The journey of the heart carried the proud warriors onto the battlefield of vanity seeking long gone glory.
Two such warriors stood before each other, though both knew that what they desire laid beyond the other. Night was approaching the end yet neither cared as the battle of sword versus spear filled their hearts with excitement.
The golden spear shone bright as the sun as it met its equal, clash upon clash as flames and sparks burst through the fields of their battle. A swift thrust of his spear met the down swing of that magnificent sword, he followed the motion with a wide arced swing prompting the sword-wielder to give up ground and retreat backwards. Just as the the sword calmed and poised in front of its wielder he surged forward so fast that the ground beneath his feet caved and broke. Just as he felt the heat of his spear charge, his face met the indomitable image of his opponent ready to strike him down.
Not far from their battle stood the saint, watching over their battle with her flag waving in the storm the clashing warriors created. Next to her stood a man dressed in a white uniform and an expression of rage marring his face, his hands absent off the marks.
The golden spear burning with the light of thousand suns and illuminating the darkness met its equal in the sword of pure gold shining with the wish, the desire, the honour, to exalt
::: Fate / Alliances :::
If we were to start at the beginning we would have to turn back the clock. Six months ago, while the sun was still shining above the lands of Romania a woman with hair as fair as the snowy mountains of the north and eyes as red as the evening sun walked towards a castle located around Trifas. She was accompanied by a few dozen maids dressed in white garbs as well as wearing white hats atop their hair. One of them carried a silver suitcase.
Darnic Preston Yggdmillennia was no stranger to them. He knew the moment that they sat food onto his territory who they were and why they arrived here. It wasn't that unexpected considering that one of his own stole from them, they must have traced it back to them and now they were met with this predicament.
"Gordes ,I hope you are prepared for your punishment." he addressed the man that was most likely responsible for this dilemma while the uninvited guest made their way across the fields that separated their castle from the city. Gordes Music Yggdmillennia looked at him in a mixture of horror and anger while his own creations ran around him towards the front entrance. They carried spears and swords both males and females with light brown hair and red eyes ready to die for their cause.
The woman at the front of the maids waved at them and smiled at their baffled reactions. "Greetings, my name is Irisviel von Einzbern. I am here in the name of the Einzbern to talk with Sir Darnic Preston Yggdmillennia."
One of their soldiers moved to the front, a woman, bowing slightly "Master Darnic will meet you at his study. If you would be so kind to follow me Lady Einzbern." she said while the guest smiled at her and followed behind while the rest parted to give them way. The delegation of maids behind the snowy haired one followed suit while some of them stared at the red eyed soldiers.
During their walk the homonculus in the front noted that the snowy haired one looked around in wonder, like a child, before their eyes met once again. The soldier quickly turned around but it was clear that the guest has seen her "Is it you first time?" she asked and the soldier didn't know what to answer "I mean, is it the first time you met a Homonculus like me?" The soldier remained silent while the guest seemed to find her silence answer enough.
When they entered the study Darnic was already seated with cups of teas placed atop the table. He watched the guests move while motioning for his servants to leave the room. No, he wasn't fool enough to try anything foul, especially considering that the Einzbern still held large sway in the middle European Mage circles.
"How may I help you Miss Einzbern?" he had to be cautious while dealing with them. There was no way that Jubsacht von Einzbern would send an inexperienced chick into a potential enemies den. They would need to gauge where they stood and if possible strike a deal with them. If worst comes to shove, they would need to kill them and that would result in more causalities on their side and he wanted to avoid this situation for as long as possible.
"Let us come clear then Mister Preston" he held back the twitch of his eye and the scowl that threatened to emerge "You have stolen something from us."
So they new. Of course they did, he himself killed the last Einzbern in the last war and they must have kept a close watch on his activities since then "You are talking about the Greater Grail."
The woman smiled, a sight he found rather befuddling since he was used to homunculi not emoting "Indeed. We know that you attempt to use the Backup System of the Grail and then declare your rebellion against the Magus Association." Darnic gasped, he didn't think they would know this much already "And we want to be part of this endeavour."
"Do explain, aren't the Einzbern still influential in the Clock Tower?" the homunculus shook her head while a sad smiled formed on her lips.
"Sadly our influence has dwindled over the years and the current movement that was head started by the El Melloi II has resulted in our exclusion on important matters. In fact, the Einzbern are currently a mocking stock of the Aristocratic Families for our failures in reviving the Third Magic and we together with the Ainsworth are probably going to be segregated within the next few decades. Lord Jubsacht together with Darius Ainsworth has decided that if the Yggdmillennia should attempt a rebellion we as well as the other clans are going to join them."
