-Jeannes PoV-
Jeanne knew something was wrong before she even opened her eyes given that she woke up without the normal gasp and panic. She was still emotionally wrung out from where Micheal had helped her find her wish with his help. Not long after that Rider and Waver had shown up and they had all spent the rest of yesterday planning with both on what to do next. After a quick dinner and saying farewell to both of them she and Micheal had gone to bed. They both knew that they needed to be awake and rested for the things to come. Clearly, however, something or someone was intent on pissing her off. She shifted a bit in her bed, not opening her eyes, and sent out a small pulse of mana more meant to simply detect than anything more complex.
The information she got back made her snap open her eyes.
There was a servant or something close enough in the house and they had gotten in without tripping any of the bounded fields or wards.
She felt her combat instinct activate only for something to gently wash over her like a soft blanket weakening her instinct considerably.
She groaned in response as she was briefly tempted to roll over and go back to sleep. She knew exactly who it had to be to pull off getting into the house on top of being able to suppress her like this. Feeling annoyed she sat up and glanced at her dresser debating on if she should get changed out of her pajamas. Deciding to just get this over with she slowly walked to her door and opened it to sense an all too familiar mana in the kitchen.
"Of course she'd be in the damn kitchen." Jeanne grumbled as she stepped out into the hallway proper to see that someone had turned on the kitchen lights. Walking to the kitchen she heard a woman humming a 15th century Frankish marching anthem and she opened the door to glare at her other self who turned around and smiled happily,
"Alte-"
"Shhhh!" Alter said putting a finger up to her mouth and shushing her normal self who snapped her mouth shut and nodded several times. Alter stepped into the kitchen, looking behind her into the hallway to make sure no one else was awake, and then closed the door. She sighed and turned around to see her normal self mere centimeters away from her face with a wide smile. Quickly stifling her urge to slug her, Alter sidestepped around her, and walked to the kitchen counter to see that the Saint had been attempting to make coffee.
'Attempting' is doing a lot of heavy lifting it seems though.
Alter thought wryly to herself as she cleaned up the mess and began making a light cup of coffee for both of them. She looked to her left and jumped a bit seeing Jeanne leaning past her to watch. She flicked her amethyst eyes up to look into her golden ones and smiled serenely,
"I've never thought I'd be made coffee by my counterpart." She said happily in a lower voice than before. Alter rolled her eyes and motioned to the table for her to sit while she massaged her temple wondering if she was low on mana given the headache she was getting,
"Well don't get used to it. Why are you even here? How are you here?" Alter hissed out through clenched teeth, "Last time I checked this war didn't need a Ruler Servant to intervene in anything."
"Oh no. This is entirely a personal visit." the blonde said smiling, "I wanted to see how you were doing is all."
Alter gave her a flat look,
"You materialized here. In the middle of a Holy Grail War. For the sole reason of 'checking up on me'? Pull the other one."
Saint Jeanne blinked and tilted her head clearly not understanding. Alter for her part groaned realizing that if she said anything else from the Modern era she'd need to explain it. Instead she walked over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down causing the Saint to do the same. Alter rested her cheek in her hand and arched an eyebrow,
"So? Why are you here."
"I told you-"
"and I'm saying you're full of shit. What happened."
The Saint's smile suddenly became a bit more forced as Alter felt a chill run down her back,
"Before I explain, I need to know: What is your wish?"
Alter stiffened and narrowed her eyes,
"That is between me and my master. What does it have to do with-"
"Possibly everything Jeanne D'Arc Alter. What is your wish?"
Alter blinked at the directness coming from her normal self. At that moment the timer dinged signaling that the water was boiling. Alter held up a finger and got up to move to make the coffee. She got it to the steeping step and then moved back to the table where Jeanne hadn't moved. She sat back down and leaned back in the chair,
"I wished to have my own life that I can live on my own terms. Happy?"
Silence for several seconds then,
"You can't reincarnate. You do know this correct?" Jeanne D'Arc asked quietly as Alter froze as the cold water of realization slid down her back,
"This...has something to do with how I was created. Doesn't it?"
The saint nodded and Alter let out a groan as she laid her head down on the table. She waved her hand theatrically,
"Well lets hear it then. Lets hear how my wish isn't fucking possible in any fucking timeline."
