Tohsaka Mansion - More or Less

" Miss Yui, you are an expert at leaving me in suspense!" he teased, pouring himself some more tea.

Yui laughed again. "I do try." She took the teapot and poured herself some more tea. "The Holy Grail spends 60 years between Wars amassing enough mana to summon the Servants, which by itself is an incredible feat. Their spirits originate from the Throne of Heroes, a metaphysical space that is very close to Akasha, but not directly part of it. The Grail collects all of their souls, and once a wish is made, it returns all seven to the Throne of Heroes."

"Theoretically, the massive flux of energy results in a hole to Akasha opening up. A direct path to the Akashic Records, the source of all knowledge in the universe."

"Oh! so that's not so bad then! They just return to where they come from! No need to skip town after all!" It was very hard for him to contain his excitement at actually getting to be anywhere near Akasha. His grandfather and father had told him stories about it since he was old enough to understand. Immortality was his dream so that he could have that kind of knowledge. "Perhaps, we can just tell our servants what is required of them. That way, at least they have a warning."

"Well, it's not quite as simple as that, actually," Yui said quickly. "And it's actually the reason this whole thing makes me quite sad. Our Servants aren't really the very souls of their identity; those can never return from Akasha. They're more like... copies. Information from the Throne of Heroes is pulled out of the timeline and materialized as Servants. When they die, the information is sent back in the form of something similar to souls."

"Unfortunately, their memories and experiences don't make the trip. When our Servants die--even if they're summoned again in another War--they won't remember any of this." She teared up a little bit when she thought of Berserker from last night. "The people that we've gotten to know just sort of... disappear."

" Well...that at least I kind of knew. I just thought it would be more of the servant's choice, or somehow things would end up working out, but in that case, I have another idea!" He quickly finished up his fruit before continuing. "What if, you and I, started a sort of...memory keeping society? If it gets traction we can possibly get other masters to participate. We can keep a record for all the servants. It might not start with much, but it would give them a chance to recall what happened the last time they were here! If possible, we could even get the families to make it law that the servants had access to these records when summoned."

"That's a pretty good idea. I mean, hopefully if someone wins this war there won't have to be another one, but you never know when someone else might summon a Heroic Spirit." She smiled and sipped her tea. "I thought having our Servants record all of their knowledge for us would also be great. Buuuut, because of our Heroic Spirits work, their memories and knowledge might not actually be true."

"That doesn't particularly mean anything! People record untrue things all the time!" Lazarus waved her concern away with a laugh. " In any case, knowing what they think they know could be just as valuable as what the truth would be. It would be miraculous material to have!"

"True enough." Yui snapped her fingers. "Also, it has occurred to me, if we are concerned about sacrificing our Servants. Seven Servants are needed to open a path to Akasha, but if we didn't want to complete the ritual the whole way, six should be enough to grant a wish."

"There's also nothing stopping us from just having five defeated Servants and keeping Berserker and Caster. Although, that does leave the problem of an incomplete Grail sitting around waiting for someone to abuse it." She tapped her finger on her cup. "We couldn't just move it or hide it. Once the Grail starts materializing, no one can touch it without 'setting it off,' so to speak."

"Well we might as well go all the way. Besides, now that I know where it goes, I don't think that I CAN'T see Akasha if given the chance. I'm sorry I'm horribly selfish," he laughed nervously. "Let's just begin our efforts in making sure the servants are more well informed about what is at stake, what they're sacrificing. For now, I think that will suffice."

"Well, I can't blame you," Yui said with a shrug. "Completing the ritual and reaching Akasha has been my goal the whole time. At least, that's how it is for the Tohsaka family. I think the Einzberns and Matous are mostly only concerned with getting the power of the Grail's wish."

"As it stands, though, I agree. I will let Berserker know what's at stake. I've grown very close to her. If there's anything I can do to avoid losing her, I'll do it." She rubbed her Command Spells again. "It's funny. The Servants were designed to just be the means to an end. I wasn't expecting to grow so fond of her. It pains me that they had to be so deceived."

"I agree, but we're going to fix that. Hopefully for even more generations to come! I sincerely hope that they aren't too upset, though I definitely won't blame either of them if they are...perhaps we can even speak with them about their wishes. Discuss a possible way for everyone to get what they want."

