"Sleep well." Yasaka gave a kiss to Kunou, the little fox had fallen asleep and she carried the little one to her bed and tucked her in.
I was right behind her, mimicking her actions. "I'll be back soon." I whispered to my sleeping daughter. I took a moment to watch,the faint rising and falling of her chest as she slept peacefully.
It was hard to leave like this, but I did have a mission. Besides, I would definitely be spending some time here after finishing up a couple things.
We left a few moments later, Yasaka leaving the door cracked just a little bit. "Are You leaving?" She asked.
"Yeah, I need to go." I sighed. "I have something important I need to take care of."
"Thank you." She gave a small smile. "For coming…..for making Kunou happy like that. It really means a lot to her."
"It means a lot to me too." I reached forward taking her hands into mine. "And I said it before, she isn't the only reason I came to visit."
"I really need to watch myself around you, if you keep saying things like that, I don't' know if I can hold back." She playfully swatted my shoulder. There was a brief pause as she looked at me. "I hope whatever it is you're doing, you can come back soon."
"Next time I come back, I'll make sure to stay awhile. And I won't be gone too long." I can time things relatively well.
"I'll hold you to that." She let go of my hands and opted to wrap them around me instead, pulling herself close. "You really do have a nice scent."
"An odd compliment, but I'll take it." I laughed.
She looked up at me, a grin on her face. "One I wouldn't mind waking up to every morning~"
"Honestly, I think I'm the one that needs to watch themselves" I poked her forehead. "Telling me things like that, I don't know If I can hold back." I mimicked her words with a cheeky smile.
"We'll see." She giggled, hand reaching up and cupping my cheek. There was another moment of silence, we stared at one another for a few seconds before she leaned in and pushed her lips onto mine. It wasn't very deep, and maybe a little quick, but the feelings were enough. "You have this look like you're about to go off to war." She said quietly. "Whatever it is you're doing, please be careful. I don't' know if Kunou could handle losing her dad again."
"I'll make sure to come back safely." I reassured, pulling her in for one last hug. "I won't be long." I stated, separating after another moment.
We didn't' speak anymore, a silent nod of agreement shared between us as I opened a portal and left.
***
"Well, look who decided to drop in. It's not like I haven't seen my grandson in months." Zelretch sat at his desk, a glass of something in his hand, if I had to guess, whisky.
"Did you redirect me to your office?" My lips thinned.
"Do you really need me to answer that question?" He raised an eyebrow.
"It was mostly rhetorical." I groaned, slumping down in one of the chairs. "Want an update?" I hazarded a guess.
"It would be appreciated. I stopped myself from spying." Zelretch admitted.
"Rin's doing really well." I started. "Honestly, she's a lot more confidant now. She did a bit of dungeon diving, got a nice ancient artifact, learned some new magic. Oh, and she's on the trail of a Divine Construct, so that's something." I gave a brief overview.
"Good." He nodded, looking a little relieved. "That's good."
"I got my house set up, I can anchor it to a room here so you can visit."
Zelretch pondered that. "I would need to add a few things."
"I figured." I waived my hand flippantly. "I don't care if you mess with it." I was basically giving him permission to unravel my magic and add some things. In the Magus community this would be something practically unheard of.
He didn't reply, but the look in his eyes said everything he wanted to relay.
"Besides, you're helping me out. It's the least I could do." Equivalent exchange, it was one of the underlining principals that governed this society. It would also make someone feel at ease if you made it seem like both sides were receiving an even trade.
He had a smile on his face as I said that. "You spoke of Rin, how are the others?"
"Artoria's doing good as well. She's been having fun, I think. The culture there isn't too far divorced from some similar things in her era. Jinn's probably having the best time of her life. I have a library set up now, you should check it out when you head over there." I couldn't help but feel happy when I thought about them. "You haven't met Meridia yet, but you might soon."
"Yes, my Goddess granddaughter." He rubbed his beard with a grin. "I do look forward to meeting her."
"Please call her your granddaughter, it would make me so happy." I said with all sincerity, causing him to laugh. "I think she would actually like it even if she just huffs and puffs." I took out a key from my ring, handing it over. "This should be all you need to figure out the anchoring…Oh." I took a Kaleidophone out as well. "Rin made a few extra, didn't know if you had made one yourself yet."
He took both things happily. "I had not. I wanted to receive one from her first before I meddled with her idea."
Ah, I could have guessed that. Would do her confidence even more good to see him using her creation. "So, you got the information on the Grail War?" I asked, as the atmosphere shifted almost immediately.
Zelretch took a deep breath, waving his hand as a folder appeared on the table. "I won't ask if you're sure. I know you would have prepared for this just like I would."
"The girls helped too." I sighed, a small smile on my face as I leaned back in my chair. "They had several choice words to say about me doing this."
"Well, you got into this knowing full well what having multiple romantic partners would mean." He didn't show a shred of sympathy.
I held my hands up. "I'm not skirting any of my responsibility for taking this path, just…..voicing my thoughts."
"Ohoh, how many are you up to now, four?" He laughed a little at my expense.
"Five." I corrected, earning an unticked eyebrow from him. "I may have closed some distance with Yasaka before I came over."
"I do miss my great granddaughter, I hope you bring her around again soon." Zelretch truly didn't seem to mind that I was a bit of a playboy.
"I will. I'm sure Yasaka would love to come by too. She has access to my home, so you may see her pop in." I explained, reaching for the documents.
I sorted through them, reading each line intently, I knew my expression was shifting all over the place as I processed each sentence. "An Apocrypha failsafe!?" I blurted out. "Which dumbass thought that was a good idea to trigger?"