She could sense her other self glaring at her rudeness and took some measure of satisfaction in being able to get her to do that. She felt knuckles being gently tapped on the back of her head, making her look up,
"I never said it couldn't come true. I just said you couldn't reincarnate."
Alter's eyes widened and sat upright staring at the Saint who blinked at the sudden change in atmosphere. She raised her eyebrows and chuckled a bit,
"I don't think I've ever seen you be this interested in anything. Although I do wonder who helped you find your wish. He must be very kind."
Alter narrowed her eyes a this and pointedly ignored her correct guess about Micheal,
"What do you know about me. I made it a point to kill you in my singularity."
"Ah but my dear Alter self, you know that other timelines exist do you not? It is after all how you are here. Summoned by the man from beyond time and space, in whose lap you died, with a promise to reunite as the only thing binding you both together."
The Saint sighed happily as Alter ground her teeth together,
"Keep it up and I'm putting salt in your coffee instead of sugar. Get to the damn point."
"You've changed since you died. Have you noticed? If you were still the same as you were you would have killed me the minute you sensed me."
"And? Whats your point? I've gotten weak?"
Saint Jeanne shook her head and smiled at her counterparts simmering anger,
"You've gotten more human. You've learned to feel emotions beyond what you were allowed to feel within your singularity and timeline. Some of those emotions even seem to be-"
"Can you stop? Just stop bringing up whatever it is between my master and I. I've already accepted that its entirely one sided. I don't even know the real reason he wanted to put my wish into my head."
Alter said bitterly as she got up to finish the making the coffee. She asked what her other self wanted and was told a bit of creamer with three cubes of sugar. A minute or two later they were sipping their coffee although Alter had taken hers black as usual.
"You know we share the same preferences in taste as well right?"
Alter rolled her eyes and took another sip savoring the bitterness,
"Whatever. Whats your point about me becoming more human?"
"If you were to reincarnate...you'd come back exactly as you were when you were first created. No memories of your time as the Dragon Witch….or memories of your time with your Master. You'd only have whatever Gilles decided you'd have at baseline."
Alter frowned and stared into her coffee.
On the one hand, not having to deal with this constant heartbreak sounds nice….but I also remember what I was like back then.
Her frown deepened,
I don't want Micheal to see me like that. Ever.
She blinked at this thought and muttered,
"Why do I care what he sees me like…"
Soft laughter came across from her and she looked up to see the blonde giving her a knowing look. Gritting her teeth, Alter rested her elbow on the table and pointed a finger at the Saint,
"I mean it. Next cup has salt in it. Don't think I won't."
"Of course, Of course." Saint Jeanne said still chuckling, "So reincarnation is out but if you are willing to listen then I have a suggestion in place of it. A suggestion that will let you retain everything you've experienced so far."
That got Alter's attention. She snapped her eyes onto her counterpart,
"What is it."
"No hesitation at all." the Saint said with a low whistle, "I won't pry into why your so interested-"
"Good. Because its none of your business anyway."
"but I will tell you none the less before I have to leave."
"At least your leaving soon then. First lets hear this alternate method."
The Saint smiled,
"You take the grail into yourself to fuel your existence after the war. You'd keep the… progress you've made as a person and you'd never have to worry about anyone seeing you as you were when Gilles first created you."
Alter folded her arms and stared at her half drunk coffee as her mind raced before she noticed her other self looking at her with a smile. She glared back,
"And whats the catch then?"
The blonde sighed and curled her fingers around her own coffee,
"As an extra class servant, specifically as an Avenger, you take in much more mana just by existing than you would as one of the standard classes. The only reason you haven't had any issues is because your Master is veritable ocean of the stuff but even then he is still human which means his mana capacity is limited. A Grail core would supplement that and make it so that you'd never really have to rely on your master again…. however its not infinite. It will run out at which point you will need to get another core if you want to keep staying around."
"How long would one last me?"
"With no fighting or excessive mana usage? Just over 10 years. No more than 13."
Alter tapped the table with a finger lost in thought before shaking her head and refocusing,
"What the official reason you're here then. Don't give me that crap about 'checking up on me' either."
Immediately the Saints smile was replaced with a frown,
"How much do you remember of the 'God' that gave you control over the Orleans Singularity?"
"Nothing more than whatever Gilles wanted to tell me or I figured out on my own. Why?"
