Nobu officially hated all kinds of insects and bugs and… whatever the hell it was her flames were turning to ashes up the basement walls.
'First, he complains about my hugs even though he knows he enjoys them. Now, he bails out on me to talk with the bumbling duo…? That jackass!' Needless to say, Nobunaga was pissed she had to do cleanup after all that happened. 'I am definitely NOT going to let him sleep tonight!'
And that was a promise she was going to keep it.
She sighed in dismay still. Despite it being a request from Lelouch, she just hated the work itself. While normal bugs were no skin of her teeth, these worms birthed by the monster maggot mass were made of stranger stuff. But regardless of their resilience, they needed to be dealt with lest they pollute the area and maybe even the sewers below.
While Lelouch had blown the service tunnel up to seal any escape, one can't be too careful. Still, their stench was unbearable. Even if she was the only one capable of this arduous task, she demanded compensation. Anything the Matou siblings could give her were likely worthless, so that left only one to suffer her wrath for this.
'I will get back at him for this. Lulu will pay for making me go through this.' Burning down the remains took just a little over a few hours as she had to weave her flames through every nook and cranny. She would have blown the whole place up to oblivion for good measure, but undoubtedly a certain someone wouldn't be too pleased. But now that she was done, she was free to get her payment. Maybe forcibly cuddling him while he tried to get some sleep would do. 'Now, where is that prick?'
Her search led her to the main hall where she found two people she wasn't looking for. The Matou siblings, each with an expensive bottle of booze in hand, were downing drinks while sharing banter. Neither noticed her presence behind them.
"—when Shinji learned about magic, he spent the entire month… heh… running around and screaming something about a Prisma. Says he saw it on TV—hic—… Sorry…" Byakuya was already intoxicated. Being somewhat of a pro alcoholic, his words weren't that slurred, but his gaze was sure as hell drifting off more often than not. "Kid thought he could transform… into some kind of magic girl or something… Heheh…"
"Hic—Ah… Hahah… Makes you wish actual magecraft was that innocent, huh?" Kariya said before taking a slight sip from his bottle. "I would take magical girls' clothing over bugs in my gut any day—hic!"
"I don't know, bro. I have enough reasons to drink." Tipping his bottle to clink against Kariya's, Byakuya's usually fearful expression seemed to brighten somewhat. It was akin to an older sibling teasing the younger. "I don't need an image of you in a tight skirt."
"Oh, come off it!" Kariya scoffed back with a grin. "Don't tell me you forgot about the time Aoi made you were her dress—"
"Agh! You said you forgot about that!"
"Did I?" Kariya lifted his working eyebrow. "Can't say for sure—hic! I do remember someone rocking that one piece though. But Aoi hated wearing that flashy thing, so…"
"Why do you even remember that detail, you bastard!" It must've been the alcohol, for even when mad, Byakuya just laughed before finally noticing her presence. "Oh, hey, our bad for not seeing you there. Here!"
A bottle flew her way. Although she could've avoided it easily and let it fall to the floor, she deftly caught it with ease. "What's this? Appeasement?"
"Hey now, don't be so uptight, will ya?" the drunkard quickly raised his bottle towards her, beckoning a toast. "Cheers! To the woman who burned down that worm bastard that took my anal virginity—hic—! Thank you, fire breathing lady!"
And with that, he proceeded to guzzle the bottle's contents like he'd been thirsting in the desert for weeks.
"…" Nobunaga didn't reply. In fact, she just stared. Hard. It was only when she gave a questioning glance to Kariya that said 'He isn't serious, right?' that she finally got a response.
"I can lie if it makes you feel any better." Kariya, saved only by the small amount he'd drunk, was able to hold back a chuckle that would've gotten him killed by the disgusted woman.
'Who knew magi were as disgusting as bureaucrats in more ways than one?' Nobunaga massaged the bridge of her nose before brushing off her revulsion. She didn't have time to waste with these cretins. "Where's my Master?"
"Zouken's library." Kariya pointed at one of the doors to the wall behind them. "Said he wanted to read whatever information Zouken saved from previous wars."
Nobunaga raised an eyebrow. "And you just let him rifle through your family's secrets? I thought magi weren't this carefree with such information."
"Do we even seem like actual magi to you?" Kariya tried to sound incredulous or sarcastic, but being semi-drunk had it coming off as more surprising. "He can burn down the entire library for all I care. We were planning on getting rid of everything related to magecraft anyway—"
"Upupup! Not everything!" Byakuya quickly tutted. "Shinji and I will need some of those books in the future."
