in his hand had been used only to block her blows.

The Master, Marie, was standing several paces behind Assassin, arms folded and eyes shining with a cold focus as she observed the fight. She hadn't said a word since they had encountered each other in the Arena, merely signalling with her hands for Assassin to get ready to defend himself.

King Arthur drew in another deep breath. Thus far, Assassin had been able to keep one step ahead of her by use of... well, whatever technique it was that he possessed. Brief bursts of increased speed and agility that had thrown her sense of timing and precision off.

But Assassin was far from the first opponent who had sought to confuse and disorient her. In life, and now in this Moon Cell's Grail War, too.

King Arthur moved forward for the fourth attempt, blade angled to strike low this time. Once more Assassin shifted his stance and as the sword came near, his movement increased -

And she shifted the angle of her strike as well, her swing widening to catch him even as dodged -

And suddenly Assassin was even faster than before, jumping back far enough that he was now standing alongside his Master.

So, he's still been holding back his abilities throughout the fight.

Taking a deep breath, King Arthur straightened and took a step back. There was no point preparing to strike again. The battle had taken long enough that -

COMBAT TERMINATED

There it was. Right on time.

Marie nodded to her Servant, who nodded once in return before tucking his weapon back into his belt. Without even a glance back at her or Leonard, she turned on her heel and walked even further into the depths of the maze.

“Well fought, King Arthur,” came her Master's gentle voice.

“Hardly,” she replied as she sheathed her blade. “Neither of us were able to test the other. It is obvious that Assassin was hiding his true abilities from me, and I was unable to draw out his full powers.”

“Indeed. And yet, any information we could gain is a boon in itself,” Leonard cupped his chin thoughtfully. “Some kind of physical enhancement that can be activated and deactivated at will?”

“... Perhaps using it strains him too much to keep it permanently active,” King Arthur said as she faced him. “But more likely he was attempting to use it as sparingly as possible in order to keep me off guard when attempting to fight him. Assassin seems a highly tactical fighter.”

Leonard nodded, his expression thoughtful. After a moment, he gestured for the two of them to continue walking down the halls of the Arena, and she complied.

As she did so, though, she found her thoughts being drawn once more to the Assassin. Trying to find out more about their opponent was entirely normal, of course. But the way he behaved towards her tended to make her feel as if there was something more personal about the whole affair.

She had noted that Assassin had not gone on the offensive at all. In part she wondered if it was because he had been trying to keep information about his identity hidden from her. Well, aside from his ability to suddenly increase his speed, at least.

And for that matter, King Arthur found herself contemplating their opposing Master as well. She had been curt and distant ever since they had found out about her. Leonard had also freely admitted that they had been unable to find much information about her life from outside the Moon Cell, and while she wasn't entirely sure about the methods that her Master was using to gather outside information, it had thus far been very effective.

Well, that was that. If it came down to it, even if they could find out nothing else about the two, she would have to trust her own blade against their opponents.

Following after Leonard, she continued walking deeper into the gloomy hallways.

*~*

Moon Cell, Digital Tsukumihara Academy, 1st Floor Foyer

“The fifth day already...” Shiki said to himself as he approached the entrance to the Arena.

“Indeed, Praetor. The Elimination Match approaches once more.”

“Is it just me, or has the week appeared to go by faster than most?”

“Well...” though her could not see her, he could tell that Kara had become slightly more pensive. “There has been less in the way of sudden obstructions or obstacles so far. Also, it is possible we are both simply growing more used to the rigours of the Grail War.”

“True,” he acknowledged as he stepped through the portal and watched the school dissolve around him into the cold light of the Arena.

And suddenly his sense screamed at him of danger, and he instinctively threw himself to the side, drawing his knife as he did so.

A balled fist half the size of his torso crashed into the ground where he had been standing an instant ago, and Kara, already flashing into visibility, stepped forward to slash at the creature.

The homunculus let out a wordless growl, and its free arm swung out to smack Kara away. But she was agile enough to leap above the wild strike, and as she began to descend she stabbed down at the creature's neck.

This time was a shriek of pain and anger, but even as the creature swung about again to grasp at Kara – faster, this time, as if rage were giving it strength – Shiki had moved forward and stabbed into its right elbow.