"Because he's in this timeline…. and Micheal is in his direct path. In every timeline from the moment he helps you find your wish he fights that being at the end of it all."
Alter went still as her mind reeled from the implications. She opened her mouth unable to speak past the ball in her throat. Her counterpart sitting across from her nodded, her own frown deepening,
"If Micheal survives this Grail war then he'll need to train to get stronger. You both will. If for no other reason than to have the slimmest chance of surviving."
"...how long. How long do we have until we have to face him?"
Alters hand curled into a fist as she fought to keep her mana under control so she didn't wake Micheal or anyone else.
"2017. You need to be ready to kill him by then."
She felt her nerves fall away as she slumped into her chair,
"2017? Thats over 30 years away and-"
Her eyes widened as she realized something,
"Micheal- We have to go through… more grail wars?"
She looked at Jeanne D'Arc who nodded sadly,
"If the method you use to continue your existence is the Grail Core method then yes. You both will."
Alter ground her teeth together and shook her head,
"I have 13 years to figure out a different solution. We can worry about it then."
"Oh? And whats got you so certain you'll have one figured out by then?"
Alter scoffed,
"Because if I haven't by then Micheal will have. He's the one who wants to keep me around for whatever reason. ...Whats that look for."
Alter narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the smile sitting on the face of the other woman opposite her that was eerily similar to the ones Amelia would have while Alter was pretending to be Micheals girlfriend.
"You're both so blind its honestly adorable."
Jeanne finally felt her frustration almost boil over but she managed to rein herself back in,
"If thats all you have dropped by to say then I'd like you to leave."
"Of course, of course~" Jeanne D'Arc cheerily said standing up from her chair causing Alter to stand up as well, "As much as I'd love to meet the man who caught your heart~"
Alter groaned and made sure to walk just behind the Saint to make sure she didn't take any detours. They finally made it to the front door and it was only then that Alter noticed that the Ruler had put on house slippers leaving her armored sabatons by the front door. The sight of the platemail thighboots beside normal shoes was just absurd enough to make her lip twitch up a bit before she refocused on getting her counterpart out of the house.
After they both put on their respective shoes they walked onto the front yard to see a layer of frost on the grass. Alter rubbed her hands together and shivered a bit as her pajamas didn't do much to keep out the cold. She looked at the Saint pointedly only for the other woman to sigh and fold her arms in response,
"Before I leave. Pull it out."
Alter paused and narrowed her eyes,
"Pull...what out."
"Blessed Hellfire. Specifically your version."
Alter blinked,
"How do you-"
"A Divine Construct was forged in the modern era well after the Age of Gods. A lot more people than me noticed. I want to see it."
Jeanne stared at Alters hands as she rolled her eyes and held out a hand summoning the pistol in a flash of the usual blackened flames. The saint narrowed her eyes and slowly reached out to touch it before stopping herself. She sighed,
"I… can help make your version stronger. If you want. Since your mana is just a darkened version of my own I should be able to help with that much."
Alter raised an eyebrow,
"Whatever happened to Rulers being impartial?"
The Saint winked at her and held an armored finger to her lips. Alter sighed and held out the pistol so it hung off her finger and pointed down. Jeanne closed her eyes and began to glow white only for that glow to slowly darken and redden as she reached out her hand and held it over the pistol as it began to glow the same color. Slowly the glow suffused the weapon and it changed its form. The barrel elongated becoming wider while the grip flowed backwards into something similar to a stockless musket. The trigger guard expanded, widening, and growing to encompass all of Alters fingers.
The glow faded and Alter stared at the weapon in her hand. It was light enough to wield one handed and using the knowledge the grail gave her, she experimentally spun the gun around her in her hand which pulled the metal loop forward only to set back into place with a metallic clacking sound as the grip fell back into her hand.
She looked at her other self who seemed just as surprised as she was. Alter spun it again smirking a bit. The feeling of it spinning around in her hand was almost addictive. The Saint coughed before Alter could spin it a third time and she leveled a look at her normal self who just smiled apologetically as she began to fade,
"Looks like that took the last of the mana I used to manifest. Alter."
She looked into the saints amythest eyes to see an all too familiar determination,
"Win this thing and get your wish. Got it?"