The cripple of a brother sighed heavily. "Oh come off it, Byakuya… You can't be serious—!"
"But I am, dear brother! Now with Zouken out of the way, I'm the actual head of the Matou clan. Whatever remains of our clan's magecraft is now my responsibility."
"After everything that happened, you still want to continue being part of that world?" Kariya was beginning to sound disappointed as well as confused by it. "Neither you nor Shinji can even use magecraft properly. What good will keeping that cursed collection do?"
"My son and I may be inept, but you can't say for certain that Shinji's children will be." Going on a drunken yet sane ramble, he added. "Think of it, Kariya! This might become the turning point for our family, to start small and rebuild ourselves up as a successful magi family again! Even better, we're free from that asshole forever! Besides, we still can use alchemy even if it's minuscule. I can bide my time teaching Shinji the basics and what we can dig up in our Zouken's keepsakes until our blood and descendants regain magic circuits. Think of it as righting the wrongs our dear father has done to us…"
"Please don't call that rat bastard that… It gives me the creeps…" It took a little while before Kariya gave up and sighed. "Fine. Do as you please. If you want to waste your life in that bastard's world, do whatever you want. Just… keep it within reason… okay?"
"Come on, Kariya! Don't sound so grumpy! Not to worry! I'll make sure Shinji and I keep things safe and clean. As clean as our new basement, eh, Miss Avenger?"
Nobunaga was appalled. The once anxious, cowardly, and seemingly selfish older sibling had grown into an overbearing brother under the influence. It seems he was a happy and oblivious drunk, otherwise, he wouldn't be so carefree with talking to her, the one who slapped the shit and piss out of him with just a backhand. It was no wonder he was able to endure this hell of a home.
"And…" Kariya mumbled whilst taking another swig. "Take care of… Sakura for me… will you? Even after you return her to Aoi and Rin."
"Well… she will need to heal first." Byakuya gulped the last of his bottle down before adding. "But I'll do what I can. God knows how the Tohsakas will take it after what she'd been through…"
Avenger's eyes narrowed with slight interest. She'd seen the girl last night. And while she hadn't met her prior to the torture she'd endured, it was by instinct alone that the redhead could tell she was far from her old self. A child who'd been adopted would never share qualities of her new family, and yet, little Sakura did. Her eyes and hair colour matched the Matou's to a scary degree. It was as if she was never adopted in the first place. Whatever the worms did to her, it altered her to the point of muting out the genetics she was born with.
Though that being said, it wasn't as if Nobunaga was a practitioner of modern medicine, so she wouldn't know if anything about the girl truly changed to match her captor and tormentor.
Nobunaga, slightly curious about the girl, decided to ask. "And, what do you plan to do with the kid? I can tell you wouldn't send her to modern healers, considering her state."
"Ah… hic—… It's too risky. We'll need to find someone that knows of magecraft. But it'll be difficult." Byakuya didn't even hesitate to pop open another wine bottle and only continued after he'd emptied down to the neck of the glass. "The Tohsakas were pretty much our only ally for the last few centuries ever since Zouken was in charge. It's not like he was even particularly friendly with others."
"We can't even rely on Shinji's grandparents…" Kariya glumly added. "Though they're magi who specialize in healing—"
"They kinda hate our guts for what Zouken did to my wife..." That the man didn't elaborate told Nobu all she needed to know. "It's been a decade… since they last spoke to me."
"Then blame it on the dead." The sudden advice had both men's attention on her. Indifferent, she continued. "Your dead wife's relatives' issue is with Zouken. He's dead. Congratulations. From here you can try to rebuild your connection whilst pinning it all on the bastard that bit the dust."
It was a common tactic back in her time. The bad blood between the family head and allies were resolved by replacing the leader of the family with one who is sympathetic to them. It wouldn't abolish all sins, but it was a start at improving relations.
To the former daimyo who warred with former friends and made alliances with enemies, such diplomacy was a dime-a-dozen politics.
To some degree, that is what she did when she made an alliance with the Matsudaira clan (even if it was mostly due to the weakening of the Imagawa clan). The point remained. With Zouken out of the Matou picture, they could now try to fix everything the old worm ruined over the years.
"Wow… I… hic… Thanks for the advice!" Byakuya barely wasted time thinking about it. With another empty bottle clinking at his feet, it seems the man wasn't as bothered about receiving advice from her so long as his sense of reasoning was dulled by the spirits. "It might work—no! It will! Besides, Zouken never allowed them to see Shinji. Even if I were the one to approach them, the old lady had always wanted to see her grandson. If the Matou clan will need allies, they're our best bet and Shinji will be our ticket in!" He glanced at his brother. "Although, I guess this will sour our relations with the Tohsaka… After all, Aoi will likely become the temporary head until little Rin grows up."
