Timeskips Things

Life for the Grail crew was good in Hawaii. Little was heard of Marisbury after he left with Caster, though he sent short updates to Lazarus and Julian. After about five months, Marisbury sent a request for a few catalysts he had found: one for Okita Souji and another for Suzuka Gozen.

Eight months after the conclusion of the Grail War, Marisbury was ready for his Rayshift demonstration. He asked Lazarus to come help him finish development in a satellite lab he set up in London, sending him some books on space-time theory to brush up on first. The lab itself was unimpressive, with most of the equipment hidden out of sight. Lazarus mostly only saw a bank of computer servers and a metal tube used for Rayshift subjects.

They were able to run successful trials on animals--sealing them in coffins, converting them to energy, and sending them into the past. With humans it was more harrowing, with two volunteers dying during the Rayshift process. Eventually, Lazarus was able to help stabilize the technology.

The Mage's Association sent observers for the demonstration, and gave them a challenge. Rayshift a subject into a specific time and location and leave a message--one that the Association would be excavating in the modern day. To the Associations chagrin, Marisbury decided on the message "Animusphere forever." Sure enough, as the experiment was conducted, the Association excavated an Egyptian ruin and found the thousand-year-old message within: "Animusphere forever."

With that, Rayshift theory was proven and the grants flooded in. Chaldea had more than enough funding to finish its research. Marisbury thanked Lazarus and Julian, both getting hefty payments for their assistance, and said goodbye again. It was time to complete the Heroic Spirit summoning system.

Marisbury corresponded with Lazarus every few months, but it wasn't going well. Though Marisbury had completed the system, and it should work, but the Heroic Spirits just didn't seem to want to come. This continued for five years.

As soon as the two houses were repaired, Lazarus, Yui, and their families moved back in. He was overjoyed that they had a house again, and continued working on all his experiments, including his correspondence with Marisbury, and creating another philosopher's stone with Phillipus. He did however make sure he spent time with his family, and perhaps not always wisely, let his children into the lab to observe and even make their own experiements.

Aaron followed everyone to Japan, not really having anywhere else to go. He continued to have friendly lectures and sessions of getting high with Phillipus, and had many a night on the town with Mari. He spent a year or so partying rather heavily, and not being one to do well being alone, gathered many many notches in his proverbial bedpost. After awhile he did calm down, and began corresponding with Julian. The correspondence remained amicable, and five years after being seperated the two decided to officially divorce. The whole thing was extremely civil, and Julian happily gave Aaron anything he truly felt was his. Julian continued to assist Marisbury and (if they even wanted his help) any of the other mages from the Matou, Tohsaka, or Quinlan households.

Avalon also went to Japan, with a couple brief visits to America to see her family and introduce her girlfriend. Avalon's family welcomed Mari with open arms, though they weren't above teasing the young couple. They enjoyed a life at the Matou mansion, their love growing stronger by the day. Avalon was even able to land a job as a physical education and english teacher at the local high school.

Once everyone was settled in, Carlotta headed back home to Italy, but made a point to come visit every once in awhile. She also made sure to keep up regular correspondence with Marisbury, as she was the one who was the final editor of the researchers. She knew Phillipus was perfectly capable, but she wanted him to be able to focus on study.

After she and Kirei were married, Atalanta made it her mission to secretly preserve the few truly natural spaces left in the world. She traveled constantly, even while pregnant, and guarded the wildlife by force. Tales of a guardian began to spread, injecting a bit more magic into the world again. She and Kirei had three children by the sixth year, and another was on the way.

Phillipus spent the years like a river, following the flow of where the banks of those around him led. He helped tutor the children, maintained the lab, and even added occasional notes to Marisbury and Lazarus's correspondences.

Over time, the observant would see Aaron and Phillipus drawing closer - both emotionally and physically. Aaron was a quick learner and eagerly discussed ideas and events with the Caster, even going on trips to museums and observatories. By the sixth year, there were moments where one could catch Aaron's head on his shoulder, or their hands clasped together behind their backs as they walked.

Mari, along with Hideto and the rest of their family. re-embraced the Matou name and worked together to improve their legacy and standing in the world of mages. When Avalon was away teaching, she stayed at home refurbishing the property and uncovering family secrets from centuries past. The mages applied themselves to learning all that they could, as well as cleansing or secreting away more cursed materials. There was half a millennium to make up for, and their determination carried them far. Mari had stopped dying her hair and embraced the blue, finally accepting her girlfriend's assurances that it was "punk as fuck," but still enjoyed an array of styles from undercut bobs to a tall mohawk.

Hideto was gracious enough to save a space for Shinji, although his behavior resulted in the Himeno-Matou women feeling more comfortable when he had been sent to live with his father, Byakuya, now leading a life of sobriety and peace.

Cesar Primus passed away of old age, becoming one again with the flow of the world's mana. Cesar Secundus was born the next day, a boisterous and fluffy juvenile who spent his days riding on Phillipus's shoulder and eating grapes that fell from the vines. A portrait of Primus roosted in a large mortar was hung in Phillipus's room, next to smiling photographs of Astolfo and Fran.

Shortly after the end of the War and Lancer and Ozy's defeat, the Church appointed Kirei's daughter Caren to take over for the Fuyuki Church. She met Yui and Lazarus once over the years, and though she was very outgoing and polite, they could both sense she had the same sort of "off-ness" as her father. Nevertheless, she minded her own business.

