Chapter 132 - 45

Chapter 45: The Grail, the Wraith, and the God

The Grail, the Wraith, and the God

In the cavern below the Ryuudou-temple, the very place that the Greater Grail was stored in-between Grail Wars, tensions were rising high for Sakura, Ayako, and Rin, to say nothing about Osaki and Yomaura.

Standing grouped together, with Rin and Yomaura in the front and the other three behind them, they faced off against a duo consisting of a slovenly-looking man and a beautiful young woman. The latter looked very unsure and conflicted, her head down as she stared straight at the ground, but the slovenly man had a massive grin on his face that showed he felt completely in control of the situation.

Being glared at by both a Fraga and the most powerful Magus the Tohsaka-family had seen in many generations would have made most people extremely nervous, if not outright terrified, but the man looked utterly confident, grinning in a way that really pissed off the people looking at him.

Other than angering them however, that grin also concerned Rin and Yomaura. Neither of them were as adept as Shirou at discerning deceit, but they were still quite capable of recognising when they were being lied to, and in this case, they weren't.

As far as they could tell, the man wasn't bluffing. Not when he said that he was a Wraith, not when he wasn't worried about being defeated, and not when he claimed he had a brother in the Magus Association.

A brother with an eerily familiar name.

"Grover Meluastea?" Ayako sneered from behind Rin, glaring over the black-haired girl's shoulder. "I heard about him. Didn't he get his head chopped off at the Clocktower?"

"I'm surprised you know about that." The man, who claimed to be a Wraith named Mordegai, looked less confident for a moment, before the grin returned in full. "But I suppose the Tohsaka still have many friends in the Magus Association."

If only that were true. Before Shirou had gone to the Clocktower, Rin was fortunate if she heard about big news there a month after it had taken place, that was how badly informed she was. After her father had died, just about every ally they used to have had abandoned the family, and the ones that stayed certainly weren't the cream of the crop.

But if the Wraith wanted to believe that Rin had many friends in the Magus Association, she certainly wasn't going to disabuse him of that notion.

"Yeah, I know all about what happened to Grover Meluastea." She boasted, conveniently leaving out who had told her. "You said he was your brother? Perhaps we should cut off your head as well. Make you a matching set."

"My brother was weak." The Wraith sneered, instantly making it clear that there was no love lost between the brothers. "Weak and useless. It was always a foregone conclusion he'd be killed at least once. You will find I am not so easy to defeat."

"You don't seem very broken up about your brother's death." Ayako frowned, growing ever more disgusted with the creature. "Even if you didn't like him, you could at least pretend to be sad."

"Why would I be sad about him being killed? He will be back soon, if he isn't already."

"People die when they are killed." Sakura said sharply, and for some reason, the sentence really reverberated with the other two girls.

"We aren't people, fool!" The response was little more than a beastly snarl, indicating Sakura had hit a nerve. "We are Wraiths! We are not limited like you humans! We are so far above you as to be gods!"

"Yet here you are, hiding behind a young woman for protection." Osaki spoke up, his face set in an expression of revulsion, and he kept going, even when the Wraith turned towards him with a terrifying expression. "Some Wraith you are if you cannot even fight your own battles-"

The Wraith lashed out without warning, sending a wave of pure darkness right at Osaki.

"Senpai!"

A quick intervention from Yomaura, who combined three Runes with such speed and precision it left Rin's head spinning, saved his life.

Dagaz, Algiz, and Eihwaz were spun together to form a shield made of pure light, and the wave of darkness was dispelled before it could even come close to the detectives, the remaining motes of darkness dissipating harmlessly immediately after.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Osaki grinned at the Wraith from his place behind his partner, even as a drop of sweat made its way down his temple, indicating he'd been startled quite badly. "You look angry."

That wasn't true. The Wraith didn't look angry at all anymore. Rather, he had gone completely steel-faced, not a single emotion visible anywhere. Rin had always thought she had a good poker face, but the Wraith effortlessly beat her in that department.

However, what you couldn't see was often just as interesting as what you could. The fact that the Wraith was now so emotionless was rather notable, considering his demeanour so far had been very relaxed, mischievous, and cruel.

In other words, Osaki had indeed hit a nerve, and the Wraith was at the very least frustrated now.

"You know nothing about me, man filth." The creature sneered darkly at the detective. "I do not need this girl to fight you. Not as my ally, and not as my hostage."

"Prove it! Let Hiroko go and face us yourself!" Osaki challenged him. "Cowering behind a teenager is a poor look, you know."

There was a moment of silence, and Rin nearly groaned out loud when the Wraith smiled smugly again, indicating he had gotten over his temporary bout of anger and was about to say something scathing again.

"Hiroko is not my hostage." The Wraith sniffed, his face set in a smug expression that didn't promise anything good. "Hiroko is here with me because she is on my side."

"It sure doesn't look like it." Ayako huffed, before gesturing at Hiroko, who was starting to look more and more like a caged animal. "If anything, she looks like the victim here."

The brunette had been angry with Hiroko earlier after the girl had admitted to being the one who'd almost strangled her, but after the big reveal of the Wraith and the following conversation, there wasn't much of that anger left.

Right now, the brunette wanted to get Hiroko out of there and then engage the Wraith in battle. Something Rin could definitely get behind.

The black-haired girl had given some thought earlier to attacking anyway, regardless of Hiroko's presence, but she had no doubt that detective Yomaura would never allow for the girl to be harmed. She would counter every attack Rin would make, and they really couldn't afford to fight amongst themselves right now.

"A victim?" The Wraith seemed to consider the very notion hilarious, smiling at Ayako as if she was a dim-witted child. "Hiroko is not a victim in this matter, little fool. She is more guilty than I am."

"I sincerely doubt that." The brunette wasn't easily convinced though.

"Well, since you're not going to believe anything I say, you should hear it from the girl herself." The Wraith grinned again, before lightly touching Hiroko's shoulder. "Go on, dear. Tell them how you are involved in all this."

"I-I… I d-don't…" Hiroko stuttered, looking seconds away from fainting now, a panicked look in her eyes as she desperately searched for a way out. But with the Wraith behind her and the group in front of her, there was nowhere to go.

"Tell them." The Wraith grunted, his tone having become far more threatening.

Hiroko bit her lip so hard she outright drew blood, and then she took a deep breath, her eyes becoming progressively mistier with every second.

"I killed Carlton Paris." She confessed, and the first tear made its way down her cheek. "I drugged him, lured him to the Ryuudou-temple, and I strangled him, before burying his body in the woods."

"Yeah, we suspected as much." Ayako said, pursing her lips. "Why did you do it though? Did that creepy Wraith force you into it?"

"He… H-He was…" Hiroko tried explaining, but the tears kept coming increasingly faster, and eventually, her voice was drowned by her uncontrollable sobs.

"Ugh, fine, I'll do the explaining." The Wraith rolled his eyes in the most insulting way possible, before he scratched his cheek. "That said, how do I even explain this? Hm, well, I guess I'll start by telling you that Carlton Paris was the descendant of an Incubus."

Once more, Rin and Yomaura reacted with shock, while Osaki, Sakura, and Ayako reacted with confusion.

"An Incubus?" Osaki inquired carefully, unfamiliar with the term. "What exactly might that be?"

"An Incubus is a form of demon, always male, that drains women's life force in order to increase their own Magical Energy and retain their youth." Yomaura explained as if reading from a book. "They drain energy by having intercourse with the targeted woman. Some people say they even steal emotions, though that has never been confirmed."

"Indeed, Fraga." The Wraith nodded. "Incubi are completely dependent on women, and as such, have evolved to become perfect women-hunters. Naturally, since Incubi and humans can procreate, this results in a lot of Incubus half breeds, and from there, Incubus descendants. These descendants can most easily be recognised by their incredible skill at seduction. Just the sight of them is usually enough to capture the hearts of females everywhere."

"Capture the hearts?" Yomaura perked up, her mouth falling open slightly. "You mean Paris…?"

"So that's what he used!" Ayako gasped in realisation, hitting her closed fist on her palm. "Not a magical drug, but supernatural attractiveness."

"So you are saying Paris was a demon who took the life force of women to survive?" Osaki asked, his brow creased in worry.

"He was the descendant of such a demon." Mordegai corrected him. "Not as strong as a real Incubus, not nearly as dangerous, but still quite powerful. Most likely, he stole just enough life-force to keep himself spry and energetic, but no more."

"What happened to the women he seduced and stole life-force from?" Osaki demanded to know. "Are they in danger? Was Paris bad for their health?"

"For their physical health, no. Life-force is easily refilled." The Wraith shook his head, before grinning. "For their mental health though? Definitely. The tricks of Incubi can take quite the toll of the victim's mind, especially after prolonged exposure."

Osaki gritted his teeth, as did Yomaura and Ayako. The erratic behaviour of many of Carlton Paris' clients suddenly made a lot more sense. Ayako had been right, they had indeed been addicted, to something that was potentially far worse than any standard drug, and were now going through a withdrawal process that no single psychiatrist in the world would be able to understand or help with.

"Is that how you convinced Hiroko to murder him?" Sakura asked, glancing at the crying girl for a moment. "By telling her what Paris was doing to her mother?"

None of them had missed how much Hiroko loved her mother, and as such, it was not unthinkable that she would kill to protect her, especially against a threat as terrifying as an actual demon.

"You're a clever one, aren't you?" The Wraith huffed, before looking at Hiroko. "Yes, that is what I told her. Not just that though, I also told her Paris was particularly bad for that broad of a mother of hers, more so than for the other women."

"Why?"