Alter smirked and nodded letting Blessed Hellfire vanish into embers as she mock saluted. The Saint huffed a bit, smiled, and waved as she faded completely.
#####
-Micheals PoV-
"And you're sure you remembered everything?" Micheal prompted his mother again with a sly grin only for her to give him an annoyed look. He was leaning against the side of the convertible that he and Jeanne had driven earlier due to the fact that the car Amelia had 'acquired' and been driving the night before had been towed by the police. They thankfully hadn't decided to try and find out who had stolen it because they were still trying to figure out how an entire section of road lifted itself out of the ground to block their pursuit.
That had been an interesting talk with the police that was made even more interesting by the fact that Jeanne was the one who answered the door right as the sun was coming up. Which meant that Micheal had to go save the local police who had decided to try and play 'good cop, bad cop' with an Avenger servant first thing in the morning.
Which is generally not a good idea for your long term health.
He thought wryly as between him and his mother they had managed to erase all evidence of the spell Amelia had used to lift the road, which included modifying the recordings from the traffic cameras which had taken a few hours on its own.
"Yes. I am sure I got everything and if, for whatever reason I did leave something, then I expect you to bring it back with you." Amelia said with a huff as she lifted another suitcase out of the trunk and set it on the ground. Rolling his eyes Micheal intercepted her hand as she popped the handle and went to grab it.
"I am not crippled Micheal."
Amelia snapped and yanked the suitcase handle back as Micheal surrendered and suppressed a smile at his mothers temper. The other door to the car opened and Jeanne got out holding Sakuras hand as they walked up next to them. Micheal tried and failed to not stare at his servant as she walked up to them.
Never knew a white t-shirt and blue jeans could look that good…..
He shook his head clear and lead them into the airport proper. He walked with them all the way to the gate where Amelia turned to look at him and Jeanne after they had sat down in the nearby chairs. She tapped out a rhythm on the armrest causing a privacy and illusion bounded field to pop up around them.
She stared at him and Jeanne before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath,
"Promise me you'll come home safely. Please."
Micheal's eyes widened and it hit him just then how worried he must have been making her with all of this given the fact she sounded like she was begging.
"I promise I'll bring him back Amelia." Jeanne said before he could respond and they stared into each others eyes for a few seconds before Amelia's face melted into a soft smile and she nodded before turning her gaze back to Micheal.
"I am going to give you one last piece of advice Micheal Lafaire and I want you to carve this into your soul: 'Just surviving is winning. As long as you survive, you've won.' Repeat that back to me."
"Just surviving is winning. As long as we survive, We've won."
Micheal and Jeanne said at the same time before they both blinked and looked at each other to Amelias amusement. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair mentally running through everything they still had to do only for Jeanne to lightly smack him on the shoulder. He turned to look at her and she nodded to Sakura who was trying to get his attention. He got out of his seat and knelt in front of her smiling a bit,
"Thanks again Mr. Micheal for saving me. I promise I'll help you when you need it too." She said in Japanese. He reached out and patted her head causing her smile to widen as she wrapped her arms around Micheals neck to hug him.
"Hopefully you won't need to help me too soon Sakura." He replied back as he felt Sakura suddenly stiffen against him as his warning bells went off. He stood up slowly and placed a hand on Sakuras head as he looked around. He noticed that both Amelia and Jeanne were on edge and he opened his mouth to speak when the PA system crackled to life overhead as he felt an all too familiar vile mana float through the air,
"Apologies in advance dear passengers but we are now calling all flights for boarding and take off immediately. Please present your ticket to the conductor and board immediately, Again…."
Micheal locked eyes with Jeanne who nodded silently letting him know she sensed it too and went off to find where the broadcast room was. He looked at his mother who was staring at the PA speaker with narrowed eyes and got her attention. He quickly tapped his fingers on his thigh to link into the bounded field his mother set up, took control of it, and jacked everything it did to 200%. Amelia immediately felt the control of the field shift from her to him followed by the increase in power. She snapped her gaze to him about to ask what he was doing when he interrupted her,
"Matou Zouken is likely boarding or already on one of these planes. I know you plan to kill him for what he did to Sakura but you need to make sure she is safe first before you go on your vengeance spree. Once you get to France do not stop for anything until Sakura is behind the mansions walls and in Desmonds care."