"And you want to make me believe that Jubsacht of all people would work together with the Ainsworth? Wasn't that clan already defunct since they could-" Darnic couldn't finish his bewildered speech, as he was now aware how they received this information, as Irisviel revealed the biggest surprise of the century.
"The Ainsworth are currently in possession of Pandora's box." No, it couldn't be "And while it is indeed empty, its mysteries remain intact. They also know that the Clock Tower will not allow them to hold onto their discoveries and therefore came to the Einzbern with said proposal."
"And what would you gain from this union?" he had to make sure that his composure wasn't lost. All of what the homunculus just said sounded too convenient to be the whole truth. Surely the discovery of Pandora's box could elevate the Ainsworth from a mediocre Magus Clan to one of the greatest that ever existed -something the Clock Tower was more then happy not to allow- a sentiment he shared with Darius Ainsworth, but they had refused his proposal before.
Darnic was well aware of the disgraced family and their spacial manipulation magecraft and he wanted to reach out to them but the Patriarch Darius refused. That family was also one of the few Magus Clans that remained mostly on the sidelines out of sight of the Association, hence someone whom he could share a fraction of his plans with. What happened beside the Clock Tower's intervention that made that old fool give up on his aspirations and kneel before the Einzbern. He also needed to know why the Einzbern of all people were willing to join their cause.
"To be honest" Irisviel began and her smile faded a little before the resolution in her eyes returned "We are rather grateful that you retrieved the Greater Grail, or to be more honest, that there is no need for a lesser Grail, this way all that is necessary to regain the 3rd Magic is to enter the Greater Grail and let it be bestowed upon me…"
Ah, of course. The Einzbern had been desperate to retrieve the Third Magic for decades, something that directly related to the creation of the Holy Grail War. And that clarified his suspicion at least on thee initial front, there are still a number of uncertain variables and he needed to snuff those out immediately otherwise he everything he worked on would be swept under the Einzbern.
"Why not join with the Association then-" had the Einzbern decided to side with them then it must mean that something on the Association's side was blocking them or "Or could it be that they had refused you?"
Irisviel nodded her eyes falling onto the cup of tea in front of her, she looked at him a little sheepishly and he sighed "Please have some."
"Thank you." she said and without hesitation took the cup and sipped on it. To be honest Darnic was confused. For all he knew the homunculus was sent to eliminate them, they were still enemies for all intents and proposes, and yet she didn't hesitate to take a cup of tea that might as well have been poisoned.
When she finished her sip Irisviel smiled apparently the tea was to her liking before she looked at him with the same determination as before "I don't know the details but it appeared that someone from the Church objected to the Einzbern's involvement in the Great Grail War."
What? Something like that was too suspicious. "And then you decided to ignore the middleman and came to us." so they had the high ground after all.
"Its mostly because we suspect that the Ruler Class we had summoned in the Third Grail War is involved somehow." Irisviel revealed taking another sip of her tea and giving thanks to the homunculus who refilled the cup. "You are aware that the Einzbern summoned an irregular Servant in the last war right?"
Darnic felt like a deer in front of headlights, unable to comprehend the absurd situation that were unfolding in front of him. "So you are saying that he hasn't disappeared after the war." as much as he didn't want that to be true, he did remember the Einzbern's Servant at the time, he did not know of his Class though, so hearing that that Servant had been a Ruler was unnerving.
"Its very likely. We had interrogated Risei Kotomine, the Overseer of the War at the time, about the fate of our Servant but he remained silent to the end. And through our investigations of the War we have discovered that his residue Prana wasn't left the mortal realm. It has mostly likely something to do with the Ruler Class's special privileges." Irisviel explained with a clear voice but it was mostly likely a front since she probably didn't know more than that.
"I see. If that is the case then we will need to make certain preparations." if what he heard was true than that meant that this war was going to become very difficult to navigate through. If the Einzbern were so desperate as to investigate a member of the Church then that meant that they needed more allies. Allies that could protect them from both the Association as well as the Church. Meaning that if he were to go through with his preparations and proclaimed his organizations existence to the Magical Community, then both Einzebern and Ainsworth would side with him.
A smile formed on his lips "So am I right to assume that you wish to partake in the war then." he couldn't allow them access to the Greater Grail just like that. He knew that the woman in front of him was going to suggest something similar. He had seen one of the maids carry a suitcase which might contain a relic to summon a certain hero.