"I discovered that the Maita-family is uniquely talented at resisting the influences of Magic, including the seduction-effects of Incubi and their descendants." Once more, the Wraith readily explained, and Rin was starting to suspect it really loved the sound of its own voice. "To Paris, that was a challenge. He enjoyed seducing Maita Rei anyway, uncaring about the damage he was inflicting on her psyche by forcing his way through her natural resistance. All I did was inform little Hiroko of that, and she did the rest."

"So what? You're the good guy now?" Rin scoffed, even as she privately winced at how callous Carlton Paris had apparently been. "Are we supposed to thank you?"

"I care not for your approval." The Wraith shrugged, before looking at Hiroko. "This one does though."

"I'm sorry!" The young woman suddenly cried, taking a step forward and reaching out to them, as if begging for their forgiveness. "I'm sorry for killing Paris! I'm sorry for almost strangling you! I'm sorry for poisoning your coffee!"

"Wait! Is that why I felt so terrible yesterday?" Osaki blinked in surprise. "You poisoned me?"

"I'm so, so sorry!" Hiroko fell to her knees, pressing her forehead into the ground. "I never wanted things to end like this! I never wanted it!"

"What are you talking about?" The Wraith laughed cruelly, a sound Rin found she hated with a passion. "Are you really trying to play the innocent maiden here? You? The woman who murdered her mother's lover? Who tried to strangle a girl who'd shown her nothing but kindness? Who tried to poison a detective? What a joke!"

"Shut up!" Yomaura snapped at the creature. "All those decisions were made under duress! I have no doubt you pressured her into committing those crimes!"

"Yeah! Don't try to pin the blame on someone else now!" Ayako agreed loudly. "Leave Hiroko alone and own up to your actions!"

"Well, I guess it could be that I had some level of influence over those specific actions of hers." The Wraith admitted, sounding purposefully ambiguous, before the cruel grin became even wider. "But I can assure you I had nothing to do with the fact that little Hiroko here killed her own father."

"What?!" Osaki gasped.

"That cannot be!" Yomaura shook her head.

"It's true!" The Wraith laughed loudly, taking great amusement in their astonishment. "Little Hiroko here is a natural-born killer."

"No." Yomaura shook her head again, before looking at Hiroko. "Kid, tell me it isn't true!"

Hiroko didn't reply. She remained in her kneeling position, keeping her forehead pressed to the ground, sobs wracking her body as she cried uncontrollably.

"It was of course for the same reason that she killed Paris, to protect her mother." The Wraith explained for her, looking at the crying girl with an expression that might have contained some hint of fondness. "Her father was an abusive drunk who hated the fact his wife had a more successful career than he. He raped her, beat her, belittled her, and regularly threatened to kill her. Hiroko just decided to head him off before he made good on his threat. During an outing in the mountains, she gave him a good shove, and boom, problem solved."

For a while, no one reacted. None of them knew what to say. It was clear that the Wraith was speaking the full truth, which meant that Hiroko was indeed a murderer, and a very capable one at that.

A murderer who had killed her own father.

The girl herself had gone completely silent now, almost appearing dead if it hadn't been for the soft rising and falling of her chest. She was completely spent, and had resigned herself to her fate, whatever that may be.

But fortunately for her, she wasn't the main focus or the main priority of the group. After all, she might be a murderer, but she wasn't a creature from the Reverse Side of the World.

"…Irrespective of Hiroko's actions, you are not a good guy either, mister Wraith." Osaki ultimately spoke up again, directing his confused anger towards the creature. "You still haven't explained why you have been helping her."

"Because I wanted to lend a hand-"

"You lie, Wraith!" Sakura snapped suddenly, anger clear in her face. "I did not learn much in my youth, but I do know your kind doesn't do anything if you don't profit from it yourself. You wanted Carlton Paris dead, otherwise you would never even have acknowledged Hiroko's existence. Why did you want that man dead?!"

"…Ah, what the hell? I might as well tell you." The Wraith huffed after a moment, smiling again. "I wanted his blood."

"His blood?"

"The Incubus-magic in his blood was extremely potent. It was just the boost I needed to gain back some of the power I lost by possessing a body." He laughed, before gesturing at the black haze that was still hanging in front of the cave's exit. "That for instance would have been impossible if I hadn't drunk his blood."

"Drinking blood will only grant temporary power at best." Rin protested, and she wasn't even mentioning the fact that gaining power through blood carried massive risks if done improperly.

"Yes, but even just a year is better than nothing at all, isn't it?" The Wraith said, sounding oddly practical all of a sudden. "Besides, a year is plenty to achieve my true goal here."

"Your true goal?" Sakura inquired, sounding almost afraid to ask.

"I want the Grail." Mordegai revealed bluntly. "More to the point, I want to take Angra Mainyu's place."

In London, Lord El-Melloi had just invited Shirou to his office for a short, unofficial meeting, to update him on the progress of the sales of the items.

Shirou's mind wasn't in it however, and Lord El-Melloi quickly picked up on that.

"Fujimaru, what's wrong?" Lord El-Melloi asked, taking place behind his desk. "You appear to be very distracted."

"…Nothing." Shirou said after a moment of hesitation, though he didn't look away from the window he'd been staring out of ever since entering the office. "I just have a very bad feeling."

"We can postpone this meeting if you have somewhere else to be." Lord El-Melloi offered kindly. "Today's matter isn't particularly pressing."

"Thank you, but no." Shirou shook his head. "I don't think there's anything I can do even if I left now."

He was just about certain that his bad feeling came from something that was happening in Fuyuki, with his girls, and that meant that even if he left right away, it would take at least eight hours for him to arrive there to help them.

Right now, there was nothing he could do except trust them, so even though he was terribly concerned, he put the matter out of his mind, choosing to focus properly on Lord El-Melloi instead.

"If you are certain." The lord nodded once, accepting Shirou's words, before he looked at Grey, who, as always, was standing behind him. "Grey, do you have Svin's report?"

"Yes, sir." The white-haired girl whispered, handing him a file.

"Thank you." Lord El-Melloi accepted it, before placing it on the desk. "Well then, mister Fujimaru. I am happy to tell you that all your items have been sold successfully, with the exception of the ones we set aside for special deals, which will be sold over the coming week."

"That's great." Shirou grinned, unable to suppress a wave of excitement. "It's amazing you were able to sell everything."

"To be honest, I never expected otherwise." The man huffed, opening the file. "The only question was how much people would pay for them."

"And how much was that?" Shirou asked, finding himself eager to hear the answer despite his general disinterest for money.

"A grand total of…" Lord El-Melloi paused for a moment for dramatic effect. "4.5 billion pounds."

"…"

"Does that meet your expectations?"

Shirou didn't reply, couldn't reply even. His mouth had fallen open, and he couldn't summon the strength to close it again. He was too baffled.

4.5 billion pounds.

Billion! With a 'B'!

It was an ungodly sum of money for someone like him. No, it was an ungodly sum period!

No wonder Illya had given him an amused look when he'd said he hoped to earn five-hundred million pounds or so with the sale of the items! She'd probably already known that they would bring in almost ten times that.

Ten times!

"Golden Spires of Asgard." He whispered, looking up from the file –which proudly displayed the exact numbers that Lord El-Melloi had announced– to meet his benefactor's eyes. "I can't believe this."

"You better believe it." The lord laughed, and though he was still utterly baffled, Shirou enjoyed seeing the lord happy for once. "It's a bit more than I expected, but more is always better if it's about profit."

"P-Perhaps." Shirou mumbled, sitting down in a chair as his legs became wobbly. "Odin's beard."

"I have put it in a secure account that has been waylaid all over the globe. Don't ask me how it was created, Magecraft was involved." Waver slipped him a form, on which all kinds of numbers were written. "Here are the details. Just request a bank card and you will be able to use the account anywhere in the world."

Shirou didn't react aside from accepting the form. He was still too shocked by the news.

He was a billionaire now. An actual billionaire, not with Japanese Yen, but with British pounds, which were worth more than one-hundred-and-fifty Yen each.

More than 700 billion Yen.

It was ridiculous.

What was he even going to spend it on? More pretty dresses for Sakura and Ayako? Gems for Rin? Another ten houses? Twenty expensive cars for Fuji-Nee? A tank for Illya? Was he just going to let it collect dust in an account somewhere?

"Are you going to give Sir a cut of the profit?" Grey suddenly asked, raising her head enough to look Shirou straight in the eyes. "He was the one who arranged the auction."

"Grey." Lord El-Melloi frowned, looking back at his first apprentice, who was showing a surprising amount of assertiveness.

"I'm not saying you should give Sir a lot." Grey went on, ignoring her teacher. "But five percent would be normal. I checked with lady Reines."

"I did that as a favour." Lord El-Melloi protested. "I do not expect payment just for assisting my students."

"You might not expect it." Shirou acknowledged, before crossing his arms with a smile. "But you will get it anyway. Let's split the profit fifty-fifty."

"Eh?" The lord's gaze snapped back at the redhead, and his gobsmacked stare almost made Shirou laugh. That Grey looked just as baffled only made it funnier.

"You heard me. I get 2.25 billion pounds, you get 2.25 billion pounds." Shirou clarified. "Sounds fair, no?"

"Fair?! That's way too much for the amount of work that I did!" Lord El-Melloi protested. "A-And besides, don't you need that money yourself?!"

"No, I don't need that money." Shirou replied, before regretting his frankness when he saw the mighty gears in the lord's head start to turn, gears that might very well suss out his true motives in this matter.

"This… Was this your plan all along?" Lord El-Melloi frowned deeply, clearly not happy with his theory but well aware it was the only one that made any kind of sense. "To give me the money?"

"You were unlikely to ever accept a gift from me, especially a monetary one." Shirou nodded, not surprised his sponsor had worked it out. "So I made it a business deal instead. I want to thank you for standing by me and supporting me, even when you didn't have to, so I'll give you half the profits."

