Recovering Bazett

"Absolutely not," she laughed. "Although I understand your caution. We've managed to safeguard Bazett and keep her from being quite so murderous, but I certainly wouldn't blame you for coming alone if you were worried. We need to organize and plan our efforts for the Grail, at any rate."

"I'll check with Kirei and see if he wishes to go. Otherwise I'll come by myself. I'll see you in a few minutes. Goodbye my dear." after Medea returned the goodbye, she hung the phone up and handed it to Kirei. "I've been invited to the mansion. So have you, but you're not required to attend."

Kireit pocketed the phone and thought. "I'll come with. If Bazett really has been pacified, I'd like to get our encounter out of the way now." He stood and walked to the door with Atalanta.

She took them quickly to the mansion by leaping, and soon was ringing the bell on the intercom.

Yui opened the door, smiled and nodded at Atalanta, but gave a flat stare at the priest. "Do come in." She stepped back to let hem in. "Bazett's upstairs resting. Lucky you."

"Thank you," Atalanta returned a small smile to Yui and then found Medea and wandered over to her, "what would you like to discuss?"

Medea waited by a picturesque window, posture only a bit showy. Her smile was more genuine than performative, though, and she slid aside to give her friend room.

"I must admit I was... Worried by our last encounter." She pressed her fingertips together, eyes cast to the floor. "I know that in function it's meant to be, but truly, I don't want to be your enemy. You're an indomitable huntress, and more than that, a stalwart ally. I wouldn't bother with damage control, otherwise," she added with a smirk. She looked back up to Atalanta, face open with concern.

"At least tell me you gave him a good dressing-down for pulling a stunt like that, yes?"

She let out a short laugh, "As much as he needed. He's not someone you need to yell at. And even if it was stupid, fight or flight can be a powerful impulse. He definitely believed she would kill him, so I think the fight part kicked in." she sat down next to her friend, "I don't want to be enemies either, however I've come accross a decision that's hard to make. It seems the grail has been calling to him. It wants him to have it because it knows he will use it the way it wants to be used. I know the grail has been corrupted, but if fate exists, then perhaps the corruption is part of it? I can't decide whether to encourage or temper his whims..." she sighed, looking out the window as she spoke, her ears drooping a little.

Medea put a sympathetic hand on Atalanta's shoulder. "It's good of you to tell me this. Of course, I'll have to make sure everyone else is informed, but hopefully we can come to a decision that doesn't involve harming your Master. As a group, I think we can take a course of action that will - well, perhaps hold off the apocalypse for a while, if anything." Familiar footsteps came thudding towards the pair, a tray of dishware clattering.

"Miss Atalanta! I brought you some tea!" As soon as Medea took the tray from Astolfo's hands, the Rider snuggled into Atalanta's side. "We're going to have a big meeting soon! Probably. That's what it usually means when everyone's in one place. But I'm tired, so I'm going to sit here with you." Medea watched him with amusement.

"We Servants don't get tired, as far as I've noticed?"

"Well I do, so I'm going to nap on Miss Atalanta." He rested his head on her shoulder, eyes closed with a warm smile. Medea hid a smile behind her hand.

"So this is your wolf pup now, eh?"

"He is," she responded with a grin. She ruffled his hair and gave him a kiss on the head. Working around him as if it was second nature, she found her cup and took a sip of tea. "We were both Kirei's servants once. I saved him when Lazarus killed his first master. She seemed like a sweet woman."

"That sounds just like you," Medea teased. "Although learning about the legendary Paladin Astolfo, I would've expected someone different, someone looking more like Paracelsus maybe?" Astolfo's head shot up, eyes wide, shifting seamlessly into Conversation Mode.

"He's so handsome, right?? But the thing is, you know, he's not really so interested in picking people up! He always looks out for me, though, because, naturally, I can't help the way I am-" he shrugged coyly - "And he's worried that I'll get the wrong kind of attention! But what if that's the kind of attention I want! Although I think sometimes a lot of men approach me because they think I'm a young girl? And that's sort of weird, especially when they offer money, but if they want me to have it why can't I take it? Phillipus never lets me!" He pouted briefly.