"Indeed. It would be foolish to ask if you could allow me into the Greater Grail, that is why Lord Jubsacht has sent me as well as some of our best combat maids in preparations for the upcoming war. The Ainsworth representative will arrive in Trifas at a later time since they are still in the process of excavation." the albino was smiling, clearly understanding the situation she was in.
"You?"
"Yes. I am currently capable of holding three Servants." as expected of an Einzbern homunculus "but I was mostly chosen to provide support for both you as well as that little thief of yours." she said with a smirk and Darnic couldn't help but snicker as well, so they already knew how they were going to provide the Servants when they were summoned "If you don't mind, I would like to provide for our Servant."
"Of course. But if you don't mind; Could you tell me which Heroic Sprit you wish to call upon. I already saw that you had an artefact prepared." she smiled at him, in a way that made Darnic aware that he had been played with.
Because Irisviel, instead of answering him, called forth with blinding light a scabbard. Not any old sheath but the one and only scabbard of one of the most legendary knights and kings that ever existed. She laughed at his befuddlement clearly happy that she managed to surprise him before she added "I am assuming that you intent to summon this countries father."
He had to admit it. The woman Irisviel von Einzbern was more than met the eye. "Indeed. It is one of the reasons why we acquired these lands to begin with." he smiled, raising his cup for a toast "But it will be truly reassuring to know that another great legend might join us. I do have to ask though; what is in that suitcase?"
"The last fragments of Caliburn." the homunculus revealed clipping her own cup against his and supping on it, showing that she was drinking her joy of surprising him alongside it.
Darnic Preston Yggdmillennia rarely was so surprised, but he knew that for the first time in years he might actually be no match for someone, that person being the woman in front of him. He needed to be careful of her and Ainsworth but for the moment he might enjoy the company of this unusual individual.
::: Part A End :::was a strange sight, her grandfather smiling like a child while discussing horrendous ideas regarding the Grail War with an homunculus. Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia was invited alongside her Uncle Gordes for a round table gathering. Gordes looked like he wanted to run away and she could very well understand why. In front of them was the very creation her uncle had tried to replicate: An Einzbern Homunculus.
Said homunculus however emoted way more than anything she had seen before. She had seen the maids on her way to Darnic's study and marvelled at their beauty but this one was special even amongst all of them. The woman who introduced herself as Irisviel von Einzbern was both beautiful and oh so human, like a child that saw the world for the first time and she probably did if what Fiore had heard of the Einzbern was true.
"Gordes, for all your failures you actually managed to something right." Darnic said with a smile, and she had to stifle the laugh that tried to escape her lips. Gordes looked like an over inflated balloon ready to justify himself but the not stifled laughter of the Einzbern lady interrupted anything he might have attempted to convey.
"Lady Irisviel will be joining our cause for the duration of the war and hopefully even to the future" Darnic said picking up one of his chess pieces modelled after all Servant Classes, the knight, and placed it in front of Irisviel "She will summon the Servant Saber. I am telling this to both of you first at her suggestion."
"What?! But I was supposed to be the Master of Saber!" Gordes roared but stilled once his eyes met grandfather's. Fiore felt bad for him as he was promised this chance for a long time now but she too believed that it might be better not to hand him this much power. Her uncle tended to, well, overact.
"Furthermore, you will both pose in her stead as the Master of Saber, as well as allow the Einzbern to take over Homunculi production. It was their craft that you borrowed after all."
"Wha-! You can't be serious! How can you just ignore all the progress we made! Only because this vixen-" whatever else he wanted to shout was stopped by Miss Irisviel who abruptly stood up from her seat and walked right at the Homunculus next to Gordes. His eyes were filled with anger and he was slowly turning red from all the blood pressure building up inside of him.
Fiore however was interested in how motherly Irisviel touched and examined Gordes creation, smiling and nodding before taking its hand "Greetings, I am Irisviel. Do you also have a name?" her eyes widened when the homunculus shook his head and started to look down. "I see. Would you like to have one?" a rather hesitant second filled the room while Gordes anger seemed to have peaked.
"Why would you ask-" he was interrupted however when pure red eyes stared right into his. At that moment Fiore knew that this wasn't just an homunculus with high intelligence but one with emotions. The white haired lady turned back to the homunculus who nodded and Irisviel shook its hand happily.
"They are remarkable" she said which her uncle clearly hadn't expected as he started to gape and blush "with just a couple alterations they can be more independent and live longer." red irises focused back on him , this time less hostile, "You did a good job on copying our Magecraft and it looks like it might one day surpass ours if your homunculi are this intelligent after just a few months of incubating."