Micheal felt Sakura clutch to the leg of pants and he knelt down again summoning Blessed Hellfire in its pistol form after making sure the bounded fields were working. He held it out for her to see and her eyes locked onto it as she visibly relaxed seeing its silver gleam.
"Sakura. I need you to be strong for me okay?"
She firmed her lips and nodded frantically causing the ribbon in her hair to bounce back and forth, He smiled and asked his mom in English,
"You're planning on adopting her right?"
Amelia sighed,
"I was. Yes. Her last name for right now is Matou but she was originally from the Tohsaka family based on what she's told me."
Micheal nodded and stared into Sakuras eyes,
"Sakura. Would you like to live with us? You'll never have to come back here if you don't want to but you'll need to keep being strong for me for right now, okay?"
Sakuras eyes began to fill with tears as she nodded again,
"I want to live with you and Amelia. I… don't have anyone else anymore."
Micheal smiled and rubbed her head again,
"Then as of right now you are Sakura Lafaire. Do your new name proud, okay?"
Micheal smiled as she tried out the name in her mouth and looked up at his mom,
"She says she wants to live with us."
He stood up and noticed Jeanne jogging back out of the corner of his vision. She shook her head.
"Shit….okay. Get on the plane. Both of you. Now"
Amelia nodded and gave Micheal one final hug,
"Come back home in one piece...okay?"
"Okay. I will. Now go."
Amelia reached up and ruffled his hair as she pulled away. Then she grabbed Sakuras hand and they walked to the conductor, handed them their tickets, then turned the corner onto the plane and slowly faded from Micheals mana sense.
"Who killed them."
He asked his servant who had silently come up to stand next to him to watch them leave as well. She huffed, clearly annoyed,
"Who do you think. I scorched the bugs and left the bodies mostly intact along with most of the equipment. Just enough damage to everything to obscure what killed them alongside any tampering the bug might have done."
Micheal nodded and began to walk back to the entrance of the airport with Jeanne right behind him.
They had a war to win.
~~~~~~
Micheal narrowed his eyes and shifted down to a lower gear as he and Jeanne drove into the outer limits of Fuyuki. He didn't even have to use his mana sense to know something was wrong given that the air itself felt abnormal. He glanced at Jeanne and saw her drumming her fingers on her door as her eyes flicked back and forth searching for enemies,
"Can you tell what it is?" He asked causing golden eyes to turn to him as she turned her head a bit to look at him,
"Its...vague…" She started hesitantly as her eyes widened and she shoved her foot over to slam on the brakes while placing a hand in front of Micheals chest to stop him from slamming into the steering wheel. He shook his head but before he could ask what was wrong she had torn off her seatbelt and vaulted over her door to run to the side of the road. Micheal pulled over to the side, flicked on his hazards, and got out of the car to jog over to where Jeanne was kneeling having already shifted into her armor.
He came up to her and saw what had made her act that way...or rather he sensed what it was. He activated his mana sight and visually traced the glowing trail of mana that lead up to the edge of the city limits, seemed to meander a bit, and then went back into the city along the very road they were driving on. He turned off his eyes, shaking his head a bit at the small amount of pain it caused him, and summoned Blessed Hellfire in its rifle form as Jeanneo continued to do whatever she was doing. After about a minute she broke into rapid fire swearing that was so fast Micheal couldn't understand most of it.
She turned to look at him, her eyes glowing still from her using her mana,
"The Grail…. Somethings come out of it...."
Micheal stared at her, lowering his rifle unconsciously in shock, before he firmed his lips and nodded,
"We can figure out details later. We need to move."
"I can move faster on my own. Get Waver and Rider on the phone. Get to the house, I'll meet you there."
Micheal nodded as Jeanne turned on her heel, started sprinting, and then jumped into fog that Micheal didn't notice was there at first until he saw Jeanne vanish. He blinked and the fog thickened in his vision. He jogged back to the car, hit the ignition, activated his eyes, and gunned it down the roads. As he got more and more into Fuyuki the corruption of the grail became more and more apparent. He blew through an intersection and pulled out his phone hitting the only other number he had saved in it under the name "Squirt". He put it on speaker and slammed the clutch to drift around a corner as the phone rang until finally someone picked up,
"Waver. I need to meet-"
"Oh, are you one of Wavers friends?"
