IT BEGINS AGAIN

“Thank you for coming.” Kirei bowed respectfully to the last churchgoer to leave through the main doors. He watched them go down the hill toward town with a bored look on his face.

Once they were out of sight, he closed the doors and retreated back inside the church. The last ten years had been… dull. Service after service, the same old chants recited over and over. They no longer held any meaning to him, but as the new priest of Fuyuki he had to go through the motions. If he had enjoyed anything lately, it was the sadness in his mass’ voices when they repented their sins and begged for forgiveness. It was a sweetness he had come to savor though the never-ending boredom.

He descended the stairs to the church basement, and scanned the artifacts on the shelves. Among them was a small statuette.



Atalanta. The chaste huntress. It looked nothing like her.

Rider had given it to him shortly after the end of the Fourth Grail War, and he secretly treasured it. He still never considered himself a sentimental person, but he did miss her.

His eyes drifted to the side. Near the statue of Atalanta, was a small hexagonal plate with seven glassy gems set into it—six in the corners and one in the center. He had inherited it from his father; a magical device given to the mediators of the Grail War.

One of the gems was emitting a white, magical light.

Impossible.

He grabbed the plate and examined it more closely, making sure it wasn’t a trick of his eyes. One of the gems was definitely illuminated. This plate was tied directly to the system of the Grail War. It could mean only one thing.

*****

A short time later, Kirei was knocking on the door of the Tohsaka Mansion. Yui, sitting and having dinner with Lazarus and her children, looked out the window.

“It’s Kirei.”

She dabbed her mouth with a handkerchief, and went to answer the door. Yui was about to greet the priest, but stopped when she saw the gravity of Kirei’s expression.

Kirei got right to the point. “A Servant has been summoned.”

Yui took a moment to process what Kirei said. "...What?"

"A Servant has been summoned," Kirei repeated. "The Fifth Holy Grail War is about to begin."

"No... that's impossible. It's only been twelve years."

"Be that as it may, I've confirmed that the Grail is beginning to distribute new Command Spells. Whether it's possible or not, it's happening."

"...Why don't you come in."

Yui opened the gate for Kirei and led him back inside and to the dining room. She gestured to them.

"Alright, tell them."

Kirei nodded. "I've confirmed the summoning of a Servant, and that the Grail has begun to distribute Command Spells. It seems the Fifth Holy Grail War is upon us already."

A flash of excitement spread over Lazarus' face before he quelled it, "How soon! I thought it wasn't expected for quite some time from now! Oh goodness I have so much to prepare!" He grabbed pulled out a chair for Kirei, "This is going to be stupendous. Please, sit an have some dinner!"

Yui looked more horrified than excited. "It shouldn't be so soon! It takes sixty years for the Grail to gather enough mana to handle the Servant summoning. How could it possibly manage it after twelve?"

Kirei took a seat. "I don't know. But, we clearly all have to quickly prepare for it."

Chiaki, Lazarus and Yui's oldest, piped up, "But dad! I'm not ready to fight in this one!" the child looked a little afraid and apprehensive.

"Oh no no," Lazarus assured, patting her on the shoulder after he gave Kirei a plate of pasta. " I only thought you might be fighting in the next war because of how long we originally thought it would be. You definitely won't be fighting in this one."

Chiaki sighed with great relief and continued eating her spaghetti in bites that were far too large for her mouth.

"Can I fight in it?!" Chiara piped up excitedly, hopping up and down in her chair. "I wanna beat up the bad guys!!"

"No no no!" Yui laughed, echoing her husband. "I don't think so." She turned to Lazarus. "What should we do, though? Neither of us can participate since we still have our old Command Spells."

Astolfo's head popped around the corner. "Kirei-san! I'm sorry I missed service, Phillipus needed me for some experiments." As if summoned, Caster's head appeared in the window, wearing a wide gardening hat contrasted with a worried frown.

