Munich, Germany.
The advantage to patrolling at night was that he didn’t stick out quite as much. The cold was a larger inconvenience than he had originally planned for, but it was easily remedied by adding more layers of clothing. That, too, helped him from appearing so out of place in this city. There were others of different ethnicities here, but their numbers were generally few.
Amun Gahiji kept his hood over his head, obscuring his shock of jet-black hair and tawny skin mostly from view. Germany was a great deal different than Egypt, both in culture and climate, but it seemed to be hospitable at least. He had, of course, perfected his German before he came here, but had found quite a few locals that knew English as well.
His current patrol was leading him next to the Frauenkirche, where the moderator from the Church was no doubt holed up. There had been no official statement from Rome of such an appointment, but this War was not exactly common knowledge; even less so than the previous ones in Japan. Whether or not the Church was going to make a play had yet to be seen as well.
As always, Assassin was over a hundred meters to his back, staying in spirit form. Even if an enemy Servant was to detect his, there was no linkage to him being the Master. Using this to his advantage could route out the other Master or at least land a surprise attack on the Servant.
/Have you noticed anything, Assassin?/ he asked him through their mental link.
/Nothin’ out of the ordinary, anyway, boss./ came the reply. Amun emitted an annoyed sigh at the lack of tact in the speech, but he supposed it didn’t really matter what manners a Servant had. Just as long as he could serve his purpose when the time came.
Assassin had been specially picked by Amun to amplify his own abilities as an Alchemist of Atlas. Like him, Assassin was also a wielder of the gun, although the M-40A1 rifle that the Servant used was very different than his own revolver. All along, he had planned to use his Servant as a Sniper, and had acquired the rifle of Chuck Mawhinney to summon one of the best.
Originally, he had been worried, since the man was still alive. It had apparently not mattered as the summoning had gone flawlessly and the man appeared to him looking like he was fresh from the lines at Vietnam. He had found him a bit crude, but his skill and eyesight were beyond his expectations and now Amun was fairly confident in his chances of winning this conflict.
He was aware of the purpose of most Servants was close quarter combat, but that was never something that suited him. In Atlas, he had concentrated on developing weapons that coincided with his passion for firearms, leading to the creation of his revolver. He had no name for it; it seemed ridiculous to do so, as the gun itself was not that much different from a normal one. The difference was in the ammunition.
Amun had created a variety of different rounds that could be used in the Smith & Wesson Model 686 .357 Magnum, covering all manner of spells from attack to surveillance. Like most Alchemist, his own circuits were secondary to his creations in combat conditions. His only real use for his circuits had been to bind spells into bullets, and now the summoning.
He passed the church and was approaching the town hall, still not seeing any signs of other Masters. It was still early in the game, after all, so this was to be expected. Their patrols served a dual purpose of looking for Masters AND learning the layout of the city. It was a large place, and the road system left a lot to be desired, so finding no Masters was quite alright for now.
After completing their sweep, he told his Servant, /We’re heading back to the Hotel, Assassin./
***********************************************
London, England
Rin didn’t know how Aoko had found this place, nor did she care to find out. Her Shirou’s Sensei ALWAYS brought them here, though. They had to drive over to Hackney and pray that their car survived the time they were in this place while they were stared at by every sort of goon there ever was.
It wouldn’t have been so bad if the food wasn’t as disgusting as the clientele. Aoko had some sort of fascination with large chunks of cow she called steak. Now, Rin had had some fine specimens of real steak many times and it was indeed very tasty… but the slab of grease that the woman wolfed down here could hardly be called food… let alone steak.
They sat in their normal booth, which threatened to stab them with any number of splinters sticking out of the wood. A single bulb dangled from partially exposed wires over their table which revealed Aoko’s ravenous grin as she erased her food from existence. Rin and Shirou sat across from her, eating their burgers; the only thing they had found in this place that didn’t make them violently ill.
After Aoko had finally finished her food Rin pushed the question burning in both her and her lover’s mind. “Now… what did you mean about another Grail War? That’s impossible, Aoko, it was sealed after our battle,” she said to her.
“Well, that’s true, the Seven Hundred Twenty Sixth Grail is sealed and can no longer be activated,” Aoko replied. “But it seems that there was a backup plan...”
“Backup plan?” her Shirou asked, leaning forward. His sherry eyes narrowed as he listened to the woman.
“Well, as you may know, the Third Heaven’s Feel ended with the grail becoming corrupted,” she explained. “The Einzberns were none too pleased by this, but were powerless to do much about it by themselves.”
“So then, someone helped them,” Rin said, not liking the sound of this.
“Exactly,” Aoko replied with a nod. “The Third Heaven’s Feel also ended with the loss of both successors to the Edelfelt line, twin sisters.” She then smiled a bit evilly at Rin and said, “Although one seemed to have survived, didn’t they, Rin?”
Rin folded her arms and scowled at the woman. “Yes, I know you know the Tohsaka’s little secret, Aoko. You don’t need to prod me about it again. For the last time, yes, the younger sister WAS my grandmother…”
Aoko chuckled as she used the pause to down a large portion of her stein of beer and then continued, “Thieving magus families aside, it seems that by dumb luck, neither sister actually had the Edelfelt crest. They had considered themselves a shoe in by working together and didn’t bother obtaining the crest. A lucky break for the Edelfelts. The crest was passed down to a male heir, the grandfather of your friend, Rin.”