"...I don't care about politics. So long as you don't forget about your promise to keep an eye out for them, then it's fine." Kariya downed his bottle at that. Though, after a short pause, he then popped another open like his brother. It was midway through the second bottle that he continued. "Honestly, the whole magi community can eat shit and die as far as I'm concerned… All I ask is that you make sure Aoi and her family are taken care of, magi politics be damned!"
Byakuya snorted before chiding, "Shit… And here I thought Zouken wanted you to become a family head. You would've run this family to the ground with your obsession over her." A swig later and a second empty bottle in hand, Byakuya leaned in to tease. "Still pining for her from the shadows, you stalker bastard?"
"Shu-shut the hell up, you idiot!" Flushed, and definitely not by the alcohol, Kariya snapped back. "I've long gotten over her!"
"Sure, you have," Byakuya continued to tease until he fell silent. "Still can't believe it… We're… We're finally free… from that son of a bitch…"
"May his soul rot in hell." Kariya made a toast. "Cheers!"
"Amen, brother."
Seeing her interest in the drunk pair wane, Nobunaga looked in the direction where Lelouch was. She kept the bottle tossed to her. Giving it a gloss over, it was apparently sake under a brand she didn't recognize. Ignoring the cheers of the drunk siblings, she disappeared behind the door her master had holed up in.
To say the house was huge was an understatement.
It was a mansion, of course, in the western style. But due to being pretty empty, the spaciousness of it all made it seem dead. Lifeless. Or maybe that was giving the place too much credit. It was more accurate to call it pretty decrepit and akin to a graveyard or morgue. It had that kind of morbid atmosphere.
It was certainly a far cry from the modern buildings she and Lelouch visited. Those places were teeming with life. This place had the air of undead. More so the further one got into the mansion.
It would appear that Zouken didn't have much taste in décor. But despite it, he definitely influenced the walls of his home to the point of the halls inducing a creepy atmosphere. She didn't bother studying the inner architecture of this place but could still feel the fear factor the insect monster likely intended for any and all visitors. As soon as she walked into the library and found her partner in crime, she was able to breathe a sigh she didn't know she was holding back.
Lelouch was nose-deep in aged tomes. The desk he'd borrowed had mountains of Zouken's personal effects stacked atop one another in neat order. Though, she also noted her Master showed little respect for that which he found no worth. Even though it was a dead person's belongings, he would occasionally toss away what he thought was useless into another, more disorganized pile. Nobunaga picked up one such book and took a cursory glance. Upon reading a line, however, she immediately noticed something.
"This isn't Japanese." Thanks to the Grail, Nobu was able to speak and read every modern language. This one was not her mother tongue. Not even related, considering the ancient Cyrillic text.
"Yes. It's actually Russian." Lelouch commented as he tossed another book to the discard pile. "At first, I thought the old man was only two centuries old. But it turns out Zouken was far older than Kariya assumed."
"What do you mean?"
"Apparently, he's old enough to personally know Leonardo da Vinci and Paracelsus von Hohenheim during their life." Lelouch smiled at her surprised expression.
"Wait. He was still around by the time I was born...?" The boy nodded whilst grabbing a new one from the neat stack. "Huh. Impressive for a mere human that managed to live for so long."
"Not impressive when you take note of his methods. Apparently, he was using a special type of Crest worms to survive through the years." Lelouch's expression turned grim before he explained. "The old man apparently figured out how to attach his soul to living creatures. That and also the fact of keeping his human body alive was far too much effort than it was worth. So, in light of his findings, he decided to use a different method." A pause for effect as the boy tried to compose himself. "One wherein he used the bodies of his descendants as his vessel."
'An entirely unpleasant experience for his family' went left unsaid. Nobu nodded. "So he'd been feeding off of them for that long, huh. But since he's lived so long, does that mean you find anything interesting?"
Lelouch looked around the table, looking for the journals he saved before showing them to Avenger. "Most of my findings were on the preparation for the first Grail war. About how three founding families divided responsibilities, with Makiri, then Zouken before he changed their clan to Matou, took great care in the creation of Command Seals." A sour glance was shot at his own seals. "It seems we should thank the old-timer for that which binds our contracts."
"Hm…" He didn't sound as annoyed as his expression said he was, but Nobu chalked that up to just disgust for the man and his work. "Can we use it to our advantage?"