A gleaming white scar blossomed along the creature's arm, and then a third strike from Kara – a thrusting stab deep into its chest – felled it for good.

As the being began to dissolve and fade away, Kara stepped back, and Shiki could see a deep frown etched across her face.

“Kara?”

“Something's not right,” she said, her gaze sweeping the room for other threats. “We've already faced five homunculus over the course of the past few days.”

“And that's not how it's supposed to be?”

“No, it's not. Praetor, do you remember when I told you that homunculi like these are essentially the template the Moon Cell uses for creating Servants? Generating a single one of these is a far more complex and taxing affair than creating the rest of the guardians that populate the Arena.

“Of course, as the number of living Servants decrease as the War progresses, the Moon Cell would almost always create a few of these in order to test Masters and serve as obstacles during the War, seeing as how they can support more beings of this complexity. But... not so many of them. Never before now.”

“All right, we'll take it that something has gone wrong,” Shiki said as he began walking down the corridor of the Moon Cell. “But what, exactly? And will it affect us?”

“That... I am not sure. But... well, the homunculi are dangerous opponents, Praetor. If their numbers are indeed increasing, then minimizing the amount of time we stay in the Arena would be prudent.”

“All right, got it,” Shiki nodded and began walking down the hallway. “It's not as if we'll gain anything from fighting these things, anyway, so let's do our best to locate the second trigger today.”

With a nod of affirmation, Kara set off after her Shiki, the two of them keeping a close eye out for more guardians and obstacles along the way.

*~*

Moon Cell, ???

The void stretched out infinitely before her. At first glance, it would seem to be an endless mass of deep black. But as one looked closer, they would be able to see shifting patterns and brief flashes of data crystallized as lights and objects flowing through the endless array nothingness.

On small fraction of the incomprehensible number of calculations that sustained the Moon Cell as it recorded all it could of the blue planet and its inhabitants.

If one wished to analyse the data, or even to try to discern a pattern to the endlessly flowing numbers, one could spend years there before even beginning to get a basic grasp of what all that information entailed.

So it was perhaps fortunate that Arcueid really wasn't that interested in the data-scape before her.

“This sandwich is delicious,” she said happily as she continued stuffing the meal into her mouth.

“Where did you even get that, anyway?” Ilya's voice sounded in her ear. “I mean, I know the commissary serves food too, but I didn't see you visiting it.”

“Hm? Oh, that priest guy gave it to me. He said he anticipated that today's journey would take a long time so he decided to prepare refreshments for me beforehand.”

“Wait, Kotomine gave that to you?”

“Uh-huh. Why?”

“Oh... nothing,” Arcueid could tell that Ilya sounded somewhat distracted. “I... Hm. You don't think you could scan it for poison or anything, do you?”

“What?” Arcueid took a long look at the sandwich – or what remained of it – before shaking her head. “Don't be silly. As if there's any poison they could get their hands on that would work on me.”

“No need to tempt fate, you know?”

“Okay, well, as far as I can tell he's just as eager for me to figure out the person behind this mess. So it's not really in his best interests to have me inconvenienced via sandwich,” finishing up the last bite of her meal, Arcueid stood and dusted off her hands.

“And that's why you're supposed to wait here?”

“Yeah. Now if only something would... happen... “Arcueid trailed off and her eyes narrowed as in front of her, a jagged tear in reality came into being.

“I guess that's what the priest was talking about,” swinging her arms, Arcueid paused for a brief moment to stretch. “Well, no sense in wasting time. Let's get to exploring!”

“Hold on a moment,” there was a note of worry in Ilya's voice.

“Hm? What is it?”

“Kotomine was the one who predicted that this would be the location of the next anomaly, correct?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“It's just – my readings went wild for a second there,” a pause. “Arcueid, that thing in front of you is pretty much a Door. It leads to -”

A bolt of crimson light shot through the gap in reality, blasting straight towards the True Ancestor.

*~*

Moon Cell, 6th Chimeric Lunar Sea, 2nd Level

Visibility had been dropping for a while, Kara noted as she continued making her way through the Arena.

It had been gradual, at first. A thin mist that clung to their ankles as they moved around the area styled after the bottom of a tropical sea. Gradually the mist had grown thicker and larger, and now it was hard to see beyond the reach of her own arm. The two of them had to rely on memory and backtracking to make any sort of progress.

