Fuyuki Church: Vampire Weekend

The chess game went well, as predicted by Atalanta, Kirei won. She left him to rest after that, leaving to find Rider. She definitely had some important things to discuss with him. She looked around, calling out for him, but not too loud, "Apholsto~"

[[Kirei saving throw for later use.]]
Damascus carried out 1 launched of one (Saving throw.) :

Unable to find her companion, she cleaned up the kitchen after her cooking venture. As she cleaned, she thought about Kirei's situation. He needed to be open to more ideas. What would happen in her land, and her time for someone like this?

Did she ever really know anyone like this?

She finished her chores and walked outside. It was late spring.

The time of the Greater Dionysia in Athens, if she was correct...

Perhaps they could have a mini celebration here? But she would need to buy some things if that were the case. She had a feeling this would need to be a bit of a suprise if she wanted to have it at all. She meandered into the church proper, looking for any kind of collections box. Since no one was around, she was easily able to break the lock and take the money. She ventured out into the city then. She made sure to wear clothes that would disguise her ears and tail, but she had no idea where she would go to find a giant phallus.

In the end, she decided to go with a not so giant phallus. She returned with quite a few bags, and hid them away in the room she had been given under the bed. The dead apostle would need tending to before this. However...

She made her way up to Kirei's room with a drink and snack, entering without knocking. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she set down a small plate and some tea.

When Archer came in, Kirei was standing in front of the mirror, his shirt open as he inspected how well he had healed. Thankfully, no damage was remaining. His ribs had fully healed, and no bruises or cuts remaining. He was good as new.

Archer could easily see Kirei's muscular physique, far fitter than one would expect from a priest. True to his training as an Executor, he had the build of a man that had honed his body for peak physical performance since a young age.

When Kirei saw her enter, he turned around and began to button up his shirt. "Much better now," he answered. "I'm glad you're here. There's much to do today."

She smiled slyly behind him. Certainly not an upsetting sight, this. She let him catch her smirk in the mirror. "There is. I assume there will be no finding the Dead Apostle until night falls." she moved towards him to straighten his collar.

He frowned slightly, unsure of what exactly that smirk meant. "Correct," he answered. "But in the meantime, there's another matter to attend to. Saber's Master. The Einzberns typically have protection of the vessel that becomes the Grail. We'll need to locate her."

"Of course. What exactly is your plan?" she handed him the glass of tea, in a bid to get him to drink that at least.

He took the tea and took a small sip. "Without their Servant, they're probably hiding. I couldn't say exactly where, but I would guess they'd be holed up in their castle. I'd like you to go there and search for her."

" I can do that. Do you have a location for me?"

"Yes, they own a plot of land south of the city. I can show you on the map in the basement. It's bound to be well-protected, but nothing a Servant can't handle."

"Not a problem," she followed him to the basement so she could get the location, and then headed out. She would need to make this quick if she wanted to get anything else done today.

As soon as Archer left, Kirei sat down in a chair in the basement, thinking hard about his options.

They had 24 hours left to deal with the Dead Apostle, until the Church stepped in. Even Kirei, as confident as he usually was, was beginning to worry. He wasn't worried about losing a battle against it rather than simply being unable to kill it in time. With its extreme regenerative abilities, they needed to come up with something.

Rider knocked tentatively on the door. "Milord?"

"Come in," Kirei said, standing up and facing the door.

He opened the door and peeked inside. "Is there anything I can do to help, too? I hate to leave the full burden on Miss Atalanta's shoulders."

Kirei nodded. "I understand. I would have had you accompany her, but I didn't want to risk leaving the Church unprotected. Once she returns, there isn't much to do until nightfall. Perhaps we can plan some defenses for the Church."

He brightened. "I will happily assist, Milord! Just say the word!"

Kirei nodded, returning to the map. Once--if--the Apostle was dealt with, the only remaining faction were the Masters at the Tohsaka Mansion. In that case, it came down to whoever found the vessel first. Whoever found it first would take it back to their base and fortify their defenses. Kirei had to get their first.

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A quarter-mile away, just behind a hill, a man with blond hair and red eyes hid under a camouflaged blind.

The first Servant had left a short while ago. She had to be on the way to Einzbern Castle. The second Servant was still here, though, and didn't seem about to leave anytime soon.

He couldn't wait much longer. Archer would be back as soon as she found the castle empty. He had to act now if he had any hope.

He emerged from his camouflaged blind and pulled a large, steel case out of hiding with him. He flicked the latches and opened it, quickly pulling out the rocket launcher stored inside. He prepared it and loaded it, then rested it on his shoulder, fixing the Church in his crosshairs.

He had to kill the Master as quickly as possible. It was his only chance.

He fired.

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Kirei heard the whistling of the rocket a split second before impact. When it hit, Rider and Kirei were both thrown from their feet as half the Church was blown apart by the explosion. The center of the basement cieling collapsed, flaming wood crushing the table and map beneath it.

Kirei narrowly dodged another ceiling collapse, the flames licking his clothes. "Rider!" he shouted, making his way over to the Servant.

Rider coughed, knocked onto his back, and started crawling towards Kirei. "Milord!! What happened??"

Kirei pulled Rider up, coughing and brushing cinders off his face. "It has to be... Saber's Master." He groaned and pulled Rider toward the stairs, kicking a flaming rafter out of the way. "A direct attack... Is he insane?!"

The two climbed the stairs to find the majority of the Church above-ground in ruins. He immediately started for the entrance, but heard a groan from his right. Risei was buried beneath a collapsed portion of cieling, an arm and a leg missing.

Rider shrieked in horror and ran over to Risei. "Milord, what should we do? We can't leave him this way!!"

"Help me pull him out!" Kirei ran over and began to pull the rubble off of him, but the more he pulled away, the more he could see how badly hurt Risei was.

His father suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder. "Kirei..." Risei pulled him down close, and whispered something almost inaudible into Kirei's ear. Then he let out a shaking gasp, coughed up blood, then went still.

Kirei stood there in shock for a moment, then continued to take the rubble off him. "We have to... Get his body out..."

"Milord.. but... what if they attack again?" Rider hurriedly started moving rubble nonetheless, tears pooling up in his eyes.

"If we hurry, we should..." He let the sentence trail off as he pulled Risei's body free, gritting his teeth.

Before he could move it any more, a spray of gunfire fell upon them. One hit his shoulder, two more grazing it, and he fell to the ground rolled behind cover.

The enemy Master stood just outside the ruined Church, on high ground overlooking the two of them. He was hastily reloading his submachine gun.