Flattery. This lady was wrapping her uncle around her finger with both her charm and intimidation. Fiore looked at the Einzbern homunculus with newfound respect. She would need to learn form the Lady Irisviel how to use her charms and how to be persuasive if she wanted to take over the Clan. It was then that Irisviel looked at her as well. The albino lowered herself to her level and held out her hand in a greeting.
"Now that the formalities are out of the way-" Darnic started before being interrupted again, this time it was the sound of a hungry beast ready to devour a whole cow. All eyes fell on Irisviel who blushed profusely "Maybe we should have the servants bring us dinner before we continue with our planning."
After a couple of dishes the group sat around the coffee table in Darnic's study, readying the chess pieces on the board. Irisviel kept closer to Fiore than to Gordes or Darnic, the latter not minding it while the former looked ready to bounce someone.
"As previously mentioned we will have Gordes as the mock Master for the Saber-Class Servant while Lady Irisviel remains within the castle." Uncle Gordes begrudgingly growled in agreement "Then there is the involvement of the Ainsworth. We don't know them yet but from what I heard of Lady Irisviel is that they will attempt to summon Assassin."
"Does that mean that Hyouma isn't-" she interjected already suspecting who else might get the axe in this alliance. Truthfully speaking she was grateful that the man wasn't going to join them as a fellow Master. His curses used humans as sacrifices and from what she heard he wanted to attempt summoning Jack the Ripper of all people as Assassin.
"Yes, he won't be a Master. With him and Gordes's exclusion we have five of our own and two from outside. This way we may be able to surprise our enemies of the Red Faction." Darnic remained calm and collect just the way Fiore knows him, although the way Irisviel looked at him was rather humorous.
"Is that how we will call our alliance?" she asked cocking her head to a side, the youngest in the room found the action reminiscent of a bird and smiled a little on the inside.
"Indeed." her grandfather answered not even looking at the homunculus "Fiore" he looked at her with pride in his eyes while addressing her, she knew that he mainly called her to teach her the values necessary as a leader of Yggdmillennia and how to interact with potential allies. This was a lesson she was going to learn sooner than later anyway and she was grateful that at least for this gathering Miss Irisviel was the other party.
"Yes Grandfather."
"Has Caules managed to secure a catalyst?" So that's what we are going to do, Fiore smiled and nodded waiting for him to continue and confirm whether they would reveal the Servants they had intended to summon or not to Miss Irisviel. "I take that you already choose your Servant." Was it a show of trust? Her thoughts were revolving around that question and she suspected that he already knew which Heroic Spirit Miss Irisviel was going to summon. No harm then.
"Yes, I intent to summon Chiron the wisest of the Centaur." she smiled at the childish expression of joy on Irisviel's face.
"The legendary teacher and son of Chronos. A wise choice for a powerful ally." the Einzbern muttered. Although she was interrupted just as Gordes slammed his fist on the table. He glared at the woman in front of him with unabashed anger clearly showing on hi face. She wanted to scoff at his actions but Miss Irisviel had an other idea "Which Servant would you have summoned?" Whether that question was meant to agitate her uncle farther or keep him from unleashing his fury, Fiore couldn't decide. But at least it seemed to have cooled him off a little.
"I intended to summon Siegfried. I acquired a catalyst not too long ago."
"I see, the hero of the Nibelung Song. He would have been a powerful Saber." Would have? so that truly meant that the Einzbern had already decided on which Hero was going to be summoned. Gordes apparently also got the message and fumed, yet despite that he remained on his seat. Fiore's eyes travelled to her grandfather and held her breath.
He had an expression of utter glee on his face.
Not once in her life had she seen him make that face. Not even when he announced her to be the heir of the Yggdmillennia. It was an expression that both confirmed that he knew whom the Einzern will summon as well as made sure that nobody would question it any further.
"Of course Vlad Tepes III will take the charge." Irisviel continued "His stats will be boosted significantly since he's summoned in his homelands. With Chiron we have a wise sage at the bow but I suppose you have already decided on who the Caster Class will be." she raised an eyebrow. Why was the Caster Class that important? Fiore wondered but returned her eyes to Darnic who laughed slightly.
"Of course. we intent to summon Lancer as well as Caster two months before the start of the Great Holy Grail War, that will give us enough time to prepare should the Magus Association decide to intervene earlier then intended." the homunculus nodded at that information.