"I cannot accept-"

"Sir gladly accepts your offer." Grey brusquely interrupted him, grabbing the file. "I'll deal with the paperwork."

"Grey, stop-"

"No, Sir." The white-haired girl snapped, sounding more assertive than Shirou had ever heard her be. "You must accept it. Think about what you can do with that money! You can pay your debts! To Reines, to the Archibald, to Melvin, to the bank, to your mother, everyone!"

"Precisely." Shirou agreed wholeheartedly. "You have helped me immensely, Lord El-Melloi, in ways you don't even know about. Please let me do this for you in exchange!"

It was only thanks to Lord El-Melloi after all that he'd been able to save Illya. He massively owed the man, and he wanted to repay him in any way he could.

After Grey and Shirou had spoken, the lord remained silent for a long time. Long enough that it actually became a bit awkward.

Only when Grey started fiddling with her fingers and Shirou began fidgeting did he reply.

"Call me Waver." He spoke.

"Pardon me?" Shirou blinked in surprise at the seemingly random remark.

"Call me Waver." The lord repeated, letting out such a big sigh his chest seemed to deflate. "If you're going to give me a present this big, you should also call me by my name."

Shirou straightened his back upon hearing that. He didn't know exactly how big a deal it was for a lord to tell you to use his given name, but considering only very few people used Lord El-Melloi's, it was safe to say it had to be quite significant.

He honestly felt flattered.

"…Very well, Waver." Shirou nodded, tasting the name on his tongue and finding that it wasn't bad. "Then please call me Shirou."

"I will, Shirou." Waver nodded as well.

Then, on an impulse, the two men shook hands again, introducing themselves to each other, just like they had in the castle in Japan, all those months ago. Back then, they had been a lord and a freelancing bounty-hunter of sorts, but now, they had taken a significant step towards friendship.

Shirou couldn't keep the smile off his face, Waver was slightly smiling as well, and Grey was outright beaming at the happy scene.

But this was the Clocktower, so happy scenes didn't get to continue for long.

"Excuse me." Hishiri Adashino sang as she walked into the office unannounced. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The woman had a new look about her, wearing a beautiful kimono that Shirou hadn't seen before, brand-new geta –wooden sandals– on her feet, and her hair was done up in an elaborate style he didn't know the name of. The nails on her hands were painted red, matching her sleeves, and the nails on her feet were painted green, which matched the hem of the kimono.

The small, conniving smile was the same as ever though, and although it did nothing to detract from her stunning looks, it sent shivers down Shirou's spine.

"You are very much interrupting something, snake." Waver said bluntly, lightly glaring at the woman. "But since you're not going to leave despite that, state your business."

"Aren't you going to offer me a seat first?" Adashino asked instead, smiling teasingly as she ignored his order. "I've been working for a while now, and I'm rather tired."

"No." Waver barked, slamming his hand on the desk. "I forbid you from sitting on any of the chairs in my office. I want you to complete your business here quickly and then I want you to leave with the same haste."

"I understand." Adashino nodded obediently. She then walked up the desk, at a normal pace, and Shirou wondered for a moment whether she'd actually follow orders and conduct herself normally.

But then she walked around the desk instead, and it became clear she was planning something again.

"What are you doing?" Waver asked tiredly, also anticipating some kind of playful trick from the woman.

"Well, I have been walking all day, and my legs are very tired." Adashino sighed. "I need to sit down for a moment, and since I cannot sit in your chairs, I have only one option."

Then she turned around and sat down in Waver's lap.

"Oi!" The man protested, stiffening in shock as his eyes went very wide.

"What?" The snake-woman inquired innocently, as she overtly shifted her bottom from side to side in his lap. "I'm not technically sitting in a chair, am I?"

"That's semantics!" Waver raged, clearly acutely aware of her soft bottom, but he was too much of a gentleman to push the woman onto the ground. "Get off me!"

"This is surprisingly comfortable." Adashino once more completely ignored him.

"Grey! Help me!"

"Ah, right!" Grey spluttered, snapping out of the trance she'd been put in when Adashino sat down, hastily taking action to follow her mentor's orders.

"Oh dear." Adashino placed a finger on her chin, looking faintly worried. "I am not under the illusion that I am strong enough to hold off little Grey. Whatever shall I do?"

Grey quickly stepped in front of Waver, and she bent her knees, leaning forward to pick Adashino up in a bridal carry.

Then, quick as a viper, Adashino snapped her head forward and pressed a kiss against Grey's cheek, just at the edge of her lips, where she lingered teasingly for a few seconds. Then, she moved towards Grey's ear, which she lightly blew into, before finishing it with a nip at the earlobe.

Shirou blushed furiously at the display, but his reaction was nothing compared to Grey's.

The white-haired girl exploded in a full-body blush, and her eyes clouded over as she was put in a trance all over again, basically fainting on the spot.

"Grey! This is not the time to be a hormonal teenager!" Waver cried, but it was useless. Grey was completely paralysed, her weakness to beautiful women instantly knocking her out of the game.

"Hihihi." Adashino laughed delicately, before smirking victoriously at Waver.

That was when Shirou took action himself. Waver and he had just become friends after all, and friends had to support each other, especially with women-troubles.

Before he was even halfway to the desk though, Adashino was already standing again.

"No way I'm going to pick a fight like that." She smiled, before she turned towards Waver once more. "I am here to tell you that Millicent Raverth Archibald will be released into your care. You have likely seen her trial, where she was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment, and in light of your recent accomplishments, Policies has agreed to allow you to be her warden."

"I see." Waver nodded thoughtfully, having already reverted to his lord-mindset. "Tell your superiors she won't cause any trouble in the future. I will take full responsibility."

"There is no need to take responsibility, my lord." Adashino said soothingly, her eyes shining in dark amusement. "It has already been given to you."

"Hm."

"Then there is one other thing." Adashino continued, reaching into her kimono and fishing out some kind of thick piece of paper, which she threw at Waver. "The main reason I am here."

The lord caught the bundle and held it up, allowing Shirou to see that it was in fact a single sheet of paper that had been folded several times. Waver promptly unfolded it, before he started reading whatever was written on it.

Then his expression turned downcast.

"Waver?" Shirou inquired carefully, wondering if it was bad news.

"It seems it is official now." The man sighed, placing the piece of paper down on his desk. "I am to become the lord of the Department of Botany."

"So lady Marianne…"

"Will be my wife, apparently." Waver nodded. "I'll have to go and apologise to her."

"Something tells me that won't be necessary." Shirou sweatdropped, before making eye contact with Adashino, who rolled her pretty eyes. "In fact, I think she'll be happy to hear it."

Waver didn't reply, continuing to stare at the paper, and Adashino, who looked thoroughly amused again, made a shooing motion at Shirou, indicating that he should leave.

"I will take care of this." She whispered softly.

"…Don't play any tricks on him." Shirou cautioned her, and Adashino pressed her hand to her heart, giving him her most innocent look.

Shirou still wasn't quite sure about it, but as there was nothing he could do here anymore, he left the office again.

He made his way to the cafeteria to have a quick breakfast, after which he needed to go to the courtroom again, but while on the way, he came across lady Marianne.

She appeared to be rushing towards Waver's office, and if the delighted expression on her face was any indication, she not only had already heard about her upcoming marriage, but was also perfectly satisfied with it.

Now all that remained was convincing Waver of that. The man could be extremely stubborn after all.

But then again, Sakura and Ayako had managed to convince Shirou too, so it wasn't impossible.

The redhead smiled, wishing Marianne all the luck in the world.

And Adashino too, not to mention Bazett, Reines, and Grey.

Lord El-Melloi sure was a popular man.

"You mean there is a near all-powerful wish-granting device here, in this cave?" Osaki asked incredulously after Rin and Sakura shortly explained the matter of the Holy Grail to him. "A wish-granting device powered by the ghosts of famous people from the past?"

"That is correct, Osaki-san." Sakura nodded, glad the detective had understood so quickly. "But it is corrupted."

"Corrupted?!" Rin turned towards her in shock, as Sakura had already expected, but the plum-haired girl ignored her sister for now. It wasn't how she'd wanted to break the news to her, but circumstances threw those plans out the window.

"It has been changed into a monkey's paw." She elaborated, while Rin gaped at her in horror. "It will fulfil any wish made to it, but in the worst possible way."

"Worst how?" Yomaura asked, looking rather queasy at the notion that such a powerful device had been corrupted.

"An example. The man who won the previous War asked for a world without conflict, without war and suffering." Sakura explained quickly, keenly aware of the Wraith listening along with obvious interest. "The Grail offered to kill everyone in the world, except him, his wife, and his daughter, and to give them a paradise. That way, there would be no more conflict or suffering ever again."

"What kind of sick, sadistic cup is that?!" Osaki demanded, his face a curious mix of white and red. "Why would anyone make such a thing?!"

"They didn't." Sakura shook her head, glancing over at Rin, who was also listening with bated breath. "Originally, it worked precisely as intended, as a neutral wish-granter. During the Third War however, it was possessed by the world's greatest Demon, so that's why it-"

"Angra Mainyu is not a Demon!" Mordegai snapped, baring his teeth as his eyes became bloodshot. "He is a pathetic half-god with no power of his own! If it weren't for the Grail giving him power, he wouldn't be able to kill even a skilled Magus! It is completely unfair he gets to possess the Chalice of Christ while beings far more worthy struggle to even exist in this world!"

Sakura opened her mouth to tell him that the Holy Grail of Fuyuki was just a fake to begin with, absolutely not the cup that Jesus had drank from during the Last Supper, before deciding it would be wiser not to tell him that.

The Wraith already looked like he was about to murder someone, and Sakura, unlike certain other individuals she wouldn't name, drew no satisfaction from provoking people.

