Recovering Bazett

A gem hovered above Phillipus's palm as he raised his hand, and in a second it was encased in a bolt of light, Medea chanting at his side.

"Gems of the Alchemist..."

"Hecatia Grea!"

The projectile fired, unwavering, its target the space between Assassin's eyes.

Assassin's body rocked back again, hit with enough power that even Lancer's spear twitched slightly. As the smoke cleared, Assassin's eyes were unfocused, blood pouring from the hole in her forehead. The fringes of her body started to sparkle.

"I can't... believe it." She slumped slightly. "You... I'm sorry... Ayaka... I couldn't..."

She let out a long sigh, and in that breath, her body shimmered and dispersed into light particles. Gae Bolg clattered to the floor.

Assassin
HP: 0/200
MP: 500/500

Yui panted and stared down at the spear, before quickly rounding on Lancer.

"What the HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Yui's face was red and tears started to pour down her face. "We had a fucking truce! And you killed her over her fucking bad attitude?! Is your skin that thin?! You're supposed to be a HERO!! You're all supposed to be HEROES!!" She screamed at the whole room. She then slumped back against the wall and slid to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Mari was fuming. "The FUCK are you screaming about!? Yeah we had a truce but she was this close to breaking it and you know it!! Hachi was just looking out for me!! You have to break eggs to make a fuckin' omelet, you know?? No hero has ever had clean fuckin' hands!! Before we all knew better we were ready to kill each other on sight, right?? Why are you pretending otherwise!!"

In her rage, sobs broke up Mari's voice, her screams warped by hiccups and hitched breaths.

Scathatch retrieved her spear, putting it away, and approached Yui. She knelt down and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I know you are stressed, however my master is right. If she had passed information onto that old mage, my master, and therefore all of you, would have been in danger if he's as powerful as you make him out to be. I'm sorry, truly, but I had to defend us. She needed to be taken down before she stabbed us in the back."

Yui shrank away from her touch and glared at her. "Don't touch me!" She sobbed again and put her face in her hands. "God damn it! No wonder the three families couldn't hold a truce!"

Scathatch stood, moving over towards Mari as Lazarus bent down and held her, trying his best to comfort her without exacerbating the situation. Carlotta spoke up, "Um...perhaps we should all calm down. We have several guest rooms, and we still have planning to do. Why don't I show you all to some rooms while Yui and Mari take a few moments..." Lazarus helped Yui to her feet and tried to usher her to their bedroom. Scathatch went outside with Mari, Avalon following, to take a few laps outside. With Phillipus and Astolfo's help, Carlotta was able to get everyone else settled in.

Instead of walking or jogging, Mari collapsed into Lancer, holding her breath to stop the crying. Her shoulders still shook, her face pink. Mari's arms wrapped around the servant's waist, her nose digging into Lancer's back.

Phillipus let out a long sigh. "It's never easy, I can tell you that much. I think - well, we all put a lot of stock in the idealism of a real truce." He rubbed the back of his neck with a hand, eyes closing. "I don't think there's anyone among us that would rather that went differently. Poor Miss Yui..."

Medea nodded somberly. "Some time to recover should help... Fingers crossed. There's too much on the line, and it's a heavy weight to bear. I'll see what the lady Einsbern and Asterion are up to, and Avenger should be brought to speed as well. All else fails, I can make a calming brew in seconds." She gently squeezed Phillipus's arm before leaving the room.

Astolfo was still curled up on the sofa, knees to his chest, arms around his legs. "Is Miss Yui going to be mad at us forever? I don't know if I can take that..." Phillipus sat next to him and rubbed his back. "Everything will be all right, in time. We just have to be even stronger for the future." Rose pink hair flopped onto his shoulder as he comforted his colleage in a rare moment of quiet.

Scathach help Mari tight, and Avalon hugged, making her the middle of a comfort sandwich. "You gotta breathe Mar. Even if you cry more, you need to let it out."