"If that is the case, then please allow us to postpone their arrival as long as possible." the albino said placing her right hand above her heart "We already prepared a copy of me that will try to press the Clock Tower on the whereabouts of the Grail." Miss Irisviel said with so much clarity that Fiore couldn't help but believe her.
"In that case to avoid further suspicion we will instruct our own operators not to engage with yours. The Association probably already knows that we have infiltrated their ranks-" he was about to continue when Miss Irisviel shook her head "Is something the matter?"
"I believe we should actually arrange some confrontations between our parties at unspecified times." the homunculus interjected holding up a finger "If the Magus Association already knows that the Yggdmillennia have infiltrated the Clock Tower, then it is save to assume that they keep a close eye on our actions. They need to be aware that we, the Einzbern, suspect the Yggdmillenia to have stolen the Greater Grail, a fact that should only be known by the Department of Summoning and the leadership within the Clock Tower."
"A ruse." Fiore concluded aloud, unintentionally of course, but judging from the bright smile on Miss Irisviel's lips she felt reassured that her opinion mattered. A knock interrupted the conversation and one of the Einzbern maids entered the study.
"Milady, we wanted to inform you that the Ainsworth have telegraphed us that they will arrive shortly." the maid said with an emotionless tone before taking out a piece of paper and handing it to her superior.
"Uhm, how did they-" she started before a tear in the fabric of space opened. A young man with black hair dressed in a black uniform and glasses stepped out of the tear and stood right before the Einzbern women. He was followed by a pale skinned women with light brown hair tied up in twin tails, who was clearly taller than him, wearing a formfitting maid dress.
"Greetings lady Einzbern. Lord Yggdmillennia. My name is Julian Ainsworth, the representative of the Ainsworth family." he stated while his cold impassive voice travelled through the room "It seems to me that the Yggdmillennia have become careless if an intruder such as I could infiltrate your castle."
"I apologize for my little brother. Despite being the heir of the Ainsworth he is still a teenager at heart and wanted to make a dramatic entry like the shows he watches on Television." the taller of the newcomers stated while Julian turned towards her with a look that might kill "We have also been in the city for nearly a week and waited for the arrival of Lady Einzbern for additional dramatic effect."
"Angelica." Julian seethed, an action Fiore saw her own little brother do and she send a sympathetic glance towards Angelica. Said maid simply bowed, not showing any form of emotion, she even ignored her brothers displeased look and patted him on his head like a puppy.
"Do not say that Lady Ainsworth, I was well aware that your family was capable of tearing the fabric of space but I wasn't aware that it was that potent." Darnic said with a smile twitching on his lips. Fiore had to eye her grandfather, wondering if he knew of the newcomers existence in their territory beforehand.
Julian turned to him glaring at the older man before he attempted to open his mouth "Fret not only I in my capacity as a maid am capable of opening space to the extend like this." alas Angelica said interrupting him and the boy shot her a glare that could have many despicable implications. The maid however remained impassive and the adults in the room apparently came to the same conclusion -minus Gordes of course-.
"So the price for your power is your lack of emotions." Fiore stated and the maid nodded in reply. She had to think about this though, if the Ainsworth were willing to reveal this much of their craft then they truly intended to become a member of their alliance. However another part of Angelica's introduction of her brother bothered her more. If it was true than the Ainsworth just handed them not only their most powerful servant but the heir of the clan on a silver platter.
"Of course I'm not the only one." Julian said as if reading her mind, yet his words were more directed to the two most important ones at the table. Both Darnic as well as Irisviel looked at the boy with expectant eyes apparently already figuring out what this meant.
After the more formal introductions of every member of the alliance all parties including Fiore and Gordes were presented with three Geass contracts. Each one from the corresponding alliance partner. In short, for the Yggmillenia side, the families agree that Einzbern and Ainsworth are allowed to summon their own Servant and fight alongside the Yggdmillennia against the Magus Association.
The Einzbern remained on their stands to be allowed to converse with the Grail and will then join the Great Grail War with their own Saber Class Servant; they specify however that neither of the other two parties are allowed to operate the Grail in any form or fashion as long as Irisviel von Einzbern has been granted the audience with the Greater Grail.
And Ainsworth, simply want to be allowed to summon a specified Servant after the Einzbern have begun to operate the Grail. They too don't want to be betrayed but they made it clear that the box f Pandora has to be stored alongside the Greater Grail and be kept safe form the association.
With those contracts signed the three families then lived within the walls of the Castle until the promised day of the summoning.
::: Part B End :::