Well, they had been descending overall throughout this trek, so perhaps that was why the mist was now so thick. Thankfully, that was over now, as evidenced by the gleaming Trigger her master was inserting into his terminal.

“Well then, Praetor. Shall we return?”

“I guess we could, yes...” he trailed off, and Kara raised an eyebrow.

“You wish to continue exploring the Arena?”

“It's just... I'm a little curious about where the mist came from.”

“That? Probably just another obstacle they put in to make it more difficult for people to retrieve the Triggers. In the meantime, we should be grateful we'd yet to run into any more homunculi seeking a battle.”

“Yes...” Shiki nodded. “All right, tell you what. Let's just head back to an area where we can get a bit more visibility. We'll take a look around from there and then we'll leave. How's that?”

“As you command, Praetor,” stepping forward, Kara held her sword at the ready, wary for any more ambushes. “Stay close to me.”

Despite the poor visibility, they had already managed to clear out the few guardians in the area on their way down and so they made good time back upwards.

As they neared the area they had begun to descend from, Kara's eyes narrowed. She could make out two large shapes in the gloom ahead of her... and anyway, they were leaving the worst of the mists behind them.

A few seconds later, she could make out the forms of Hakuno and Rider.

“Oh, Shiki,” a polite smile from the female Master. “And lady Saber.”

“Well met,” Saber nodded. It cost nothing to be polite, she supposed, but there was no reason to be friendlier than that towards her opponent.

“Good to see you've been coming along well!” Rider had a large grin on his face. “And I hope your hunt for the Triggers have proven fruitful!”

“It's gone well enough,” Shiki looked over his shoulder. “The mist made navigating a bit harder than normal, but nothing we couldn't handle.”

“Oh, that's good news, then,” a nod. “Well, if there's nothing else, I suppose we'll -”

“Come now, Master!” Rider's voice was accompanied by a short, booming laugh as he drew his blade. “When two Servants meet in the Arena, is it not customary to have a short match between them? Simply to test each other's capabilities?”

“Nothing says that has to be the case,” Kara kept her voice calm as she summoned up her blade and brought it in a ready position. “But if it is a match you wish for, Rider, then I will not decline.”

“Saber...” she glanced over her shoulder at her Master, who seemed on the verge of saying something. But then he shook his head and gave her an encouraging smile instead. “Be careful.”

“Don't go too wild, Rider,” Hakuno said as she stepped away from the two combatants. “You remember what happened last time.”

Both Servants gave brief nods of acknowledgements to their respective masters as they both took a single step forward to face each other.

He's not summoning his chariot? Well, it might be too cramped here to make proper use of it.

A brief moment of stillness and silence.

And then, with the clash of swords, battle was joined.

*~*

Chapter End

*~*

Thank you for reading. Comments and critique are, as always, most welcome.

- - - Updated - - -

Dang... it's been a long while since you posted a chapter of this here!

Hope you can continue posting the story here ASAP. I'm sure even Kieran wants to see what you have in mind.

Wow, after nearly 2 years... I hope someday I will see the final ending of this.

You frigging spook.

WB

IT LIIIIIIIIIVEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!

Good return and good chapter!

Well, yes. I'm back! Hope everything's been fine in my absence.

No more ridiculously long breaks. That's a promise this time! We'll see this fic completed yet!

[Kieran]

Well, yes. I'm back! Hope everything's been fine in my absence.

No more ridiculously long breaks. That's a promise this time! We'll see this fic completed yet!

Yay!

. . . Seriously, however - finally had a chance to catch up on the last couple of chapters, and I'm still enjoying it immensely. There is one change in the Works you should be aware of, however: the base has a proper name, now. Officially, they're housed in Avalon Castle, on Phantasmagoria Island.

[Xamusel]

Glad you're back, dude, and for real about it.

[Ergast]

Oho! It looks like I returned to the board at the right moment! Time to read!

Post-reading: And I see you are still doing that whole "Evil cliffhanger of doom" thing! This has been the first TM related fic I've enjoyed in years (mainly because I burned myself so I have to read other things, coupled with RL fucking things up), so I forgive you, but damn you and your cliffhangers!! Now I want more!!!

[MWkillkenny84]

Good new chapter... and in what trap has Kotomine sent Arcueid?