"Although I think that's because he doesn't want me to have the reputation of a courtesan, not that there's anything wrong with being a courtesan! I've known LOTS of courtesans! But anyways, I don't understand how a handsome guy like him can still be single..." He nattered away, gesturing as his own one-man show.

Atalanta slowly and gently laid a finger over Astolfo's lips. "I believe he's single because he's too busy being brilliant, and because he is, as you say, shy...in a manner of speaking. As for people approaching you with money, in the end it's your choice, but I think Phillipus is trying to discourage child sex work more than take away your sex life. Unfortunately manifesting the way you have isn't horribly conduscive to a healthy sexual activity." she was silent for a moment while she thought, "I wonder if the way you manifested could be changed...hm. Something to ask someone smarter than myself."

Alexander accepts a cup of tea, sipping it, making a face, then going back to a cup of wine. He listens to the banter, expression magnanimous.

Daichi pulls Medea aside at an opportune moment. "Thanks. You were thinking very quickly there with Bazett. Keep being useful." He smiles at her.

Medea couldn't help but giggle. "It's what I do best, darling." She gave the mage a wink. "Although it helps that our predecessors have paved quite an accommodating path, with steadily monitored territories and failsafes already available. I just hope I'm not stepping on anyone's metaphorical toes."

After a few moments, Lazarus entered, "Hello everyone! So, as I'm sure you're aware we all have some things we should discuss. I'll dive right in so we can get started as soon as possible." He took a quick drink of water before continuing, "As we have seen the grail remains tainted. In my opinion however, we have probably one of the largest gatherings of mages outside the association at our disposal. I think with our minds and efforts combined we can overcome this problem. We have access to many magical methods and research materials. It would be stupid not to try!" with that, he took out a sheet of paper and titled it 'Groupings'. "Now, since we have the ability to come at this from several angles, I think it's best we split our efforts into different groups of research or people. Does anyone have any ideas about where to start before I contribute mine?" the situation was serious but it was clear Lazarus couldn't be happier. Getting to be in the same room and even working with so many great minds trumped any negative emotions he might be feeling about how the war was going.

"I don't have any ideas at the moment," Yui said. "So far I'm stumped."

"I don't see much use in trying to cleanse it," Avenger chimed in, shrugging. "It's pretty much permanent. You're better off destroying it."

Daichi turned to Yui. "Not to be disrespectful of your experiences, Mr. Avenger, but that's giving up too soon. I think we should have a magical monitor set up in the temple above, if only to establish what the Grail's baseline mana flows are," he said. "Not to mention the security benefits. I've also been working on a modeling program to try to simulate the interactions between various enchantments and Bounded Fields. Perhaps we can use that to test theories."

Lazarus nodded to Daichi before looking to Avenger " I think the young man is correct. Of course, I see your point as well," he admitted to Avenger, "but the grail can still be quite useful for humanity as a whole if cleansed. I feel like it's something that's worth considering...but if the rest of you feel differently, I'm happy to vote on whether we should cleanse or destroy it." 

Atalanta shrugged indifferently. She didn't much care what happened to the thing to be honest. She had a life outside of it now.

Avalon grumbled with indecision. Honestly, she would have fun working with everyone too, but destroying it might be simpler. Since her wish...nobody's wish, probably, could come true, cleansing the grail may not be worth it...

Scathatch spoke her opinion, "I can't speak for the current living mages, but as for those of us summoned here, I wish to point out that Lazarus called us heroes. I think most of us would agree with this assessment. What kind of heroes would we be if we chose destruction when we could choose a benefit to all humanity? I propose we cleanse it." 

Carlotta nodded after she spoke, " Yes! And further more, the amount of knowledge we would gain even trying to cleanse the thing could be groundbreaking. I'd love to share my secrets with some of you." she gave the room a sly wink.