"I will rip him out of there and take his place." Mordegai repeated, sounding more unhinged and Wraith-like than ever before. "I will possess the Grail, and when the time comes, when the next Grail War reaches its conclusion, I will be the one to wield its power!"

"For what purpose?" Ayako asked, her pale face indicating she already had a suspicion.

"To destroy humanity once and for all and bring back the Age of the Gods."

"Typical." Ayako deadpanned.

"We cannot allow that, Wraith." Yomaura said, her voice suddenly very calm, and she glanced at Rin for support. "Second Owner?"

Rin didn't react however, staring off into the distance with a dazed look in her eyes.

It was exactly what Sakura had feared would happen once she learned that her family's heritage had been destroyed beyond repair. No, worse, it hadn't even been properly destroyed, but corrupted, converted into a sick parody of itself that spat in the face of its makers and the ones fighting for it.

The Tohsaka had staked everything they had, everything they were even, onto the Grail, just like the Matou and the Einzbern. The Grail was the reason they lived in Japan, in relative isolation, instead of in Europe, where life would have been much better to them. The Grail was their ticket to the Root, and it was the thing that kept them going after suffering setback after setback over the centuries, often coming close to complete extinction.

When that was taken into account, Rin was actually doing quite well after hearing the terrible news that her family's dream was lost forever.

Most other Magi would have broken down on the spot when confronted with something like that.

Truly, her big sister was strong.

Yomaura didn't agree with Sakura's assessment of Rin's mental state however.

"Second Owner, pull yourself together!" The redhead barked, raising a hand as if to slap her. "Worry about your heritage later! For now, we must stop the one who wants to make things even worse!"

"Nee-san, please!" Sakura also contributed, grabbing Rin's shoulder and lightly shaking her. "Nee-san!"

Fortunately for them all, Rin was made of stern stuff, and she came back to her senses fairly quickly.

Unfortunately though, the first thing she focused on wasn't the Wraith intending to kill them all. No, she focused on Sakura instead.

"How long have you known?" She demanded of the plum-haired girl, turning to face her fully.

"Nee-san?"

"How long have you known that the Grail is corrupted?!" Rin clarified, raising her voice to near-shouting level.

"Since Senpai told me." Sakura replied honestly, not about to lie to her sister. "The day after he saved me from the Matou-estate."

Silence fell, and for a few seconds, nobody moved, from Yomaura to the Wraith himself.

Then…

"…Months."

"Nee-san…"

"You have known for months, and you never told me?!" Rin's face was a mixture of numerous emotions, none of them positive. "You kept me in the dark all this time?!"

"Nee-san, I-"

"It's my heritage!" Rin snarled, her eyes full of hurt and confusion. "I had a right to know! I deserve it!"

"You did deserve to know." Sakura nodded rapidly, not bothering to mention it was her heritage too, as Rin clearly took it far more seriously than she did. "That is why we were going to tell you."

"When?!" Rin asked bitterly, taking a step back from her. "After the next Grail War begins?"

"Right after Shirou came back." Ayako corrected, cautiously taking a step towards Rin, eyeing her like she would an upset cat who might claw at her. "We weren't going to leave you in the dark much longer, Rin, I swear."

"You should have told me right away." Rin hissed.

"It was never the right time." Sakura tried to explain herself. "We didn't know how to tell you. We… We weren't close enough."

That remark hit home, and Rin flinched.

"Not close enough yet." Sakura hastily amended, not wanting to hurt her sister. "But we are now. We were going to tell you the whole story when Senpai returned."

"We were even going to ask for your help in solving the problem." Ayako added, which made Rin raise an eyebrow. "You know, dismantle the Grail and all that."

"Dismantle my heritage?" Rin still didn't sound happy, but it was more of a grumpy annoyance now than a furious rage.

"Would you prefer it remained corrupted?" Sakura asked pointedly.

"…No." Rin admitted after a moment, appearing to be somewhat mollified at least. "I don't."

"Well then." Ayako crossed her arms with a meaningful expression, and Rin, after a few more seconds of grumpily staring off into the distance, sighed deeply.

"I want the full story about the Grail, as soon as possible." She demanded in a voice that brokered no argument.

"We can tell you right after we kicked that Wraith's ass." Ayako grinned, before cocking her head to the side. "Though we might not have all the details. Shirou is the expert on this matter."

"Just tell me what you can. Emiya-kun can fill me in on the rest when he returns." Rin accepted, before narrowing her eyes. "Don't think you are forgiven for keeping this from me though. We will have words about this later."

"Yes, Nee-san." Sakura accepted demurely, knowing that she was in the wrong here. The Grail was indeed Rin's heritage, the greatest pride of her family, and they should have told her much sooner that it had been corrupted.

But like with so many things, it had taken a backseat against Shirou's departure to London, and with him gone, neither Sakura nor Ayako were very inclined to discuss Magecraft, at all, no matter what type or in what context.

Explaining that to Rin fully mollified her, and the black-haired sighed again, placing her hands on her hips.

"Never become Magi." She told them, her voice oddly soft. "You would be utterly worthless at it."

"I don't know about that." Ayako protested. "I think it would be rather cool to be able to cast spells, and Shirou did say we both had aptitude."

"I do want to learn Healing spells at some point." Sakura agreed with her girlfriend.

"Emiya-kun can teach you as many things as he likes, I'm not talking about that!" Rin snapped, before looking away, softening her tone again. "Just don't become Magi. It would only make you miserable."

"Nee-san…"

"Just… Just promise me that, please?" Rin's voice tapered off at the end, and she looked down at the ground, her cheeks slightly red.

"…We promise." Sakura said after a few moments, and though she wondered what had come over Rin all of a sudden, the fact that her sister cared so much made her feel very warm inside.

"What she said." Ayako nodded.

Their agreement got them a beautiful smile in return.

"Pft, ha, hahaha, hahahahahahahahahahaha!" The heart-warming scene was interrupted however by a scalding, mocking laugh echoing through the cave. A laugh that expressed nothing but contempt and disdain for what had just transpired. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It was the Wraith who was laughing his head off, tears of joy streaming over his cheeks, cackling with such volume that everyone took an unconscious step back, even Hiroko, who had stopped crying because of the spectacle.

It was extremely obvious that the Wraith was laughing at the girls, at their conversation just now, just as it was obvious that he was about to mock them.

Sakura and Ayako glared at him in anger and annoyance, but it was the third member of their group who had the harshest reaction to the mocking laughter.

Power raced through the girl's body, enough to level a city block. Lightning seemed to come out of her eyes, displaying her fury. Blue patterns formed across her skin, signifying the activation of Magic Circuits carrying more power than pre-Mjolnir Shirou could have produced in a month.

The Wraith, who'd finished laughing, opened his mouth, undoubtedly to make fun of the girls for being so sappy or the like, but he never got a syllable out of his mouth.

In his arrogance and malice, so typical of Wraiths, he'd made a crucial mistake.

Instead of attacking while the girls had their little discussion, which would have been the wisest thing to do and would have likely netted him an easy victory, he had laughed at a Tsundere in dere-dere mode.

Right at the time when she'd bared her soft heart to the world, he had launched a cruel attack, aimed only at insulting and belittling her.

Now he would pay with his life. That was a simple fact, and almost everyone present knew it.

Being a Wraith though, Mordegai was completely unaware of the intricacies of a Tsundere's mind. That was why, in his burst of laughter and unreasonable arrogance, he never saw the attack coming until it was too late.

The red gem was thrown with perfect precision, without a single warning, in a movement that was so smooth it made everyone's jaw drop. The gem soared through the air, sparkling from the power contained within, going faster than a hawk swooping down as it closed in on its target.

Then it made contact, and the Wraith was consumed by a massive explosion of white-hot fire.

After eating his breakfast at the main cafeteria, Shirou helped out at that very same cafeteria again, as had become his routine over the past few days. The trials wouldn't begin for another hour, so he had some time to spare.

He'd tried calling the girls, but they didn't answer the house telephone, nor did Ayako answer her mobile. He'd tried several times over the course of his meal, but either they didn't hear his calls, or they were not in a position to answer.

Shirou furiously hoped it was the former, and he made a note to get Sakura and Rin mobile phones as well, and to establish a different method of contacting them that wasn't as failure-prone as phones had turned out to be.

There was nothing he could do right now though. Nothing except trust the girls and hope for their safety.

Now he was standing in the kitchen, working furiously at preparing the food, hoping that the hard work would make his worries go away. As usual though, it didn't work, and it was only when Emmanuel, the elderly cook, came over that Shirou finally got the distraction he'd been craving.

"Shirou, me boy." The head cook sighed in his usual dramatic manner, his Italian accent extra pronounced now that he was exhausted from pulling an all-nighter. "You are a lifesaver. I don't know how we would have managed without you."

"You would have figured something out." Shirou waved away the praise however, smiling uncomfortably, as he was still very aware that their predicament was his fault.

"Maybe." Emmanual allowed, before he shook his head. "But it would have been, oh, how do you say it? 'Slap-dash'. We would have had to send customers away, or establish longer waiting times. Because of you, that was not necessary."

"I just did my part." Shirou still felt the cook was being too generous with his praise.

"You did far more than that." Emmanual patted him on the shoulder. "You did the work of twenty men, you were attentive and helpful, you cooked very well for an amateur, and your manners were impeccable. The woman who marries you, she will be the luckiest woman on Earth."

Now that compliment struck home, and Shirou lowered his head, keenly aware of how his cheeks became red.

"You astonish me, mister Fujimaru." A cool voice spoke up from Shirou's other side, and when he looked up, he found Lia standing there, holding a slew of new orders. "I never would have thought that a man with a reputation like yours would blush at a mere compliment."

"Ah, w-well, that is… eh." Shirou stuttered, feeling even more embarrassed now that the cool beauty was looking at him with lips that were twitching in amusement.