Yui cried into Lazarus' arms as they stumbled to the bedroom, where she finally collapsed onto the bed. "I thought it would work. It was really working! We stopped the fighting! God damn it!" She punched the blankets. "I was such an idiot!" She sobbed again and grabbed onto Lazarus' sleeves. "I'm sorry... I was such an idiot..."

Illya stood outside with Berserker, frowning sadly in the direction of the Mari sandwich, but she didn't know how to comfort others. Beside her, Berserker growled, still agitated from the battle, and Illya patted him on the back.

Avenger stepped into the living room. "What the fuck?"

"You're not an idiot, you're a good person. We should have talked more about what to do if there was every a possible threat. I had planned things in my own mind, but hadn't thought to share them with you. I'm sorry... I love you..." he gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek and held her. "We're still doing remarkably well compared to all the previous wars. And our initiative is still on track."

"I love you too," Yui sobbed. "I hope you're right. I want everything to go right for once." She squeezed him tightly and rested her head on his shoulder.

Medea followed Avenger into the room. "Ah, well. There was an... unfortunate calculation made that could not be reversed, and some in our number were upset by it. Assassin is no longer part of the War, and her spirit goes to the Grail. That, as it were, 'the fuck.'"

"Both Yui and Mari are going through a hard time at the moment, so we're allowing them to confront these feelings in their own time. Hopefully we can reach an accord once again later. May I get any of you something? A drink, perhaps?"

Avenger raised his eyebrows slightly. "Huh. Uh, yeah, tea or something?"

A gently steaming tea set was prepared, boosted with calming enchantments, sweet golden syrup and splashes of cream. The scent was floral, a spring breeze along the sands of the Black Sea beaches, intercepted by honeysuckle and rosehip by the highland plains. Its very essence was meant to soothe the soul, to calm the spirit enough to see reason and compassion.

Each cup was laid out precisely, a mug large enough for Asterion's hands at the center of the cart. She began passing out portions to any who would accept.

"Thank you!" Illya sang as she took a tea cup. Asterion growled a thanks and took his own large mug and held it up to his nose. "I hope everything's gonna be alright. I mean, I thought a fight might break out, but not like that!"

After several minutes of alone time with Lazarus, Yui finally came back out to the living room. Her eyes were still red, but she gave a weak smile and sniffled. "Sorry. That wasn't very professional of me..."

With the help of her friends and the comfort sandwich of Saber, Avalon, and Lancer, Mari had calmed down enough to go back inside the mansion. The tea Medea gave her made her feel oddly settled, her thoughts opening up to new perspectives. Yui was just being optimistic, she wanted the truce to work as much as everyone else, maybe even more. It might be naive, but the hurt of betrayal was real, wasn't it?

She trudged to the living room, hands jammed in her pockets and her shoulders hunched. Her cheeks were still a bit raw, and her eyes shifted, sheepish. "S-so, I was thinkin'... You just wanted to keep the peace, an' when the battle happened so suddenly it was like you got fucked over, right? So..."

She lowered herself to the floor on her knees in front of Yui, seated on her ankles. She planted each hand on a thigh, elbows out, and bowed forwards as far as she could. Her voice was earnest and clear, as if staking an official declaration. "I apologize! Please forgive me, Yui-san!!"

Yui was shocked for a moment, somewhat recognizing the unique gesture. Then she smiled and giggled nervously, wiping a tear from her eye. She was definitely not used to this kind of attention. "It's okay! I'm sorry I got so mad! I just had all these expectations." She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Although it was harrowing, I'm glad Lancer stuck up for you against that horrible woman. We're certainly not going to miss her."

Mari straightened up a little, leaning more casually to one side. "Yeah, I mean, I wasn't expectin' Assassin to kick it like that so fast, and I kinda feel bad! Especially about the truce! But y'know, where I'm comin' from someone who can stand up for you and take a shot for you is real family. It means a lot to me that Hachi could do that for me."