"An acute choice of words." Zelretch snorted. "There was a group of magi that sought to break away from the Association. They used the Grail as a means to summon Servants and declared their independence. I don't really care that they want to be left alone, they foolishly triggered the failsafe when the Mages Association responded rather aggressively, and now the Association sent 7 more Masters out to challenge them.
I rubbed my temples in annoyance.
The Apocrypha Failsafe.
It was a mechanism inside the Holy Grail to stop a faction from collecting all the Masters and Servants to a single side. If such a thing occurred, then the war would change. Seven more Masters would be chosen, and it became a team vs team fight with a Ruler Servant, an extra class, being summoned to moderate. "What an absolute cluster fuck." I tossed the folder onto the desk.
"I couldn't have said it better." Zelretch tapped his fingers on the desk. "But it should give you an opportunity to run rampant."
"Yeah, the scale and scope of the battlefield has changed." I agreed, thinking over several strategies. "What's my entry strategy?"
"I managed to secure you a spot on the Red team, the Master who was going to summon Berserker of Red had passed over his command seals after some negotiation." Zelretch explained.
"Berserker, huh?" I tapped my cheek. "No way in hell I'll consider summoning 'her' under the Berserker class." I shuddered at the thought. "Any catalyst you recommend?"
"No, you would be best to let the Grail find one suitable based on your own self" He shrugged.
It was the default summoning method, to choose a servant that could best match the master if no catalyst was used. "Where are the Command Seals?"
"In the folder."
I pursed my lips, flipping through to the back. Lo and behold, the command seals were grafted onto a piece of parchment. "Makes me think of those temporary tattoos that kids get."
"Is it really that different?"
"Huh…I guess it isn't." I took it and slapped them onto the back of my hand. I let out a grunt as they synchronized with me and moved onto my skin. Tossing the parchment away, I rubbed the spot where the red marks now stuck to me. "I'll get going."
"I know I don't have to say this, but as your grandfather, it's my duty." He stood up. "Be careful, run away if you have to."
It did make me happy to know he cared. "As I told Artoria, when it comes to running away, I'm unrivaled." I grinned, one he shared at the joke.
"Go win yourself a Grail, bring me back another Granddaughter." He declared.
"With pleasure." I nodded to him one last time before departing to the coordinates I read off the documents.
***
I came into a field, an abandoned building to the side. I looked up, the stars shining bright under the night sky.
Romania, this war was taking place in Romania. From the information I read, this part of the county was almost solely under the authority of the Yggdmillennia family, the cast offs who wanted to break away from the Mages Association.
Red and Black, those are the two factions.
Black was the Yggdmillennia faction's color, Red is the faction for the Mage's Association. I should be the only one who has yet to summon a servant. And the Grail War wasn't allowed to officially start until they were all summoned. While this could be skirted under normal circumstances, if a Ruler Servant was out and about, the rules would be followed to the letter.
I briefly considered using something as a Catalyst to facilitate the summoning, but I agreed with Zelretch's thoughts. It was better to have a servant I could get along with than one who was strong but I butted heads against.
[I'm excited, I've never seen a servant summoning before.]
"To be honest, I'm a little excited too. It's a bit of a rush, to summon a servant in any situation." I took out some containers I prepared, filled with animal blood to draw up the summoning circle. The actual drawing of it was a little tedious, but I had ample experience doing things like this in the past.
The Grail does the heavy lifting with the spellcasting, I'm basically acting as an anchor. And with my absurd amount of magical energy I can generate, my servant will be in optimal condition, their vessel overflowing with power.
Putting my stuff away, I began.
Raising my arm up, I started the chant.
"Let Silver and Steel be to the Essence."
"Let stone and the Archduke of Contracts be the Foundation."
"Let Red be the color I pay tribute to."
"Let Rise a Wall Against the Wind that Shall Fall."
"Let the four Cardinal Gates Close."
"Let the Three-Forked Road from the Crown Reaching unto the Kingdom Rotate."
"I Hereby Declare!"
The wind around my swept up, the magical energy exploded in every direction as the Grand Ritual began to take form, the Grail anchoring the process to its systems.
"Your Body Shall service under me, but my Fate shall be in thy Sword."
"Submit to the beckoning of the Holy Grail!"
"If you Accept this will and Reason, then Answer!"
"Here is my oath."
"I shall obtain All the Virtues of Heaven."
"I Shall Hold Dominion Over all the Evils of Hell."
"Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by Chaos. For you would be one caged in madness. I shall wield your chains."
"From the Seventh Heaven, Attended by the Three Great Words of Power, Arrive from the ring of Restraint, O'Keeper of the Holy Balance!"
The magical energy in the room coalesced as a new figure began to form. The fifth imaginary element visibly coming together to form the vessel that would house the part of a Heroic spirit.
[I hate you, I hate you so much. You ruined this for me.] He grumbled as the Servant came into full view.
She was tall, wearing skin-tight purple clothing. Clearly Japanese in origin, with a large katana at her side. She had beautiful long hair that almost touched the ground, and her…..assets were enough to almost grab my attention and not let go.
Legs.
"I have heeded your summons." A feminine voice sounded out over the dispersing dust that was kicked up. "I will dote on you as your mother, my master." Before I could even respond, she pulled me in, pushing my head between her very large breasts.
Ddraig, I think I have a type.
[Nooooooooooooo, really!?]
***
Let Apocrypha begin!
If you want to read 7 chapters ahead or support me, visit my pat.reon.com/astoryforone