"Lia is very beautiful, is she not?" Emmanuel suddenly interrupted, making both Shirou and Lia look at him in surprise. "She is elegant, refined, and whenever she walks by, both men and women lower their heads to see more of her fine legs."

"Ha?!" Lia's face exploded in red, her mouth falling open as she took a startled step back. "Head cook, what are you saying?!"

"I am merely pointing out the hypocrisy of you telling someone else they blush easily at compliments." Emmanuel laughed, and Lia, unable to say anything in return, quickly placed the orders down and retreated, covering her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Thanks." Shirou sighed in relief as the waitress hastily left. "I thought I was done for."

"You are my star employee, I have a duty to protect you." Emmanuel grinned, before his face turned serious. "Besides, us men need to stick together. Soon, Lia will return with Syr, and they will try to overcome us in the battle of teasing. The boys against the girls."

"O-Oh." Shirou wasn't sure what to think about that. "Are you sure?"

"There they come." Was all Emmanuel had to say, and Shirou looked up, finding that Syr was indeed marching towards them with Lia in tow, her face set in a mixture of anger and eagerness. "Brace yourself, boy."

Shirou did, he braced himself.

Though it didn't help much in the end.

About fourteen hours later, after the trials were over again for the day, Shirou found himself sitting at one of the cafeteria's tables. He'd just finished helping Emmanuel out with the busy hours of the evening, and he was done for the day. The cafeteria still needed to be cleaned, but he wasn't allowed to help with that.

Emmanuel was always glad to accept his help when it came to cooking, but the clean-up was 'absolutely not something they could allow a friend of the Vice-Director to help with', or something like that.

Not wanting to make things difficult for them, Shirou relented, and as he still didn't have much to do, he'd sat down at a table with a cup of tea.

The redhead sighed as he took a sip of said tea, looking back at the kitchens. He'd been helping them out for several days now, and he likely would be welcome for two or three more, but after that, it would be over.

Shirou had been allowed to help so far because they had an immensely pressing need for manpower. The recent Purge had sent many of the common folk of the Clocktower, for a given definition of 'common', running for the hills, fearing a war between the factions. This left many cafeterias and other places desperately in need of extra staff.

However, since no civil war had started, the trials were almost over, and both the Democratic Faction and the Neutral Faction seemed to be on their best behaviour, many of those people were returning. Already, Emmanuel was much less stressed, having nearly enough workers again, and that would only get better over the coming days.

In other words, he didn't need Shirou anymore.

The redhead was of course totally fine with that. He'd be leaving soon anyway, so if they could manage without him, all the better. He'd just enjoy it while it lasted.

Tonight had been another fairly pleasant evening, and the work had eventually even managed to take his mind off his girlfriends for a while. Of course, his worry returned in full now that he had nothing to do anymore.

Or rather, almost nothing.

"It's good to see you again." Shirou smiled at the ladies sitting across from him. "It's been a while, and I was wondering how you were doing."

"We are doing perfectly well, mister Fujimaru, as are father, uncle, and mister Li." Mary Lil Fargo beamed back at him, her maid Claire following her example next to her. "What about yourself?"

"I'm fine, all things considered." Shirou replied, not about to bore them with the whole story of everything he had going on right now. This was a meeting meant for them to catch up, not to give progress reports.

Mary Lil Fargo and Claire were hardly old friends of his, the kind of people you normally caught up with, but they were some of the first people Shirou had helped during his time at the Clocktower, making them somewhat noteworthy anyway.

Prompted by the indirect machinations of Waver, who was one of Mary's teachers, he had gone to their house, supposedly to tutor Mary, and once there, had dealt with Mary's abusive home-situation, which had been messy to say the least.

Mary herself had been kept a prisoner by her father, who forced her to bear a cursed mark that bound her to him, while Claire had been regularly abused by said father, as well as Mary's cousin and the family-friend.

Of course, Shirou had resolved the situation as soon as he'd found out what had been going on, through the use of his special kind of Hypnosis. Using that technique, he'd changed the men from cruel, grasping cowards into decent human beings with a spine. Especially the cousin, Alec Fargo, had really become a good man.

Both Mary and Claire had been very grateful for this, and although Shirou hadn't seen them since that fateful day, they hadn't hesitated to join him once they'd spotted him sitting at a table in the cafeteria.

And yes, their meeting was a complete coincidence, Shirou had checked, twice even. They had no ulterior motives.

"You're fine?" Claire, the maid, asked softly after Shirou gave his response. "Mister Fujimaru, in my experience, men who say they are fine usually are not fine at all."

"That doesn't apply here, I truly am doing well." Shirou immediately replied, before amending his statement slightly when Claire gave him a disbelieving look. "A bit busy, but nothing I can't handle."

"We had expected as much." Mary's eyes twinkled in barely hidden amusement. "Tales of your exploits reached even the countryside. If you accomplished even half of what those tales claim you accomplished, you must have become quite an important man by now."

"And don't I know it." Shirou huffed, surprising even himself by how freely he talked to them.

"I have to say though, the rumours about you that are currently spreading around were a bit shocking to hear." Mary went on, tapping a finger on her chin.

"Why? What did those rumours say?" Shirou asked suspiciously, wondering what was so shocking about them.

"That you are a bloodthirsty maniac who only cares about his kill count. That you butchered yourself a way through the Department of Archaeology, leaving nothing but carnage in your wake. That you carved out a piece of the Clocktower with your bare hands and threw it into the Thames." Mary smiled innocently as she said one outrageous thing after another. "Those are but a few examples of what the lower-ranked Magi whisper about you."

"…Shocking."

"Rather." Mary's smile became even wider at Shirou's deadpan response. "We, Claire and I, didn't believe any of it though, and used several better sources to get an idea of what actually happened. Even those better sources though still said quite a few unbelievable things."

"Such as?" Shirou asked with morbid curiosity.

"That you and Lady Barthomeloi engaged in a competition about who could defeat the most opponents during the battle for Archaeology."

"That actually happened."

"EH?!" Mary's eyes boggled in shock. "W-What about you breaking all the department's Bounded Fields with a snap of your fingers?"

"That is also true."

"Ghk?!" Mary gulped nervously, before she suddenly went completely still. She just looked at him with a calculating gaze, one that indicated she was contemplating whether she should continue talking or stay silent.

"What is it?" Shirou prompted her.

"What about the most unbelievable rumour of them all?" Mary asked slowly. "The one that says you're a Sorcerer."

That one was more difficult to answer. Technically, he wasn't a Sorcerer, but the truth behind his abilities was even more unbelievable, so he had decided to just claim he was a Sorcerer and leave it at that. It was significantly easier to explain than the Outerversal Divine tool in his possession.

"I do have some level of control over the Third True Magic." He thus nodded, lying yet again.

"Oh." Mary's voice had become very small as she stared at him with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Oh?" Shirou cocked his head to the side, wondering how Mary would react to the news.

"…That is nice." Mary said hesitantly, before she fell silent again, clearly having no idea what to say.

Then Claire leaned over to her mistress to whisper something into her ear, and although Shirou could have listened along, he chose not to, as it would be rude.

Whatever Claire whispered though, it seemed to get Mary's neurons firing again, as the girl smiled once more.

"While I would love to talk more about that, we don't have much time to chat unfortunately." She said, politely abandoning the topic of Shirou being a Sorcerer. "In about thirty minutes, we have another appointment."

"This late at night?" Shirou asked curiously. It was nearing eleven in the evening after all, so any meeting that started now would have to continue until the early hours of tomorrow at least.

"It comes with the territory." Mary remarked in a whimsical tone.

"Ah, of course." Now Shirou remembered. "You are an Astromancer."

An Astromancer was a Magus who focused mainly on observing the stars and created spells through these observations. To them, night was the most important time of the day, as that was when the most stars were visible.

"I will be having a meeting with the families from the Department of Astromancy soon." The cute brunette elaborated. "These meetings are usually held at night, as it allows us to read the stars while discussing important topics. Fortune telling is not very reliable, even in the Moonlit World, but most of the old people swear by it nonetheless, and will do nothing if they don't get permission from the stars first."

"I see." Shirou nodded, not surprised at all that old Magi were being horribly traditionalist in Astromancy too. "What will you be discussing?"

"Nothing too important, I believe." Mary replied. "Funding, management, establishing the effects of the purge on the Department of Astromancy, and I heard that the head of the department, Marisbury Animusphere, also has something to say."

"So nothing you can't handle?" Shirou asked, as it all sounded pretty standard.

"…I really hope so, mister Fujimaru." Mary's smile disappeared as her shoulders slumped. "Father really threw me into the deep end when he made me the family-head. I have no idea how to conduct myself during such a meeting."

"Will this be the first time that you take part in one?" Shirou suddenly realised that that would make a lot of sense. If these department-meetings were monthly, then it stood to reason that Mary, having only been the family-head for around three weeks, had never attended one before."

"I have had several smaller meetings with a number of other families so far." Mary began scratching at the table with a fingernail, her expression turning despondent. "But never one as large as the one tonight. Oh, mister Fujimaru, I fear they will eat me alive."

Not an unreasonable fear, considering what Magi were like. But all the same, Shirou did think she was worrying too much.

"Miss Mary, you don't need to worry." He thus told her, drawing a surprised look from her. "If your father could get through those meetings without issue, then so can you. You are better than him in every way."

"D-Do you really think so?" Mary perked up, her eyes turning hopeful.

"Absolutely." Shirou nodded, before turning to the maid at the table. "Don't you agree, Claire?"

"I do." Claire nodded strongly, not a trace of doubt in her voice. "Lady Mary is far more capable than lord Fargo ever was."

"Oh, stop it, you two!" Mary was blushing now, fanning herself with her hands, her mouth set in a flattered smile. "You're making me blush!"