Micheal blinked and glanced at the phone to make sure he called the right number as he heard an old womans voice on the other end of the line. He vaguely remembered Waver saying something about finding a house to live in for the grail war and ground his teeth together,
"Yes ma'am. I'm one of his friends. He was supposed to meet me at my house-" Micheal swerved between half melted cars as whatever had crawled out of the grail had left a trail of destruction in its wake, "To talk about a….. book we're writing together. The thing is I've been waiting for half an hour for him to get here and haven't heard from him at all."
Silence over the phone and then, "Well thats rude of him. I apologize for that. Let me go find the boy."
Then the phone was left on empty air for a minute that Micheal used to slow down and scan the environment around him. He was driving at random for right now until he got hold of Waver and the more he saw the more unnerved he got. He shifted down a gear as he drove by a storefront that had a giant dark red marks going across it at various angles as though something had been splattered against and then dragged across the front of the building like a child dragging a crayon across a wall.
He heard movement on the other end of the phone line and quickly shifted back into a higher gear. He floored the gas and the tires screeched as he spun out a bit before the rubber finally bit into the pavement and he shot forward right as Waver spoke into the phone,
"Micheal its not safe-"
"I know. I'm on my way back to my house now. How much of this does the family your staying with know about."
Silence and then, "Enough to know to lock their doors and stay inside. Look I've been doing testing on some samples and-"
"Waver just bring it all over to my house. Surely you can stuff it all in Riders chariot. Get over to my house as fast as you can."
"Micheal, no, I mean-"
"WAVER. MOVE YOUR ASS MAN."
Micheal finally yelled into the phone and he heard Waver drop it as it clattered to the floor. A few more seconds of dead air and then,
"We'll be over in less than five minutes. Apologies in advance for your yard, Micheal Lafaire."
Micheal grinned at Iskandars voice and he hung up right as he saw something move in his future sight. It would impact the side of the car and send him rolling into a building almost killing him outright. He swore and twisted the steering wheel to the side skidding to a stop as the back tires swung out right as something that looked like solidified blood red sludge shot out from an alleyway missing the now stopped car by less than a meter. Micheal only got a passing glance at the monster as it stood in the alleyway between two buildings and that would be enough to give him nightmares for the rest of his days.
It was the color of rotting blood, was easily four meters tall, and looked vaguely humanoid. Looking at it directly made Micheals eyes hurt so he looked at the ground under its "feet" and saw that it was causing the pavement under its feet to rot. As though it were flesh being slowly eaten away by bacteria. His origin activated and he summoned Blessed Hellfire: Fusil, laid the handguard on the drivers side door, and fired it on fully automatic, punching holes through the monster and causing it to burn away into white ash. He watched the ash settle onto the ground as he then felt a chill down his spine causing him to look back the way he came.
The fog parted and he saw that whatever the rotting blood substance was that the monster had been made of was slowly creeping its way up the road-
No.
Not creeping up the road.
It was eating the road.
Even from this distance Micheal could feel the curses coming off of the stuff like a damn sprinkler. He aimed Blessed Hellfire: Fusil at the incoming tide and swore as he realized he'd need more than a pistol or rifle to make a path to get out.
I'd need a fucking flamethrower to clear this shit out...
He thought as put the divine construct away, shifted the car into gear, and sped away from whatever the stuff was as fast as he could.
####
Micheal immediately saw what Rider meant when he drifted around the corner onto the road to the house and saw the smoking crater where his front yard used to be. He ran the convertible up onto the curb, killed the engine, and ran up to the front door. Yanking it open he immediately heard shouting from the living room. He kicked off his shoes, ran to the room, and rounded the corner just in time to see Jeanne summon her sword while Rider was drawing his blade as well,
"ENOUGH."
Micheal blinked and his eyes locked onto Waver who had gotten between the two servants and was glaring at each in turn.
"We have enough to worry about without you two going at each others throats! Saber and her group are STILL unaccounted for and now we have a wave of congealed divine level curses EATING THE DAMN CITY."
Micheal slowly walked into the room and behind Jeanne as she just stared at Waver while Rider looked at his own master with an approving look. Micheal leaned in behind his servant,
"So do you want to explain or should I wait?"
