Peace Summit At the Tohsaka mansion!

"Thank you Phillipus! Let me know if you need any help!" Lazarus continued his work, happy with the way things were going.

A short time after Phillipus got started with the homonculus, another letter arrived. Yui took it to Lazarus.

"...Apparently Kirei and Atalanta showed up to look at the Great Grail. He says they were acting suspicious. What do you think?"

"Hm..." Lazarus tried to think, "well...on one hand, I want to say that we should trust Atalanta more...but on the other, Kirei has given us many more reasons not to trust him than Daichi has. I say we be cautious of he and Atalanta." he returned to his writing, including the turn of events. When Yui blinked, next, it seemed that the entire book was full, though only half had been the last time she looked. Lazarus closed the book and stood, smiling, slipping his pocketwatch into his pocket.

She nodded and smirked. "I totally agree."

Not long after that conversation, there was a knock at the door of the mansion. Atalanta waited outside, tail swishing lazily.

"I'll get the door~!" Astolfo skipped over and answered the knocking with a smile. "Miss Atalanta! Come in! The note from Sato-san said you and Kirei-san were acting suspicious, is that true? Why?"

Atalanta blinked, slightly taken aback, "Oh...well...what we saw was rather...ominous. We weren't quite sure what to feel about it. It was very powerful, and naturally quite enrapturing." She stepped in as she spoke. "In any case, I came here to visit in a more casual situation. How are you?" she smiled down at the shorter servant.

"I'm just fine! Phillipus is in the lab making a homunculus to put the grail soul into, wanna watch?"

"Of course," she let him lead the way.

The mage was feeding a glass pipe down the throat of a clay figure with runes carved into its forehead. Its face was neutral, its body relaxed. Phillipus blew gently down the tube, filling the clay body with the breath of life. The runes glowed, and the homunculus's eyes slid open, gaze darting around the room. Phillipus reached out a hand, which the homunculus took, and rose to its feet.

"Great job!! That was so cool!!" Phillipus chuckled and bowed as Astolfo applauded. He smiled at their guest. "How are you, Atalanta? A casual visit, I hope?"

"Yes, just wanted to see you all. That's a very amazing process..." she did seem genuinely impressed.

He waved a humble hand. "It's what the occasion calls for. Unlike my usual homunculi, they will respond to a name, are capable of making their own rudimentary decisions for safety, and can reason and communicate. They're not quite as advanced as an Einzbern, just to make sure there's no trouble, but enough to pass in society under scrutiny and be an asset." He placed his hand on the homunculus's shoulder. "I would like to call you Aleph. My name is Phillipus. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The homunculus looked at the hand for a moment, then reached out its own and shook his hand. "The pleasure is mine, Phillipus." The Caster's grin was nearly face-splitting with pride.

Yui's eyes were wide as she looked over the homonculus. "That's amazing! You really could give the Einzberns a run for their money." She turned back to Phillipus. "It's plenty strong, right? I know we don't want it to be a threat to us, but we also don't want it to die and have the soul end up right back in the Grail again."

"I'm sure he did good work. Should we head to the grail immediately, or wait until morning? If we do, I'd like to meet you all there with Kirei if that's possible." Atalanta smiled at Yui.

Yui thought for a moment. "Although I'd like to get some rest, I'm also pretty anxious to finish this. What do you guys think?" she asked Lazarus and Carlotta.

Lazarus considered, "Well...it's probably best to go as soon as possible..." Carlotta waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, I appreciate your eagerness, but honestly, is the thing going anywhere? We could easily just send a familiar to watch it and get some rest. We can go tomorrow, hm?"

"Hmm... I think I'm with Carlotta. As it is, I've almost been awake for 24 hours. If anything does go down, I'd like to have a night's rest behind me."

Lazarus nodded, "That's a solid plan. Let's rest," he kissed Yui goodnight, and headed upstairs. He was honestly rather tired himself. Carlotta bid everyone else goodnight, and Atalanta exscused herself and headed home.

Lazarus was roused from sleep by Daichi's message. He immediately began dressing, assuming Yui would do the same, gathered the servants, and headed to the temple as fast as they could manage.

"Ho ho, the game is afoot!" Alexander boomed. He was really excited about driving anything for his Mistress.

Carlotta piled onto the chariot with everyone else, "I hate to admit it, but I'm happy something exciting is happening! I didn't want to part of a boring grail war!"

A loud snort of surprise erupted from Phillipus's side of the bedroom as soon as the message hit, followed by the sharp whap of a down pillow hitting him from across the room. A split second later, Astolfo was standing on the floor, armor fully materialized around him. "Wake up wake up wake up we gotta go!!"

Phillipus grumbled, straightening the collar of his robe. "And who was just throwing things at whom just now...?" The caster conjured a hot cup of tea for them both and followed behind Astolfo, who, for the sake of expediency, had decided to use his talents to ride the office chair down.

Yui jumped onto the back of the chariot with Berserker, looking considerably more sour than the rest of the group. "I can somewhat relate," she said to Carlotta. "But of course it had to be Kirei. I'm going to kill that priest. As long as we're awake..." She pulled out a gem and commanded one of her familiars to fly off toward the Einzbern castle.

With a hot beverage in his system, Phillipus nodded soberly, brain ticking to wakefulness. "I wish I could say I was surprised, but... Well. If wishes were fishes." Astolfo nodded in agreement.

"We'd need a really big aquarium."

Phillipus looked down at him with an arched eyebrow, smirking faintly. "Something like that. So, anyone, ideas?"

Yui shrugged. "Find out what Kirei is doing, then murder him." After a short pause, she quickly added. "If need be."