In the meantime, Kirei continued to work for the Church in Italy to bring home a paycheck. In his free time, he helped teach he and Atalanta's children what he knew--specifically, the art of bajiquan passed down from his own father. They picked it up fast--though they were only human, they inherited much from their mother. They were strong, fast, and healthy, far more than expected. It was interesting to see what they gained from the blood of a Servant.

Yui devoted almost all her time in the intervening years to helping her children develop their Magic Crests; such was the life of a magus. Artoria stayed with Avalon and soon took up a new hobby: cooking. She did it often, and well, cooking large feasts for Avalon and Mari and their families. Darius spent years studying history, interesting to see how the world developed in his absence. Even after he learned all there was to know of his former Persian Empire, his interests led him to other subjects.

Yui kept in touch with their other former associates every now and then; sending letters to Daichi, Ayaka, and even tried to reach Illya. There was little luck reaching the Einzberns, only receiving a single letter from them after three years--curtly informing her of Illya's death. As a homonculus, she was never expected to live past her 16th birthday. Even so, Yui felt sorry for her fate.

Ayaka enjoyed her new life with the new Matou family, though she struggled to relearn what little she had known of Matou magecraft. She had to come to terms with her poor Magic Circuits, but found a new avenue of study when she started to correspond with Carlotta. Before her adoption, her father had begun to teach her a little Formalcraft, but she had had little opportunity to develop it.

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Early in 2012, Marisbury sent a letter announcing he had successfully summoned a Heroic Spirit. The letter was short and elated, and he promised Lazarus he would sent a full report of his breakthrough.

However, that was the last they heard from him. No report came, and however many letters they sent to Marisbury, they never got any more responses. Another several years passed as Yui and Lazarus began to worry that something awful had happened.

Then in the summer of 2015, the letters came. One each addressed to Lazarus, Mari, Avalon, Aaron, and Phillipus; and each bearing what they had come to recognize as the logo of Marisbury's organization.



For everyone but Lazarus, the letter read:

Spoiler:

Lazarus alone got a special letter:

Spoiler:

The instructions in each letter directed its reader to fly to Switzerland, and included a series of tickets: one for the flight to Switzerland, and several more to take a train and bus to a remote town on the border of Switzerland and Italy near the Alps.

"Ah! Holy crap!" Aaron had ripped the letter open excitedly, and exclaimed upon reading it, "Do you think he's still alive?"

"Who could say? I certainly hope so. But I suppose we have some packing to do...perhaps I should have Carlotta come watch the house..." Lazarus was rather puzzled, wondering if he could share the information in his letter with his companions or not...

Meanwhile, at the Matou mansion, Avalon raised her eyebrows at the invitation. She quickly found Saber, "Hey! Check this out." she handed the invitation over to let her read.

Phillipus read the letter with no small measure of surprise. Even though Marisbury doubtlessly had his Catalyst, he'd been summoned as a mage, which served as much to legitimize him as a talented mage of the modern era more than a Servant to be used, as to fluff his ego. He'd seen the crest on Lazarus's envelope and could safely assume that he'd been sent a similar missive. This would be most exciting indeed.

Mari read the letter while smoking on the back porch. She looked up at the glass chime swaying in the wind and tapped the folded paper against her shin. Shit, she felt like she barely used her own magecraft in the War - Avalon seemed to have put in much more work, honestly - but maybe having the stuff to summon a Servant and get picked by the Grail was enough. Well... Whatever. She called the tattoo parlor to arrange the time off.

Yui read the letter curiously. "To preserve the reign of the Common Sense of Man..." she muttered under her breath. "That sounds... foreboding. I wonder what they mean by that." She pursed her lips. "I suppose it must be that important. Let's get packing, I guess."

Saber read the note and frowned at its worrying lack of specificity. "It seems strange, to say the very least. It would be worth checking out."

Avalon nodded, "Yeah...I'll go check it out at least. But I don't wanna leave my students so I might come back." she shared her feelings with Mari as well, but if Mari wanted to battle she was okay with being apart for a little bit.

Aaron packed quickly. He was pretty excited. They had some time before flying there however, so he popped into Phillipus' room, "Hey do you wanna grab a meal before we leave? Maybe get some books to read on the airplane?"

Mari closed her phone shut and slid it back into her pocket. "I don't mind helping out. I think the kids would go nuts without The Best English Teacher Ever, though." She leaned forward and gave Avalon a kiss before looking up flights.

Phillipus was renewing the enchantments on his carry-on bag to increase its interior volume. "That sounds like a good idea! Perhaps we could invite Lazarus as well; if we all go together we can stop somewhere close to the airport."

"I'll go invite him!" he jogged off into the house and returned a few moments later,"They say sure, but they might not go with us to get books. Laz says he's got a couple things to finish up before he leaves."

"That's quite all right! We should get in touch with our other colleagues and see if anyone else was invited." He chuckled to himself. "Although that may be breaking the discretion rules... We're not exactly the best at following instructions, are we?"

"Well they clearly know who we are. If they did their research properly they should know neither of us give a shit. Especially you," he teased, before texting Mari: 'Hey Japan-san! You get any mysterious letters today?"

"We both did. Is your flight soon? Let's meet up!"

"YES. We're gonna grab food and head to the bookstore." he let them know what restaurant they were thinking after checking with Phillipus.