Back at the Tohsaka Mansion!!!

"As I said, whether or not they directly corrupted the grail, your family is still partly at fault. However I'm glad to hear that you'll help us out. Hopefully your pride will not get in the way of logical thinking during the investigation." Lazarus' face was rather stern now. Rarely did he come to anger, but the haughtiness of the head of the Tohsaka family was hitting a lot of raw nerves that ran very deep.

"And luckily we have a sample of the residue from it." Caster descended the stairs in his typical flourish.

"Phillipus von Hoenheim, at your service." He bowed deeply, arms wide. His robes seemed even more prim and orderly than usual, his Azoth hanging from his hip - a place of pride, not aggression. He wanted to personify every bit of his legend to the letter.

"And I'm Charlemagne's most handsome knight, Astolfo!" Rider mimicked Caster's bow, down to the wrist-rolls and the delicately pointed feet. It took a great deal of willpower for Phillipus not to crack up then and there.

Tokiomi was clearly shocked, and a little on edge, by the appearance of two more Servants. He had to remind himself that, without the Grail, they were not enemies anymore. He bowed in return.

"A pleasure. Residue, you say? That should be useful. Did you also happen to retrieve any fragments of the Grail?"

"Unfortunately the police were approaching and we needed to vacate the area. However it might be possible to go back and see if there is anything still there." Lazarus was infinitely grateful for the servants' ability to diffuse the tension. He mentally admonished himself for continuing to think of them as servants, though. He wanted them to be his equals. He was infinitely grateful to his friends.

"Also, we were preoccupied by escaping our inevitable doom. One of the Church associates was kind enough to retrieve some for us. I can bring you the sample now, if you like." Despite his words, his tone and posture remained entirely polite, almost cordial.

"That would be a good idea. Though the vessel itself is not as important as its contents, extra materials are never a bad idea." He nodded to Caster. "Yes, I would like to see it."

Lazarus waited for Phillipus to bring the sample. He was relieved that his heritage hadn't come up, but also worried that he might chastise Yui for it in private. He took a deep breath and looked to Yui with a smile of support.

Caster picked up his chicken and turned on his heel, taking only a moment before he returned with the box.

"For habit's sake, I urge you to take the utmost caution with it. It may still hunger for the souls of Servants, which puts us at great risk, even with such a small amount. We've been unmotivated to test whether or not direct contact with one of us would cause it to grow or change."

Tokiomi carefully lifted the vial from the box and held it in front of his eyes, inspecting it. He muttered silently under his breath, and the hand holding the vial glowed with a dim blue light. He studied the magic inside, but only grew more puzzled as time passed.

"I can safely say I've seen nothing like this. The negative mana in it surpasses anything I've ever seen." He scratched his chin. "I would find it hard to believe that a human could produce anything this powerful."

"The question that remains, then, is where do we go from here?"

" Someone spoke to me in the grail. They mentioned something about Angra Mainyu. They wanted to be reborn through the grail, I think."

"Angra Mainyu?" Tokiomi furrowed his brow. "The... Persian god of evil, if I'm remembering right. What exactly did it say about it?"

" To me it seemed that the God wanted me to use my wish to sacrifice a number of people, and that would somehow allow Angra Mainyu to be reborn? It was rather confusing. This whole war has been an absolute mess, but...let me see..." He recounted in as much detail as he could his experience with the grail, including a few of the events leading up to it.

"Blood for the blood god!!" Rider growled, feet planted wide and knees bent, hands curled into the air like claws. Caster rolled his eyes and gently whapped Rider's head with a rolled parchment.

"A very simple summary, but not... Entirely inaccurate."

As Lazarus recounted his encounter inside the Grail, Tokiomi grimaced a little. "That sounds very... theatrical."

Yui snorted. She knew that was the closes her father would get to saying "overdramatic bullshit."

"It does seem like the anomalies during the War are connected to whatever is corrupting the Grail. But... it still makes no sense. Perhaps examining that substance in a controlled environment will shed light on it. We could also try contacting the Einzberns and... Zouken."

Yui and Tokiomi groaned in unison.

Lazarus chuckled as well, "I know...it was honestly a bit hard to take it seriously. But really when you think about it, the whole war is a bit overdramatic don't you think?"

"Much of magic is theatrical. Theater becomes magic by virtue of the audience not knowing how it's done, and if anyone is going to be dramatic, it's going to be an ancient god of evil. Whether you believe it or not, we all saw it with our own eyes, exactly as it was recounted. Absurd as it may be, it's still a mystery that needs solving and confronting."

Tokiomi couldn't help but chuckle as well. "I suppose you're right. We are, after all, summoning heroes from ancient myths and legends. We're well out of the realm of the boring and mundane."

"It just means we're awesome!!" Rider grinned and pumped both fists into the air.

Lazarus laughed, "Agreed!" he clapped his hands together and faced Tokiomi, "Well, in any case, you've just arrived home. You should relax. I've modified the basement a little bit, and of course with your permission, I do plan to be staying here for quite awhile to assist in the investigation. Would you like some tea?"

[[...And also I'm going to make babies with your daughter. so many babies. you have no idea.]]

Tokiomi nodded. "Yes, thank you. It's nice to be home. Yes, you may stay for a while. Your assistance will be much appreciated."

Yui sighed in relief. This had all gone much better than she had been fearing. That could change at any moment, but at least her father knew how to be polite to guests--and most of all, allies.

Lazarus swept off to the kitchen to prepare some tea. This was all going rather smoothly! He felt in the mood for green tea, and added plenty of leaves to the teapot as he heated up the water, humming happily.

Yui followed him out to the kitchen, leaving Caster and Rider to entertain her father. As Lazarus brewed the tea, she hopped up to sit on the counter next to him. "So... going well?"

"Much better than I expected! I'm sorry if I said anything too harsh." he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek for putting up with him.

She blushed. "Not at all." She returned the peck on his cheek. "I'm so relieved. I kept expecting him to start criticizing your outfit on the spot, but he's thankfully being nice." She sighed and leaned back against the cupboard. "Knock on wood," she said, doing just that.