"It's nothing but the truth, mistress." Claire answered calmly, and the look that Mary gave her indicated quite clearly that she would have kissed the maid silly if they hadn't been in public.

Claire saw it too, and she suddenly seemed impatient, as if she wanted to drag her mistress away to a private room.

Really, those two… Shirou had no doubt they'd be standing in front of an altar as soon as it was feasibly possible.

"Should you feel overwhelmed though, you can always use my name." Shirou offered. He'd thought about it while the girls had been flirting with each other, and he was pretty sure he could trust Mary not to use his name in vain.

"Use your name?" Mary blinked at him in surprise, metaphorical question marks appearing above her head.

"In the time that we have been sitting here, numerous spies from all three Factions and all eleven main families have come and gone." Shirou informed them, making them stiffen in shock. "Simply mention that we are on good terms during the meeting, and I am rather sure that no one will give you too much trouble."

"I…" Mary boggled at him, clearly not having expected that. "Thank you. I will only use it as a last resort, and if you ever need my help, you just have to ask."

"Not a problem, miss Mary."

From there on, the conversation shifted to more pleasant subjects, right up until the girls needed to leave for their meeting.

His cup of tea finished, Shirou decided to head back to his room. Not to sleep though, but to get enough privacy to teleport himself to his Vault.

He was going to visit Illya again.

"How do you like that?!" Rin shouted as her explosion completely engulfed the Wraith, as well as most of the surrounding area, the resulting fire burning so hot that Hiroko immediately ducked away with a shriek, shielding her face from the heat.

"EEP!" Sakura squeaked in fright, far enough from the conflagration not to be influenced much yet sufficiently close to get a right scare.

"What the-!" Osaki swore in shock, his long-ingrained instincts gained over a long career of police-work making him duck for cover.

"Oi!" Ayako on the other hand did not react much aside from taking a step back, showcasing her nerves of steel.

"Miss Second Owner." Yomaura didn't move at all aside from shielding her face, stoically bearing the explosion as she glared at Rin. "Control yourself."

"Rin…" Ayako clearly agreed with the red-headed detective, giving the black-haired girl a reprimanding look. "Don't you think that was a little bit…"

"Excessive?" Osaki suggested in a shrill voice, looking with wide eyes at the bonfire that was now burning at the place where Mordegai had once stood. "Overblown?! Dangerous?!"

"I had everything under control." Rin snapped back defensively, blushing as she realised how harshly she had reacted to being mocked. "That gem contained only fire, no pressure or shrapnel. You were never in any danger."

"Still, a warning would have been nice." Ayako grumbled, looking down at the ash on her clothes. "This is going to take ages to wash out."

"Well, at least the Wraith is gone now." Sakura tried to stay positive and defend her sister, pumping her fist in an attempt at celebration, trying to forget she'd screamed like a damsel in distress only seconds before. "So that's one problem solved at least."

"Yeah, I suppose." Osaki grumbled, turning away from the fire. "I'd rather you wouldn't have killed someone who wasn't attacking us, but since it was a 'Wraith' or whatever, I'll let it slide."

"Much obliged." Rin snarked sarcastically, becoming rather annoyed with the detective's continuous remarks about arresting her.

Osaki ignored her however, and turned towards Hiroko, who was just getting up from where she'd been knocked down.

"As for you, young woman, I hope you will cease this nonsense." He spoke sternly. "Your 'friend' is gone. It would be wise to surrender."

"Ah!" Hiroko flinched at being addressed, and for a moment, there was a storm of conflict visible behind her eyes. In the end though, she seemed to realise it was all over for her, and she slumped in defeat. "Yes, I surrender."

"Good." Osaki nodded, his relief palpable, before taking out handcuffs as he cautiously approached the girl. "That's good. Stay where you are."

"That was surprisingly anticlimactic." Rin huffed, looking away from the detective and at the fire that was still burning merrily at the place where the self-proclaimed Wraith had once stood. "I guess it was just some crazy person after all."

"He still did that though." Ayako pointed at the black haze that was still hanging in front of the entrance of the cavern. "I don't know about you, but I'm not walking through that cloud. It might melt my skin off."

"Don't worry your pretty little head, I'll dispel it." Rin huffed, taking a step back in preparation for turning around.

In the end, it was that step backwards that saved her life.

It was Ayako who saw it first.

There was a flicker in the fire, one that seemed utterly out of place, and the bottom seemed to fall out of the brunette's stomach as she realised what it was.

"Rin, get down!" She screamed, before throwing herself at the black-haired girl and pulling her backwards, sending them both to the ground with Rin lying on top of her.

Just as she did that, a massive ghostly hand, easily five times the size of a human's, tipped with ridiculously large and sharp claws, slashed in an upwards movement towards Rin's head.

Had Rin still been standing, it would have split her skull open. With Ayako pulling her back, she got away with three skin-deep gashes in her forehead.

"By the Root!" Rin swore, having been taken off guard. Not so much though that she couldn't react, and she threw another gem, this one coloured white, at the ghostly hand.

It retracted at lightning speed however, and Rin didn't activate the gem, instead letting it fall down on the ground to be retrieved later. There was no sense in wasting them.

In the meantime, Osaki and Yomaura had quickly extracted Hiroko from the situation, setting her down at the edge of the cavern, before Yomaura stepped forward again and, with a wave of her hand and a muttered incantation, doused Rin's fire.

There, a horrific spectre floated about half-a-meter of the ground, previously having been hidden by the flames and the smoke.

It was grey in colour, leaning more towards white than black. It was about half again as tall as Osaki, but with ridiculously oversized hands with claws that would have given a bear pause. It wasn't quite an incorporeal skeleton, but only because something resembling skin was covering it, pulled tight over the ghostly bones to create an image that made even starvation-victims look well-proportioned and healthy.

Except for the head. The head was nothing more than a skull with a see-through veil hung over it, the dark eye-sockets somehow burning with foulness and hate.

"So he was a Wraith after all." Yomaura grumbled. "A manifestation of resentment, hatred, anger, and all that nice stuff."

"Yes." The Wraith spoke in a voice that sounded as if a hundred nails were scratching over a chalkboard, displaying no emotion in its voice or on its face, before its hollow eyes turned to Rin. "That hurt, Magus."

"It was supposed to hurt." Rin sneered, picking up the white gem, alarmed by the intensity that the being was suddenly radiating. Before, it had seemed impulsive and reckless, but now, its eyes were filled with a cool and measured intelligence. "Or rather, it was supposed to kill you."

"It did certainly destroy my borrowed body." The Wraith acknowledged, one of its oversized hands gesturing towards a scattering of ash behind it. "But since I drank the blood of the Incubus and I am aided by the power emanating from the Grail, I am powerful enough to materialise on my own."

"Not fully though." Yomaura eyed the creature up and down. "You are missing some pieces."

She didn't mean that literally, in the sense of the Wraith missing body parts, but metaphorically. When seen on a spiritual level, the Wraith was indeed incomplete.

"Once I claim Angra Mainyu's position, I will be complete."The Wraith dismissed her words, before it lifted its claws into an attack position. "Now you will die so that I can work in peace."

It seemed that the Wraith had lost its patience along with its body. It had nothing more to say, and it was going straight to combat.

Rin didn't bother speaking either. Just like before, she attacked without warning, once more throwing a white gem, which held Magical Energy infused with her Wind-Element, at the apparition.

Rin was an Average One, meaning she held the Elements of Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, and Ether. Previously, she had thrown a red gem, which had been infused with Fire, her go-to Element whenever she wasn't certain about what kind enemy she was facing. It had proven ineffective though, as fire was mostly useless against spiritual enemies.

So instead, she tried Wind, remembering from one of her books that wind-based attacks were the most effective against incorporeal beings. Ether was the least effective, being one of the main components of ghost-type enemies and basically their main source of sustenance, so she wouldn't be using that at all.

Seeing the gem coming closer, and perhaps acknowledging the threat it represented, the Wraith opened the black chasm that was supposed to pass for its mouth, at the same time reaching out with its spindly arms. The next moment, the Magical Energy was drained from the gem, and by the time it arrived, it was nothing but an ordinary piece of precious rock.

"Futile." It commented, still without displaying any kind of emotion.

Fortunately, the Wraith had no use for Magical Energy that had been infused with Wind, so it didn't grow stronger or anything like that. Still, having her attack neutralised so easily was rather vexing to Rin.

She wasn't discouraged though. The fact that the Wraith had considered it necessary to drain the Magical Energy from the gem showed clearly that it could be hurt by Wind-based attacks. Now all that was left was getting her next gem to connect with it.

She focused for a moment, imagining how a dagger was aimed straight for her heart, and then plunged said imagined dagger into her chest. The shock promptly activated her Circuits fully, and Rin was set for combat.

Yomaura was the first to act though, launching herself at the Wraith, new Runes shining on her arms, and based on the apparition's frantic dodges of her blows, those Runes made her a credible threat to it.

The Wraith wasn't a slouch though, and it phased and flickered around, almost teleporting over small distances, carefully dodging the blows, or mitigating the damage to a mere scratch whenever it couldn't dodge.

It retaliated too, and its sharp claws had already scored several glancing blows, as around five bleeding gashes had been opened up on Yomaura's body.

The Fraga ignored her wounds however, and relentlessly kept up the pressure.

Meanwhile, Rin Reinforced herself, and sped off to the side, trying to flank the creature and take it by surprise. She waited, and just when it flickered away to dodge a swing from the Fraga, threw three more gems at it, spread out in a triangle pattern to ensure maximum overlap and damage.

The Wraith wasn't taken by surprise though, and it turned blue, before lifting a clawed hand.