"That doesn't mean we can't stand together even stronger though, right? We took a chance, and now we gotta bolster ourselves to handle what comes next!" She pumped a fist with an eager expression, and after a beat laughed at her own cliched behavior.

"But, Miz Yui, I gotta ask you for a favor..." She shifted on her ankles and wiggled her toes, looking up at Yui. "That girl, Ayaka, she's still stuck with the worms, right? We gotta save her. If she's a Matou, that means - she's family to me now, isn't she? I can't leave her in that scary place. My parents can take care of her, and she'll be better off. Can y'all help me?"

Yui nodded eagerly. "You're right! I feel the same way. You two make a great team. And hopefully, without Assassin, our team will be even stronger."

"Ah, yes! If there's anything we can do for her, we should. Although, Zouken is a dangerous man, and it's not wise to tangle with him. I will send out some familiars to monitor the Matou household. If we're lucky, she's still attending school and we'll be able to make contact with her far away from that old lunatic."

Mari smiled sunnily at Yui. "I'm so glad!! I'll definitely make it up to you!!"

"So everything's okay now?" Astolfo leaned into the doorway, giving the pair a thumbs up. Mari returned the gesture in one cool, composed gesture.

"Yay!!" The Rider bounced over and wrapped his arms around Mari's shoulders, rocking her into a hug. She gasped with surprise, followed by peals of warm laughter. Staying with everyone... She was the least lonely she'd been in what felt like forever.

Yui smiled and lifted a cup of tea from Medea's tray and let the smell wash over her so she could calm down some more. After a deep breath, she said, "While everyone cools off, I'm gonna work with Lazarus on assigning study roles." She headed off with her husband into the study.

After everyone eventually filtered back into the living room, she and Lazarus reemerged with a stack of books and papers, dropping them heavily on the coffee table.

"This is all the material I have about how the Holy Grail War works. We came up with four teams."

"First team will study the structure of the Holy Grail: Daichi, Medea, and Carlotta." She presented a folder hastily labelled "Structure." "You guys will study the physical properties of the Holy Grail, as well as the darkness and mud inside, as best you can. Medea, I'm sure you know to be careful near it, as it's fairly dangerous to Servants."

"Second team will study magical theory regarding the Grail: Lazarus and Illya. Figure out how exactly the Grail works, specifically Heroic Spirit summoning, wish granting, and of course, how it opens the gate to Akasha. Illya, please bring us any materials the Einzberns can give."

"Will do!" Illya sang.

"Third team, Conceptual Weapon research: Myself, Phillipus, and... Kirei. We'll be studying what kind of Conceptual Weapons might be able to affect the Grail. I'd like to study all the Servants' Noble Phantasms, if you'd all be willing. Also, I'll probably be switching over to help the Theory team every now and then."

"Fourth team: Mari and Avalon. Since you two know the least about the Grail, I'd like you to brainstorm possible ways to destroy the Grail, if it comes to that. Should hopefully be a simpler task then cleansing it. If Bazett is willing to help, I'll assign her to your group, as well."

"We'll all meet a couple times a day to discuss our findings and collectively brainstorm solutions for cleansing the Grail. Our non-magecraft-aligned Servants can keep watch for trouble. Sound good to everyone?"

There were murmers of assent for all involved. As everyone split up into groups, Scathatch gathered all the non-mages together to build a patrol schedule, and to discuss plans for rescuing the young Matou still trapped with Zouken.

Several hours later, everyone took a break for lunch. Seeing that Scathach was heading the non-mage team, Yui came up to her.

"I've been monitoring the Matou household. The son, Shinji, left for school this morning, but I haven't seen any sign of Ayaka. Thoughts?"

"Do you mean Presence Concealment? That's usually only something an Assassin can have..." Yui shook away the thoughts. Now wasn't the time for those questions. "It should be able to mask your mana signature, but Bounded Fields could probably still detect your presence. I've got one on my estate, and he's sure to have one as well."