"Yeah..." Yui said with a smile, sipping on her tea. "If we could all achieve our wishes... That would be nice."

She leaned back in her chair and stared out into the garden. She was feeling much better about all of this now. Once Caster and Berserker woke up, they had a lot to talk about.

Caster was rolled up tight in the blanket, steaming quietly. Why did Lazarus have to be so cute sometimes, keeping him warm all night? He finally kicked the covers off, fixed his robes and descended the stairs after knocking on Berserker's door and shouting a friendly (if yawning) wakeup call.

Caster heard a sleepy yawn on the other side of the door, then after a rustling, came and opened it. She smiled upon seeing Caster, waving a good-morning at him and joining him in the hallway. It seemed her dress was fully restored now, and she was as good as new from the fight yesterday.

He smiled warmly. "You're looking well already. Let's see what the mortals are up to, eh?" His fingers ruffled through her hair again as they made their way to the dining table.

"Mnh!" she grunted in agreement, looping her arm in his and walking down to the kitchen with him.

Yui was washing her dishes when they came in, and she looked up and smiled. "Good morning! Sleep well?"

"Quite well, thank you! As I hope you both did." He smiled brightly, his cheeks becoming a barely perceptible pink when he focused on Lazarus.

"So, what's the order of operations for today?"

"Well actually," the mage began, his tone relatively somber, "we have something very important to tell you. It isn't good news, but we're hoping to find a way to improve the situation. It's only right that you know." he looked to Yui to fill in the rest, as she was more well versed in the situation.

Yui cleared her throat, looking nervous again as the topic came back up. "There's something you need to know about the Grail. Firstly, I want to say I'm sorry for keeping this information to myself. When I joined the War, I was determined to use whatever means necessary to win the Grail. But... I'm not so sure anymore. I've come to care for Berserker a great deal, and I also consider you a friend, Caster. So, it's only fair that you both know."

"The ritual for summoning the Grail demands the souls of all seven Servants. The only way to fully complete the ritual is for the last surviving Master to sacrifice their own Servant, using their Command Spells. However... quite frankly, I don't want to do that anymore. Lazarus and I are going to find a way around it."

Berserker made a small sound of surprise and worry, but relaxed slightly, trusting Yui to protect her.

"If there's anything I can do, please let me know. I'm more than willing to help you in this endeavor." He grinned happily at Berserker. "We can be magical outlaws!" He held up his hands for a double high five.

Lazarus chuckled, " I appreciate the optimism! However out discussions so far have revealed that more likely than not, there isn't a way around this. In this case, we wanted you to be informed of what could possibly happen. Even if we don't wish to sacrifice you, the way things are going in this war, it's possible that someone else might gain the power to do so. In the event that there isn't a way around it, we wanted to see if there was a way that we could incorporate your wishes into our own. We also wanted to have you record your memories and your time here. If there is another grail war, and you're summoned again, you won't remember after being sent back to the throne of heroes. We want the information about what happens to you, and your previous experiences, be required information to be handed over to you when you when you materialize. If you must sacrifice yourself, you should know what for and under what circumstances."

"A reasonable plan. As you know, my wish is to have the possibility of good health available for all peoples-" He smirked slightly, "Something that could be achieved if you were to, say, run a clinic and dedicate yourself to public welfare and taking others under your wing after gaining immortality."

"I can tell you this much," Yui added. "The Grail was originally designed to open a pathway to Akasha. It cannot do so without all seven souls. However, with six souls, it should still have enough mana to grant a wish to the Master that touches it. Even so," she went on, "that still requires only one of you to be remaining. I'd prefer not to have to make that chioce."

"Which I absolutely could do! It's part of my very grand plan!" Lazarus agreed. After Yui spoke, he added, " Though we will continue to look into possibilities, I can mention that looking into Akasha will give us the best chance of executing all our plans..."

"For the most part, we'll just have to see how this turns out. This War has not been going like I expected. First things first, though" she added, turning to Caster. "Once we're done dealing with the Dead Apostle, we'll be moving into the last stages of the war. As much as I would hate to have damage done to the mansion, this place is our best option as a staging ground for summoning the Grail."

"I don't know exactly what abilities you have, but I trust you enough at this point to let you turn this place into a defensive stronghold. You may use your Territory Creation and whatever other skills you think will help."