Rin gritted her teeth when her gems were drained of Magical Energy again, and though the Wraith wasn't able to complete the process this time, it weakened the attack enough for it not to matter when the gems connected. The creature tanked the blow and continued battling the Fraga.

The black-haired girl wasn't out of tricks though, and promptly launched several wind-blades and a small tornado at the Wraith. As those phenomena had already been created fully, they couldn't be drained of Magical Energy like the gems.

The Wraith proved itself a capable warrior however, dodging most of the wind-blades, before it hid itself behind Yomaura, forcing the woman to dispel the rest of Rin's attacks lest they struck her in the back.

This wasn't going to work. If she continued with long-distance attacks, Rin would run out of Wind-based gems long before the Wraith would sustain any significant damage. She didn't fancy getting up close and personal either though, as she would just get in Yomaura's way, and she could forget about Gandr-shots entirely, as she was pretty sure Wraiths couldn't get sick.

This needed a more creative approach.

"Nee-san!"

The cry drew Rin's attention to the back of the cavern, where Sakura, Ayako, and detective Osaki had taken shelter, along with Hiroko, hiding behind several rocks jutting out of the ground.

Sakura was frantically waving at her, beckoning her to come over, and Rin, who was practical enough to know when she was fighting a losing battle, decided to indulge her. Her sister was anything but dumb, so if she wanted to talk to Rin in the middle of the battle, it was sure to be important.

"Detective-san, hold on for a minute!" She shouted at the redheaded woman, before rushing at Sakura.

She really hoped her little sister had a plan, before as things looked now, they would be worn down in a battle of attrition and killed before the night was over.

"Weeeee!" Illya laughed in delight when Shirou threw her into the air, before he safely caught her as she came down, only to throw her upwards again immediately after. "Higher! Higher!"

"Mistress." Sella groaned, standing right next to Shirou, her own arms also raised, ready to catch Illya should Shirou make a mistake. "Please, no higher than this."

"It's fine, Sella." Shirou said soothingly, almost turning to smile at the maid but remembering just in time she'd probably prefer it if he kept his eyes on Illya. "I won't drop her."

"A mistake is easily made." The maid insisted, and she didn't budge an inch, still holding her arms ready to catch the little sprite.

"Well, suit yourself." Shirou sweatdropped at her zeal, and he continued throwing Illya up in the air and catching her again, going a tad higher than before. It was a little mean to Sella, but Illya's wishes took precedence right now.

"Wahoo!" The little sprite cheered, her hair flying around her head as she went up and down, showing no signs of tiring of it yet.

Shirou had come to the Vault to spend some quality time with Illya. He didn't really have anything else to do, busy as he was to extract himself from the Clocktower's machinations, so he figured it was the perfect time to get to know his little sister a bit better.

He had expected that they would have a good talk, or perhaps play a board game alongside the maids, but once he told Illya about his intentions to spend some time with her, this 'game' had literally been the first thing she'd come up with.

He had to throw her into the air and catch her again. That was basically the whole idea. She didn't want him to fly while carrying her, she didn't want him to levitate her, she didn't even want him to lift her upwards in a miniature tornado. She wanted him to manually throw her upwards and then catch her again.

Shirou didn't see how that could be any fun at all, but since he'd been doing it for close to half-an-hour now and Illya was still jeering in delight, she clearly thought otherwise, and took great enjoyment in being thrown.

Well, that was fine. As long as she was happy, Shirou was happy.

The throwing continued for a bit longer, and then Illya had enough for the day, to Sella's immense relief.

"That was awesome!" Illya cheered as she stood on solid ground again, Sella fussing over her with a single-minded focus to ensure she wasn't scratched, bruised, or otherwise injured. "You're the best, Shirou!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." The redhead laughed, patting her head. "Was that something you did often with Kiritsugu?"

"Sometimes." Illya nodded, before holding out her hand at about the height of her middle. "When I was thiiiiiis small."

"Tiny." Shirou grinned, drawing another laugh from her. "Was that fun too?"

"It was!" Illya nodded enthusiastically. "He could never throw me as high as you, but it was still super-duper fun!"

"Super-duper fun?" Shirou grinned at the childish description, which far more matched the age she looked like rather than the age she was. "That sounds like you like being thrown."

"Yes!" Illya agreed wholeheartedly with his words, before she turned a bit grumpy. "But then I became too big, and papa could only carry me on his shoulders."

"That's too bad." Shirou patted her head again. "Especially since you're only going to get bigger from now on."

"Being tall wouldn't be bad either." Illya admitted, looking up at him. "If I could be as tall as you, that would be great."

"Hehe." Shirou did not really know how to respond to that, so he didn't. There was every chance that Illya would grow as tall as he was after Nasu's ritual, but he wasn't completely certain, so he wouldn't give her any hope that might turn out to be false.

"Say, Shirou." Illya's sudden change in tone was very noticeable, and he looked at her, finding that she was fiddling with her fingers a bit, looking everywhere but at him. "What's Fuyuki like?"

"Fuyuki?" Shirou cocked his head to the side, wondering where that question was coming from.

"I have heard about that place all my life, ever since I was old enough to understand what it was and represented." Illya explained, a complicated expression on her face. "But even though it is so important to me and my family, I barely know anything about it."

"Well." Shirou began, rubbing the back of his head, before noticing that both Sella and Leysritt, the latter of whom had appeared out of nowhere a second ago, also seemed curious. "Let's sit down first."

The small group headed over to four conveniently placed sofas that had suddenly appeared nearby, and after Sella had arranged tea and snacks, Shirou began telling them about his hometown.

"Fuyuki is a really big city, with millions of inhabitants, though I couldn't tell you how many exactly." Shirou began with the simple facts. "It is right next to the sea and is intersected by a river. As such, it has a massive harbour that provides most of its revenue. Further inland, Fuyuki is bordered by a forest, and in that forest, Mount Enzou lies, being the spiritual centre of the city, mainly because of the first-class leyline and the Ryuudou-temple."

The three Homunculi still paid attention to him, but their faces made it clear that they considered those facts to be boring. As such, Shirou tried to spice his story up a little.

"On both sides of the city, along the coast, there are vast beaches that are wildly popular in the spring and summer." He added, noting how this seemed to interest them much more. "There are many cafés and bars in the city, hosting the bustling nightlife. There is a very large bowling alley in the city-centre, and a zoo about ten kilometres away from the border."

"Ooooooh!" Illya's eyes were sparkling again, a happy blush coming to her cheeks, and Shirou, who suddenly remembered that Illya had never left the grounds of the Einzbern-castle before, made a mental note to take her to every single attraction and place of interest in Fuyuki and its surroundings as soon as he could.

At moments like these, she really seemed like nothing more than an ordinary ten-year-old girl.

"What about Magi?" It was Sella who asked the practical question. "Since the Grail War takes place in Fuyuki, it would not be unreasonable for Magi to have established their base there."

"Oh, yes, good question, Sella." Illya nodded, her expression turning serious, revealing her actual age. "I know that the Tohsaka and the Matou live in Fuyuki, but are there any others?"

"There are five Magi in total living in Fuyuki." Shirou replied, visibly taking them aback by how low the number was. "I am currently allied to two of them, on somewhat decent terms with one, and on neutral terms with the last, for now."

"That is all?" Sella blinked in surprise. "Only five Magi in the whole city?"

"Only five." Shirou confirmed. "Those Magi are Tohsaka Rin, Matou Sakura, Yomaura Taya, the priest Kotomine Kirei, and me. Rin and Sakura are the ones I am allied with."

"The Matou and the Tohsaka are doing so badly as to have only one member left each?" Sella became more and more surprised with every word Shirou spoke.

"Right! Because Shirou destroyed the Matou!" Illya recalled from one of their earlier conversations.

"Yes." Shirou nodded, feeling not a grain of remorse about killing Zouken, though he did spare a thought on Shinji, wondering where the teen could be right now. "Sakura is the only one left, though she hasn't practiced Magecraft in a while. As such, I'm not sure how much of a Magus she really is."

"What about the Tohsaka?" Sella asked. "The knowledge I received during my creation indicates they were a powerful and influential family."

"Technically, they too have only one member left, that being Rin. The Fourth Holy Grail War and the following events decimated her family in numbers and in wealth." Shirou told them. "I say 'technically', because Rin's mother, who married into the family, is also still alive, though too brain-damaged to interact with the outside world."

"Ah, that must suck." Illya winced sympathetically. "Can't you do anything about it?"

"I am planning to, as soon as we get home." Shirou nodded.

"Yay!" Illya cheered, showing an empathy and well-willingness that Shirou was very glad to see. It meant the Einzbern hadn't completely gotten to her.

"What about this Yomaura Taya?" Sella inquired, once more injecting some seriousness into the conversation. "I have never heard of the Yomaura-family before."

"That's because it doesn't exist. Yomaura Taya is a fake name. She is actually a Fraga, though I don't know her full name."

"There's a Fraga living in Fuyuki?!" Sella's eyes flew open wide, accurately displaying the weight that the reputation of the Irish Magi held. "Shouldn't you be much more concerned about that?"

"She's hiding from her family." Shirou explained, waving the matter away. "And I'm on decent terms with her. It's Kotomine I'm more worried about."

"The priest?"

"Yes. He was a participant in the Fourth Holy Grail War, and dad's most fearsome opponent." That little fact made Illya sit up and take notice. "So far, I've had an unspoken 'live and let live'-agreement with him, but I don't know how long that will last. There have been some… concerning developments."

By which he meant Gilgamesh.

"Huh…" Illya mumbled, looking rather alarmed by his words.

"But you don't have to worry." Shirou quickly assured her, not wanting her to be stressed needlessly. "No one will harm you. I will make sure of it."

"I believe you." Illya nodded promptly, her worry disappearing like snow under the sun. "What about your third girlfriend though? Ayako, I believe her name was. Is she not a Magus?"