Jeanne sighed and turned her head slightly to look at him as she spoke out of the corner of her mouth,
"Rider here blew up our front yard. I came outside expecting enemies and was instead met with our…. allies. You know how I get when I get into a combat mindset."
Micheal sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and the got everyone's attention,
"Look. I don't give a damn about the front yard so no harm done there but-" Micheal looked meaningfully at Rider, "At the end of all of this we are still going to have to fight each other so I can't fault my servant for going into combat mode at what she reasonably thought was an attack. I won't ask either of you to apologize-
"Good. Wasn't planning on it." Jeanne snapped glaring up at the man opposite her
"Neither was I." Rider said evenly as he folded his arms and looked at the woman opposite him. Micheal massaged his temple and looked at Waver who just gave him a look of "Yes. This is what I've been dealing with."
He looked between Jeanne and Iskandar as he realized something,
"...Where's the church been this whole time?"
There was a pause in the simmering animosity only broken by Waver who was the first to speak,
"Why haven't they done anything…." he said slowly and then looked at Micheal, "When was the last time anyone heard anything from them?"
"A day after Caster started abducting kids when they put the war on hold." Jeanne said with an edge still to her voice. It was clear that it was taking some considerable effort to calm herself down, "Its been nothing but silence since then."
Waver hummed a bit and then,
"This has obviously gotten out of hand. Whatever is producing the miasma and the….blood tide lets call it for now, I still haven't found it. Not for a lack of trying."
Micheal stiffened as his origin activated just enough to give him a mental image before quieting down. Jeanne noticed this and arched an eyebrow at him. He shook his head and tapped his wrist. She nodded, accepting his answer to tell her later. He focused back on the group,
"Okay so here's what I'm thinking: The church can't do anything because the church is, in effect, either unwilling or unable to stop it. It's easier to do clean up than it is to stop the thing making the mess."
Waver nodded, "That is in line with what the Church would do. Here's my question then: There should only be three or four servants left right?" He jerked a thumb at Rider, "I sincerely doubt that Gilgamesh has died either. Its freaking Gilgamesh. Which leads me to my next question: Which of us is better suited for taking him down?"
Silence and then,
"That is a moot question Waver. I informed the King of Heroes I would raid his vaults," Rider said with a smile that was all teeth, "I would not be who I am if I went back on my desires or my word now would I?"
Micheal watched as Waver chuckled a bit in response to something else Iskandar said. In just over a week Waver Velvet had gone from a meek, timid mage to someone who was willing to yell at Iskandar, King of Conquerers, along with telling an Avenger servant to calm down. He felt himself smile,
Out of all the other Masters in this war, even if he doesn't win, I want Waver to survive.
He felt someone touch his shoulder and he glanced at Jeanne who nodded her head at the hallway. He smiled and nodded back at her as she walked past him into the hallway her armor rustling. After she left he turned his attention back to Rider and His master firming his jaw as he looked at them,
"Outside of Gilgamesh what other Masters and servants do you think have survived so far?"
"Assassin died on the first night, Berserker has been missing in action, Sabers vanished into thin air, and Caster as well as Lancer are dead. Which means that its down to us two Masters, along with our servants, and Gilgamesh along with whatever person he got to be his master after Tokiyomi died."
Waver said ticking his fingers down as he blinked realizing what Micheal had. He looked Micheal in the eye and he could see the other master running the odds of getting out of the house in one piece. Micheal grinned and jerked his thumb at the front door,
"Go. Take care of Archer. Then we finish it."
Rider laughed and clapped Waver on the back making him stumble a bit as he gave Micheal an approving nod,
"Well said Micheal Lafaire. Well said. Come Waver Velvet! Let us be Conquerors!"
Rider walked out of the room as Waver trailed behind him. He stopped and glanced back at Micheal who offered him an evil grin,
"Make sure you survive Velvet."
Waver nodded and offered a confident grin back,
"You too, Lafaire."
Waver Velvet turned on his heel and walked out of the house. A minute later a clap of thunder rattled the windows. Micheal sighed, briefly wondering if that would be the last time he ever saw Waver before he shook his head clear and expanded his mana sense to figure out where Jeanne had gone. She was in her room and her mana was steadily pulsing which made him pause as he remembered the last time he had gone into her room and what he had done for her then.
He frowned and shook his quickly spiraling thoughts out of his head as he walked to Jeanne Alters room.