The Holy Grail Clusterfuck

"Yeah! I asked who their Saber's Master was, and she was all 'hi it's me here's some weird black energy!' Fwoosh! Slash!!" Astolfo was immediately sitting upright and waving his arms to punctuate. Phillipus frowned and planted a finger in the middle of Astolfo's forehead, and slowly pushed until the Rider was laying down again.

"Rest is key. For all of us. They were outnumbered, but still put on quite a show. I hesitate to imagine what might happen next time."

Overhearing the conversation, Touko came downstairs, twirling a pen in her hand thoughtfully. "I couldn't help but overhear, but this sounds like my area of expertise. How does your 'Casa' work exactly?"

Before Astolfo's shoulders could rise an inch from the floor, Phillipus shot him a look and turned to Touko. "It's an artifact, a tome given to him by a w- a sorceress in his legend. It shields him from Magecraft - or at least it's supposed to."

Touko sat down next to the pair and looked over the book carefully, adjusting her glasses. "Hmm, so it's basically a really powerful Magic Resistance. If she was able to overcome it so easily... I wonder..."

"Even mages from the Age of the Gods would be hard pressed to perform such a feat. I don't want to make assumptions, but... She could be a user of True Magic. Or even worse, someone connected to the Root."

Lazarus came down swiftly to check on everyone and help with healing. He handed Touko his notes, "This is everything I noticed about what was going on, feel free to look them over if you think it will help."

Meanwhile, Avalon was attending to Saber, "Hey...was...was that Arthur?" seeing how she had reacted, and hearing her shout, she was worried about how her poor servant would be dealing with the situation. 

Scathach assisted in settling everyone, but eventually went off by herself to plan, she did much better in the quiet. 

Carlotta also sat away from everyone, and after making sure no one was dead, she went to her room and began to sob. 

Atalanta also helped watch over Astolfo until he was better, holding one of his hands so she didn't impede too much on Phillipus' space.

"Ah. Sankyu," Touko said, breezing through the notes. "I know the Grail War's not really any of my business, but this weird little girl caught my interest. Also I'd like for the mansion not to be blown up while I'm here."

Astolfo immediately latched onto Atalanta, snuggling into her contentedly with Phillipus' (albeit hesitant) approval. ("Fine, just don't move around too much while you're there.")

Medea whispered as she poured a glass of red wine, enchanting the glass with words of comfort and succor. She handed it to Alexander with a smile. "Would you be a dear and take this to Carlotta? She's had an excessively difficult day."

Saber rubbed the knuckles on one hand with the other, quiet. "Yes. That's why I asked for an audience with them. I know the King can see reason, if only it's brought forward, and... I have a lot to say. It has to be away from everyone else, though. I can only stay at my potential if my identity is secret until absolutely necessary."

They smiled under their helmet, voice pleased and almost teasing. "You figured it out because you're so clever."

Avalon smiled and chuckled a little, "No, I just saw some things others didn't. " she put a comforting hand on Mordred's shoulder. "And your secret is safe with me."

Mari's phone beeped; the message on the screen made her scowl. She sighed and slid it back into her pocket before rummaging in a bag. "I have something to take care of really quick, just business. Could you come with me, Hachi?" She pulled a knit beanie over her hair and strung a mask over her ears, the cotton tucked under her chin.

"I'll be back soon. Don't let any shit go down without me." In a flash, she was out the door.

Medea gently laid a hand on Yui's shoulder. "If I may, I'd like to discuss something... Unfortunate."

Yui looked puzzled but stepped aside with her. "What's going on?"

"The attack on the mansion wasn't a real attack, it was reconnaissance. Now that they know we're all here, we're sitting ducks. We desperately need to vacate the area, or expect an all-out assault that I doubt we will survive, especially factoring in how many of their servants may have anti-army skills. Our Saber could obliterate this entire house with one attack, who's to say one of their servants can't do the same?"

She took a moment to center herself, quelling the waves of anxiety. She regarded Yui with sympathy and worry. "I know this is your home, but this is no longer a haven for us. We must take our leave immediately."

Yui's face fell as Medea spoke. "You're right... It's not safe here anymore. But, they also must be watching this place with familiars by now. There are so many of us now, how are we going to escape without them noticing?"

Lazarus stood next to Yui and sighed, "I don't think we'll be able to. We'll just have to hope we can lose them. At best, we may be able to leave a couple servants behind to distract them. We also might be able to confuse them by going completely seperate ways, but deciding on a common meeting place previously..."

"Wait!" Yui snapped her fingers, an idea coming to her. "We may not have to run. We can tell them we have the Lesser Grail. It might not hold them off completely, but it could stop them from nuking us for fear of destroying it."

"Excellent idea! Should we send a servant to tell them or shall we all go see if we can find them?"

Medea moved her hands to her hips. "Not a bad idea, if we can get the Lesser Grail." Phillipus raised a finger.

"It's likely Fraulein Einzbern has access to it, due to her lineage. During the last war, the Grail was hidden in her predecessor." He sighed; continuing: "Such a nice young woman, and a true hallmark of the Einzbern skill for homunculi." Saber approached the group, hands clasped behind their back.

"I'm going to have a meeting with their Saber hopefully soon. I can tell her that we have the Lesser Grail, and she can be the messenger. Hopefully they'll listen."

"I don't have it with me," she answered, poking her chin with a finger in thought. "But I could get it super fast if Caster teleports me! Should I go get it?"

"Yeah, just in case they want to see proof. It's safer here with us anyway, I imagine."

Medea smiled politely. "All right, Miss Einzbern, I'll take you then. I would hate to set off any alarms, so where should I drop you off?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about the alarms if you're with me, I'll disable them for you! You can just drop me off in the foyer and we should be in and out quick!"

She took the girl's hand, and in a flash, they were gone.

They were back a moment later, with another homonculus in hand. She looked nearly identical to Leysritt, the maid that formed Illya's Dress of Heaven. "This is Sella, everyone!"

The maid bowed respectfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

After a quick greeting, Yui started to puzzle over what they should do next, but they soon felt the presence of another Servant.

Ruler stood on a rooftop adjacent to the mansion, gazing down with a small smile. He gestured with both his arms and chanted a short spell, deactivating the gem traps nearest to him, before he jumped down into the courtyard.

Yui was tense as he approached, but the Bounded Fields were giving off no indication of hostile intentions.

The Servant greeted them with a bow. "My name is Ruler. I'd like to speak to whoever is in charge, as it were."

Lazarus stood behind Yui, "We are a group working as one, but this is Yui's house," he said gesturing to her. He was nervous too, but wore a slight smile as he always did when looking at Yui.

Ruler smiled and nodded. "I understand. It seems that both of you are mostly responsible for gathering the Servants together like this, so I will address this to both of you."

"I'm here to inform you of the changes that have taken place. When you gathered together the seven Masters and Servants to cooperate, a backup system within the Grail was activated. It sensed that its authority was becoming infringed, and that the 'concept' of the Grail War was being threatened. So, it allowed for the summoning of seven new Servants. Well, eight, including me. I have been summoned by the Grail itself to act as a new overseer. Summarily, Father Kotomine is relieved of his position as mediator."

Phillipus snorted lightly into his tea. Finally. This didn't necessarily bode well, however...

Mari made her way back into the house through the side gate once again and sidled up to Avalon, looking up at Ruler. "Th' fuck's this guy?"

"If the grail is corrupt at the moment, how could it's 'concept' be threatened? I suppose if the battle is the concept...but since a master can technically battle no one and still obtain the grail, that seems rather odd..."

Avalon shrugged at Mari, "He says his names ruler or some shit? Apparently by working together we fucked up."