"Mitsuzuri Ayako, and no, she isn't. She knows about the Moonlit World, but she isn't a Magus herself." Shirou shook his head, before freezing when Illya's words really registered. "Wait, hold on! Third girlfriend?"

"Tohsaka Rin, Matou Sakura, and Mitsuzuri Ayako." Illya summed up, looking not at all like she was joking.

"EH?!" Shirou's mouth fell open in shock, and he could feel very clearly how he was blushing again. "W-Why would you think Rin is also my girlfriend?"

"Because you talk about her in the same way you talk about your other girlfriends." Illya informed him, and when Shirou looked at Sella, she nodded in agreement.

"W-Well, even if that is so, Rin is not my girlfriend." Shirou pulled on the collar of his shirt, swallowing heavily. "I-I am fond of her, of course, b-but we aren't in a relationship."

"Ah, don't worry, big bro!" Illya seemed to have completely misinterpreted his embarrassment, and she gave him a thumbs-up. "I'm sure you'll conquer her heart soon as well."

"B-But I-"

"Japan's greatest love machine." Leysritt suddenly decided to contribute something after having been silent for the entire conversation so far, homing in on Shirou's weakness like a shark on blood.

"L-Love m-machine?!" Shirou spluttered, while Illya burst into laughter and even Sella cracked a smile.

"You do still need to add a queen to your harem, Shirou." Leysritt informed him with utter seriousness. "Ideally a Russian one, though other nationalities would work just fine."

"A-A queen?" Shirou had no idea anymore what she was on about.

"Then it will be like the song."

"What song?!"

"Ra-Ra-Rasputin." Leysritt sang softly, and then she began humming an upbeat tune.

"Chichichichichi!" Illya giggled delicately, while Sella's smile became wider and wider, and Shirou began feeling more and more put upon.

Ultimately, it took him close to ten minutes to restore order, and even then, Illya still had a huge smile on her face, while Leysritt looked utterly neutral, but since that was her default state, she might very well be laughing at him on the inside.

At least Sella was a bit more understanding, kindly looking anywhere but at him with a professional expression that spoke of no judgement whatsoever.

"Okay, okay, Rin isn't your girlfriend." Illya said, though in such a sarcastic tone that it was clear she didn't mean a word of it. "I'll believe you, and I won't tease you anymore."

"Please do." Shirou said, deciding to ignore his sister's tone.

"In exchange, there is something I want you to do." Illya then said eagerly.

"What would that be?"

"I'll show you." The little sprite got up from her sofa, before grabbing his hand and pulling him along. "This way!"

Shirou obediently followed her, glad that she had something in mind that wasn't teasing him, and soon after, they arrived at a bouncy castle. An inflatable castle in all colours of the rainbow.

It seemed like an odd thing for inside a mythical vault, but Shirou didn't bat an eye. He'd seen far stranger things after all, both inside his Vault and outside of it.

"Do you want me to jump with you on that?" Shirou guessed, before lifting an eyebrow when Illya shook her head resolutely.

"I want you to throw me against the wall." She said instead.

"Pardon me?"

"I want you to pick me up." Illya began, looking at him with sparkling eyes. "And throw me against the wall of the bouncy castle."

"Mistress!" Sella wailed, dark clouds gathering above her head to signify her depression. She didn't say anything else though, perhaps recognising that her protests wouldn't change anything.

"If you're sure." Shirou shrugged, and with a last look of apology towards the maid next to him, he reached down and picked Illya up again, the girl's eyes shining in anticipation and eagerness. Then, he shifted Illya to his right arm entirely, cocked said arm back, and underhandedly threw her into the bouncing castle, where she collided with the far-end wall.

"Mistress, are you alright?!" Sella asked frantically, running up to the edge of the bouncy castle.

"That was awesome!" Illya cheered in response, picking herself up, and when she ran back to Shirou, her grin huge enough to almost split her face in two, the redhead already knew what she was going to say. "Harder!"

Sella didn't even speak anymore at this point, she just wailed wordlessly in concern and consternation.

Shirou didn't listen though, and proceeded to fling his sister against the wall of the bouncy castle again, drawing another bout of delighted laughter from her.

Little sisters sure were odd.

Yomaura Taya had a bit of experience with fighting Wraiths.

That was not at all unusual for someone with the kind of profession she used to have, as Wraiths were incredibly common in the Moonlit World.

Wraiths were basically an accumulation of humanity's negative feelings that had been granted a consciousness, so it wasn't surprising that there were many around now that the total human population could be measured in the billions.

There was just so much negative emotion around in recent times that Wraiths were formed almost daily, all over the world, as humanity cursed, sinned, and fought its way to the future.

Every Enforcer, Executor, and Exorcist alive, almost without exception, had faced down at least one Wraith over the course of their career, and by now, entire books had been written on the subject of how to take on down quickly and easily. That, combined with the fact they were usually not that powerful or clever, meant that they were generally considered more like pests than genuine monsters. The fact that it was exceedingly rare for someone to get hurt at all during a Wraith-hunt only contributed to that reputation.

This Wraith, this 'Mordegai', was different though.

It was intelligent, ruthless, cunning, and able to plan ahead. It had possessed a human, on itself not unusual for Wraiths, but unlike most other Wraiths, it hadn't gone on an immediate killing spree, but bided its time and increased its power before it did anything. It had even used others as pawns, and had set traps, demonstrating a concerning amount of patience and cunning.

Worse, the usual tricks to destroy them did not work on this Wraith. The Tohsaka-girl had tried to use Wind against it earlier, which should have done the trick, but the apparition had neutralised her attack with little difficulty. Yomaura herself had tried several exorcizing methods, but those too had done nothing. Even her attempt to manually shred the Wraith to pieces wasn't working, partially because it was very adept at dodging and partially because it kept reforming.

Yomaura hadn't really known at first what drinking the blood of an Incubus' descendant would do for a Wraith, but clearly, the blood had given it a massive boost that made it near undefeatable for such a small group.

Or perhaps that was the influence of the Holy Grail, located nearby. The Wraith had hinted at such a thing earlier, and Yomaura was more than willing to believe it on that front, even if she couldn't be entirely certain.

What was certain however was the fact that she was losing. Not quickly, not easily, and certainly not without a fight, but the Wraith definitely had the upper hand.

It seemed to have an unlimited source of energy that allowed it to keep fighting on and on, as it neatly dodged almost every one of Yomaura's blows and easily tanked the rest. Furthermore, although most of its retaliatory swipes didn't land, some did, meaning that the redhead now had numerous wounds all over her body.

She had already applied Healing Runes to herself of course, which were working at full tilt, but the Wraith was wounding her faster than she could recover. To make matters worse, the blood loss was slowing her down, which meant more and more attacks started to connect, and to top it all off, her increasing exhaustion also made her healing less effective.

She was stuck in a vicious downwards cycle, and the Wraith knew it too, judging by its satisfied expression.

But even though she was being driven back, Yomaura wasn't worried. She had noticed that the Tohsaka-girl had been called over by Matou earlier, and she had every expectation that they would hatch a good plan between them to get rid of this monster.

She just needed to last until they took action again.

In the end, she only needed to wait a few more minutes.

"Wirbelwind!" 

Tohsaka's short Aria, coupled with another gem flying towards the creature, was all the indication Yomaura needed to know that a plan had finally been created and that the first phase had been initiated.

With three quick steps, she distanced herself a bit from the Wraith, not wanting to get caught up in what was going to happen.

Just like before, the Wraith promptly drained the Magical Energy from the gem, before tanking the small whirlwind that formed when the gem made contact with its form.

Yomaura didn't believe for a second though that that would be the end of it.

"Ich kann dich fesseln! Ich soll dich gefangen halten!" 

Indeed, when Tohsaka's voice sounded through the cavern again, there was not a trace of panic or worry audible in it, only a strong confidence.

"Du bist hilflos! Du bist verzweifelnd!" 

Another gem flew at the Wraith, but rather than hitting it directly, it kept its distance and began flying around the creature in an orbit.

"Mein Vorfahre ist der große Zelretch! Mein Vater ist der Narr Tokiomi!"

A second gem joined the first, and then a third, and a fourth, a fifth, and finally a sixth, all of them circling the Wraith in a makeshift cage. At the same time, Tohsaka herself walked forward until she was standing beside Yomaura, holding out her hand towards the Wraith.

"Meine Schwester ist die Königin der Geister! Die Herrscherin der Vorstellungskraft!"

Of course, the Wraith wasn't just going to let the black-haired girl do as she pleased, and it opened its mouth again, glowing blue as it tried to drain the Magical Energy from the gems. For some reason though, it couldn't this time, as the gems appeared immune to its efforts.

"Du bist nur ein Geist! Du wirst jetzt verschwinden!"

That was the final piece of Tohsaka's Aria, and she brought her hand down, like a queen ordering her guards to take a criminal's head.

The gems snapped into position. One right above the Wraith, one right under it, and the other four in one of the Cardinal Directions each. Beams of light and lightning then shot out from the gems and created a cage around the Wraith, a cage that promptly began growing smaller and smaller.

"What is this?!" The Wraith cried, sounding panicked in spite of its emotionless voice. "What have you done, Tohsaka?!"

"Your ability to drain Magical Energy is insanely annoying, but it seems Ten-Point Incantations work just fine against you." Said girl grinned confidently, wiping away a drop of sweat from her brow. "It really was a pain to absorb Sakura's Magical Energy into those gems, not to mention creating that make-shift Aria, but this sight is more than worth it."

"Damn you!" The Wraith cried, now actually beginning to get encumbered by the ever-shrinking cage.

"You used Matou's Magical Energy?" Yomaura asked, genuinely curious as to how they'd managed to restrain the Wraith so easily when it had seemed so invincible before.