Medea smiled with pride at Daichi. "A masterful idea. Like a magical..." She twiddled her fingers in the air.

"Seismograph?" Phillipus offered. "The modeling program sounds fascinating, and I'm more than willing to assist with small Fields in a restricted area to better nail down the exact properties of said interactions. Magic can certainly be more fickle than theory, after all. And yes, destruction would be simpler, but no knowledge would be gained. What we have is a stunning opportunity to learn about the very fabric of our magical world!" He beamed with excitement.

Mari glanced over to Avalon and waved a hand over her head.

Alexander laughs at Carlotta's enthusiasm. "That's not all she'd like to share, I'd wager!" he booms.

Carlotta laughed at the friendly barb and raised her glass to Alexander.

Avalon nodded in agreement with Mari. These guys were getting deep into it. But she was coming around to the cleansing idea more.

"I could help with determining the structure of the Grail!" Illya offered. "They are super secrets of the Einzbern Grail, but since I'm based on the original Einzbern that worked on it, I could dig up some memories!"

Avenger groaned. "Useless, all useless," he sighed. "It's not just 'corrupted,' like a glass filled with mud. When my soul entered it, the Grail became the corruption. They are inseparable. No magic you could come up with can change that."

"Mundane magic, perhaps," Yui said, perking up. "But that sounds like work for a Conceptual Weapon. Magical artifacts that act upon concepts, rather than physical phenomena. Something like that could separate it." She then deflated. "It's too bad they're as rare as the Holy Grail itself. Not to mention finding one that can do what we want it to." She then looked over at Avenger. "It would help if we knew more about the corruption. You said... you're not truly Angra Mainyu, right?"

Avenger shrugged and looked away, not answering the question immediately.

Lazarus perked up, remembering his curiosity about Avenger, "Oh! Yes! Anything you can tell us would be amazingly helpful! Please tell us whatever you know!" He produced a notebook and readied himself to take notes.

Mari pointed her finger like a pistol at Avenger, slouching on her end of the sofa. "Out with it, Inky. We can't work with something we don't understand, and this is all looking foggy as shit t' me."

Avenger leaned back and looked down his nose at them. Everyone's attention was on him. He didn't particularly like talking about his history, but it might be fun to see their reaction.

"If I had a name, I've long forgotten it. I lost it when it was expelled from the Avesta."

He sighed. "I was just a normal villager, way back in ancient times. Things were simple back then, but so were people. Simple fools. They believed that from the moment humans are born, there is evil in them. Since it was impossible to be freed from malice just through clean, righteous living, the only way to realize the true goodness of human beings was to force "all the evils of the world" onto one person and blame him as the true source of any human evil. If one person embodies all the evils of the world, the rest of the people cannot be evil, no matter what. This was the simple, childlike theory they all invested in."

"I was the one chosen to take on All the World's Evils. They captured me, abused me, carved every word that cursed mankind onto my body, forced every sin imaginable upon me, took out bits and pieces out of me slowly, and held me responsible for all of humanity's sins. They wouldn't even let me die until I was an old man. I was tortured for my entire life. It was beyond senseless. I have only ever been able to feel hate toward humanity ever since. But, with my sacrifice, I eased the minds of the people. Even if it was against my will, it allowed me to become a Heroic Spirit."

"I am not Angra Mainyu, but I was forced by my people to represent him. Normally, this is a meaningless curse. I am the weakest Servant, barely able to hold my own. All the curse gives me is the compulsion to murder."

"That is, until I died in the Holy Grail War. Then, these people's wishes--All the World's Evil--was placed into a wish-granting machine. These people's foolish, childish ideas were incarnated with all the mana the Grail had to offer. Their wishes were not granted quite yet, but they are incubating within it. When someone makes a wish on the Grail, All the World's Evils will manifest. A curse capable of killing six billion people."

Yui was pale. "Are you saying... if someone uses the Grail... it will literally destroy the human race?"

Avenger smirked. "Something like that. Not my fault. It's humanity's own wishes that allowed this thing to exist."