Rin sighed, not even bothering to acknowledge the jab and waited for her to go on.
“Well, the Einzberns learned that the Edelfelts were still thriving and contacted them to make a deal. They were going to create another Grail, stealing the Makiri’s design for the Command Seal and using the Edelfelts to create the Servant system, just as Nagato Tohsaka had ages ago,” she said.
“Wait a minute,” Rin said. “That doesn’t make sense. Nagato Tohsaka had to use the jeweled blade of Zelretch to pull enough mana to summon those Servants.”
Aoko nodded, “That’s right, but that was to summon them in an instant. The system was designed to recharge after that to replenish the mana. Originally, it took sixty years for the grail to acquire enough mana to summon the servants.”
Rin frowned and replied, “Meaning that the Edelfelt merely set up the system to charge… and I’m guessing it was finished in 1952… Sixty years ago…”
“Got it in one, Rin,” Aoko said with a point of her finger.
As Rin pondered the implications of this, her Shirou asked, “But… this Grail shouldn’t be corrupt, right?”
Aoko tilted her head and nodded, “That’s right, Shirou… What of it?”
Shirou leaned back and said, “Well… what I’m getting at is that the Grail COULD be used for good, instead of only destruction…”
“That’s true,” his Sensei said, flagging down their waiter to demand more ‘liquid bread.’
“Meaning… someone has to go there and make sure that it IS used for good,” Rin said slowly.
“Bingo!” Aoko replied, winking at her.
*************
Munich, Germany
It wasn’t so much a patrol as it was adjusting to having a Servant and reacquainting him with a city aged nearly seventy years since he had last seen it. Luviagelita walked down the mid-day street of her new residence while talking quietly with her Servant. He was in spirit form, of course, for it wouldn’t do anybody any good to have him recognized.
“How much has changed, Servant Rider?” she asked him, keeping her hands in her wool coat’s pockets. She had her normal azure business suit on underneath with long boots and a pill hat to protect her head form the cold. As such, her long golden hair was unbound and its curls flowed down her back.
“Much, Fraulein Master,” Rider replied. “The last I saw of this beautiful city, it was in shambles. I am glad that they were able to rebuild it so faithfully.”
She nodded in response and noticed as he paused by what looked to be a newly constructed museum. Her knowledge of the city’s structure and history was a bit lacking and she had no idea what significance this place held and therefore asked, “What is that place, Rider? Does it hold special meaning to you?”
“This was once known as the Brown House, Fraulein Master. Many from the Party had offices here… and I imagine many dark plans were devised there. I am glad to see that it was apparently dismantled,” he responded thoughtfully.
“So it is true you were against Hitler’s values, then?” She asked.
“By that time, yes… His madness had become apparent, and I found myself forced to make several difficult choices,” he replied. “Although… my worst fears apparently did not come to pass, as I see that my country still stands.”
She figured it pointless to discuss the split the country suffered for many years and instead told him, “It does and flourishes. But… upon learning this, does it change your wish, Mein Herr?”
She could feel him smile, “Not at all Fraulein. Despite the end result, many lives could still be saved by my changing my actions before the War began.”
Luviagelita bit her lip. Her opinion of his wish was rather low, seeing as how she knew that the only thing he would do was create another thread of reality. The people would still be dead in a sense, only copies of them surviving in a different plane of existence. With the power the Grail possessed, it seemed pointless.
She wasn’t about to voice this to her Servant, though. There was no need to disrupt their rapport for something like this. If that was what he wanted, then so be it. She had her own plans to consider. Although, she often wondered if her own wish were not so petty.
Like most of her family, Luviagelita held no love for the Tohsaka family, especially after what had transpired after the Third Heaven’s Feel. Nobody really cared that they were defeated, even her family would admit to the twins acting like idiots. But the blatant larceny of their specialty arts was another matter.
Nobody even knew that she had survived, let alone been taken in by the Tohsaka family and eventually marrying an enemy Magus. Whatever transpired, when the reports came in from Japan that the Tohsaka family was now versed with Gandr spells of an accomplished nature, it was obvious what they had done. Even if the twin had betrayed her family, the act was cowardly of the Tohsakas.
Luviagelita herself had witnessed the current head of the Tohsaka family, Rin, performing the spell. Rin and she had butted heads about nearly everything at their time in the Association’s Academy, resulting in quite a few fights. In her, Luvia had found a rival, although her Gandrs were pathetic compared to her own. She did have, however, quite a few tricks up her sleeves.
Which led to one of the real tortures that the girl exacted upon her. Despite how much she desperately WANTED to, she couldn’t bring herself to hate Rin. The mutual respect they had clawed into each other had eventually given way to competing against each other in everything. That, in turn, had led to bettering both of them in leaps and bounds. It had become the worst case of a hate-love relationship she had ever known.
And… she had Shriou… but that was another story altogether.
Despite whatever she felt for Rin or her …husband, her plans remained the same. As the Tohsakas had stolen from her family, she would steal from them. Between her and her father, they had done enough research to uncover just what was so special about the Tohsakas; their legacy to the Second Magic. And she was going to use the Grail to take it for herself.