The Battle for the Holy Grail

"Considering his position, I don't see how he wouldn't know," Archer commented dryly.

Sacrificing one's own Servant for the Grail? He supposed it made sense from a ritualistic standpoint. But that was news to him.

He blinked twice.

"Even the Supervisor isn't told every aspect of the War," Yui explained. "Typically only the three Founding Families know the very core principles of the Grail. They didn't want the Church to know too much."

"Unsurprising. Even I butted heads with the Church of my day." Rider gasped, looking at Caster accusingly, who shrugged. "They refused to see too many truths, and condemned those who dared speak them." Rider crossed his arms, one cheek puffing out. It stung a little, to have your hero disapprove, but at least he was cute while doing it.

"I can assume that you realize that you are outmatched, and quite disoriented to boot. We are all under the same terms - a truce, as long as no one goes back on their word and tries to break it. We are more than willing to share the truth of the Grail Wars with those who will listen." He leant in closer to Kirei, gems following him and positioning along Kirei's arm and his head.

"And do remember who was gracious enough to bring you back, mm?" He straightened back up and dusted off his hands in satisfaction.

Atalanta looked down at him. "They offer a better solution than one winner. If you try anything, I will kill you myself. We've taken your weapons. However I leave it up to a vote. Who would like to let him live?" she raised her hand. Lazarus also raised his, though slowly and nervously. Something about this man set him on edge.

Rider and Caster raised their hands.

Yui didn't raise her hand, and Berserker followed suit, puffing out her cheeks in anger.

"I don't approve," Yui sighed. "But I'll respect the democratic decision. I guess he lives."

"Thank you both!" Caster kissed each of their cheeks in appreciation. "We'll keep an eye on him, don't worry." He gave a piece of cake to each of them. It was moist, but not too crumbly to eat with one's hands, and the flavor was rich and velvety. He even left a piece for Kirei.

"Alright then," Lazarus rolled up his sleeves. "Is everyone ready?" After receiving nods or sounds of ascent, he carefully removed the various bindings holding the priest.

Both girls blushed, with Yui averting her gaze indignantly, and Berserker covering her blushing face.

Kirei felt sick. Lazarus undid the bindings, and the priest rubbed his wrists where they had bound. He still felt a burning anger at how he had been bested, but it was starting to give way to a nagging curiosity.

"So..." he started. "What exactly is it you plan on doing with the Grail?"

"We have a few initiatives actually!" Lazarus piped up, his nervousness vanishing and his excitement emerging. "Firstly, after we learned about the plight of the servants we plan to help them record their experiences so that they can pass it on to their next incarnations if there's another war. We will distribute the information to the servants personally if they recur, and take down the information of new servants that appear as well. Because it is almost impossible to answer everyone's wish, we will take all the wishes left into consideration, and then use the grail to reach akasha. There, Yui or I will gain the knowledge necessary to enact all the wishes. That way none of the leftover servants' wishes existence and sacrifices are in vain, even though sadly they will not live..." He handed Kirei a piece of cake before continuing, " AND now that we have you, I'm hoping that we can convince you to care a little more than the rest of the church about the rules. Clearly this war was absolutely dreadful when it comes to following the rules. The fact that you even had a servant is somewhat scandalous!"

"Carrying out everyone's wishes?" Kirei echoed, somewhat incredulously. "You think such a thing is really possible? It's hard to believe this would have become a War if it were."

"Only because the mages who designed the ritual were too selfish," Yui put in. "There's no local reason we can't cooperate."

"I see... Then what is it you expect me to do, exactly? Being a War, having a set of rules never really meant much to begin with. Cheating is only natural."

Rider frowned. "But - but nobility!" Caster apologetically rested a hand on Rider's shoulder. "The nobility of combat has sadly been cast to the wayside in this modern era, I'm afraid." Rider threw his hands in the air.

"I'd have to disagree!" Lazarus chirped brightly, "and I think it would be in your best interests to take my side in the matter." he continued smiling affably, but somehow it was not longer affable, even though his expression didn't change. He happily ate a bite of cake.

"Your threats are not lost on me, magus," Kirei responded flatly. "I'm just trying to understand what exactly it is you expect me to do."

Background Nattering:

Caster turned to address Kirei. "As a Supervisor, you should've been a neutral party. We're offering you something to fill the well of ignorance imposed on the church - now you or your successor can act with full knowledge. We'd prefer it if you kept a proverbial dog out of the fight, but if that is out of the question, at least you're now aware of the full gravity of the Wars." He held his chin, curious.

"If I might ask, what exactly did you intend to gain by winning?"

"I see. You should know, however, that becoming a Master was not my own choice, although the Church did see fit to exploit my role."

"Truthfully, I no longer care what the Church wants anymore. I fought because it was my duty, but it was one imposed upon me. I have no interest in helping the Church interfere with the War, so I have no qualms about enforcing the rules on that front."

"Well, that's a relief!"

Atalanta let out a sigh of exasperation, "If this is all settled may we leave? I am tired. And we have more rituals to do to incorporate new contracts."

"We should do them here," Lazarus reminded her. "I suppose if you wish, you can go Kirei. Miss Yui, could you organize a hotel stay for the rest of us?"

"It would be my pleasure," Yui sighed in relief. "I'll get to a telephone and set it up as soon as possible."

Kirei stood from his chair. "If I am free to go, I would at least like to be present when you enact this plan of yours. I'm interested to see if this is actually going to work."

"I don't see that being a problem. Whether you wish to stay in the hotel with us, or go back to your home, is your own choice. We can notify you when we're ready to summon the grail."

Rider looked up from munching on cake. "Can we stay somewhere with a pool??"