Alexandra Chimeragenos, Michael Blackmore, Kanzaki Erika
15th of December, 2004
Clock Tower (Main Campus) - Saggitarius Hall
Morning (Phase 1-1)
“Senior Administrator of the Directorate, you said this ritual originates in Japan, and that there were three families involved in the ritual’s creation, correct? Being of Far Eastern origin, they must be of little note. Still. Who are these families?”
“You might be surprised, milady Chimeragenos.”
The voice that answered Alexandra’s query was not that of the monologuing administrator, but rather the soft tone of Luviagelita Edelfelt. While the woman was still the perfect image of noble poise, her posture held a certain tenseness to it and a glint of excitement was evident in her eyes. And... a hint of vindication? The atmosphere put out by the magus heir was that of a wolf who had suddenly spotted the blood of a wounded deer.
Perhaps calling the Edelfelts “hyenas” wasn’t that out of place.
“While two of the families hail from the Orient, they are not the typical riff-raff of the East. Well, one of them at least. The fundamental core of the Ritual was created by the Einzbern family, based on, as mentioned by Mr. Velvet, on elements of the Third Magic. Apparently, the miracle-granting aspect of the Grail is also an elaboration of their Sorcery Trait. However, even with the structure of the ritual, the Einzberns needed a spiritual land sufficient enough to fuel the Grail.”
“Which is why they turned to the Orient in the first place and the Tohsaka family that lived there.”
And suddenly, the younger woman's change in character made perfect sense. Luviagelita Edelfelt and the two Tohsaka prodigies clashed on an almost permanent basis when the latter two had been enrolled in the Clock Tower. Things had died down lately since the Tohsaka heirs had left London for quite some time, but… In any case, the relationship the two families was notoriously bad, almost to the point where it was a widespread suspicion that there was something else beyond simple dislike that had taken place between the two parties. Magi feuds were not uncommon, of course, but…
Let's just say they rarely took this long to solve.
“In any case, Fuyuki, the spiritual land of the ritual, was under the authority of the Tohsaka family. There was also one more family… what was it again? Mako...Mari…” A number of seemingly incoherent syllables seemed to pour out of the blond's lips, as she tried to remember the name of the third family involved. “Mat...Aah, yes, it was the Matou family. They are riff-raff though. I only know that they were originally from Russia and had a role in creating these markings.”
Luvia raised her Command Seal in an indicative gesture, giving everyone a clear idea of what precisely she was talking about.
“Pardon, Mr. Velvet, but am I correct in assuming the goal of this meeting is to come to a peaceful conclusion about such a ritual… Or is there something else you have yet to tell us?”
Waver let out a slightly sarcastic chuckle.
“You are correct, Ms. Kanzaki. If this was simply a standard layout for this ritual than the approach of the Clock Tower would be to immediately to kill or extract the circuits of everyone in this room, with the exception of one who would be declared the “winner” of this little ritual.”
“The kid is right.” Marisbury’s voice was as lackadaisical as always, seemingly at complete ease despite the relatively grim topic at hand. “Regardless of how big the prize, the Association will gain nothing from a miracle granted to a single person or family.
“Whereas a magical war with Ghost Liners in the middle of one of the most populated cities in the world has the potential to not only destroy the Clock Tower but tear apart the very shroud of secrecy that protects magecraft itself.”
“Which makes our current predicament rather interesting, no? Why didn’t we walk into twenty Enforcers, present company excluded… “Marisbury winked at the two Enforcers in the room. “...who would immediately take us down?”
Waver subconsciously gritted his teeth as he looked at the glasses-wearing older man.
“I was about to just discuss the matter before your impromptu explanation, Professor Animusphere.”
The other man simply gave Waver an apologetic grin and raised his hands in apology, allowing the younger man to finally make his point.
“While my understanding of the Grail itself is relatively superficial…. The Holy Grail has a supplementary auxiliary reserve system. When activated, this system allows for the further summoning of seven additional Servants. Now, this system was never activated during the Three Grail Wars that were conducted in Fuyuki. This is because this subsystem only activates in a very specific scenario.”
“To be more precise, this system only meant to only activate in the unlikely circumstance when the seven selected Masters cooperate with each other. I assume that the Grail considers such an outcome a subversion of the overall selection process. To compensate, it marks seven additional individuals as Masters. In a way, these individuals are meant to serve as a counterweight to the original seven and to ensure the proper actualization of the Grail War.”
Waver let out a sigh.
“Now we reach the real gist of the matter. The markings on our bodies, the Command Seals, are that very counterweight. The people in this room are the additional seven Master chosen by the Grail.”
“Which means….there are seven, fully cooperating, Masters already in London.”
"And apparently, the Grail is of the opinion that any interaction between us and the original set of masters will inevitably end in the actualization of the Grail War."