"Did you say something about Command Spells? Is the next war starting already?"

Lazarus shrugged and smiled, "We can just distribute and collect information on the servants like we planned, if you think that's alright," he suggested to Yui. To Caster and Rider he said, "Yes it has! Much sooner than expected! Also, I called you both for dinner quite some time ago."

Phillipus looked more than a little embarrassed, yet folded his arms. "After how many times you've been late to my meals, now the table turns. I'll wash up and come inside." Astolfo plopped next to Chiara before spooning pasta onto a plate.

"Phillipus said I should rest after the experiments. We were testing the limits of the Logistilla! I ate a bunch of weird stuff, but I feel fine, and I'm so ready to eat something yummy~"

"That's fair," Lazarus agreed with a smile. He then turned his curiosity to Rider, "Oooohhhh tell me what you ate!"

Chiaki brightened as well, "Yeah! What'd you eat? Did it make you poop weird colors?!"

"I haven't pooped yet, but maybe I will mixed with this!!" He grinned broadly and wiggled his eyebrows at Chiaki. Phillipus sighed and shook his head, still amused.

"You know we don't poop, don't get her hopes up." He patted his hands dry and sat at the table. "I was curious to see whether or not the Logistilla would work when it came to ingested magic, so I created a series of alchemical tinctures, mixed in both liquids and solids, to be used at increasingly higher concentrations. It appears that as long as the book is on his person, he's impervious to literally everything."

"Which means I can't be assassinated by cake!" Rider piped. "Which is good, because that's my favorite."

Yui chuckled somewhat, but was still worried as she picked at her food. "I guess we could just sit back and watch. It'd be nice to have another Servant to participate in this war. I have a feeling the stakes are going to be higher than ever."

Chiaki's face fell, the very idea breaking her poor little heart "but who would assassinate someone with cake?"

Lazarus clucked and shook his head, "I know. It can be a scary world out there sometimes. But don't worry, I can't even think of the last time I heard someone being killed by cake, so you'll probably be okay." Chiaki grinned and continued her meal again, placated.

Phillipus stroked his chin in thought. "Well, we should consider our mission to spread the truth of the War, no? At the very least, an attempt should be made to contact the Masters and offer information."

Lazarus nodded at Yui, putting an arm around her in comfort, "We'll just keep an eye on things, and interfere if need be. Perhaps leaving town is in order though? Not too far, so we can travel and deliver to or collect information from the new servants."

"It might be best to find someone to ally with ahead of time. I don't want to wait too long and have no one we can pick sides with. If we put in some elbow grease we might be able to find a new Master that can work with us." She scratched her chin. "It would be easy to get my father in on it, since the Grail favors Tohsakas, but I don't think he'd want to be involved at his age."

"I can do what I can to help," Kirei added. "Though I am the mediator, I can lend my assistance to make sure the Grail doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"As a mediator, I'd prefer if you stayed out of it in that sense. Please focus on mediating," Lazarus chuckled. He thought for a moment as well, stroking the stubble on his chin, but Chiaki spoke first.

"What about Zietta Carlotta?!" She was Chiaki's favorite Aunt on Lazarus' side. Even the young girl knew she was a rather skilled mage, and not in the traditional sense. She was a practitioner of formal craft, a version of magic that uses the mana outside one's body as opposed to inside. Though Chiaki knew she had skill, she mostly just wanted a visit from her aunt.

"As you wish," Kirei answered. Privately, of course, he had no desire to uphold that promise. Perhaps when he did find the necessity to come to their aid, they wouldn't complain.

"Carlotta?" Yui asked, thinking about it. "That could be interesting. She's a pretty talented mage, isn't she?" She tapped her cheek. "As long as we have someone close to us that desires to participate, that should be enough for her to get Command Spells."

Chiaki bounced in her chair, "CAN I CALL AND ASK?!"

"Perhaps your mother would perfer to do that. We don't want you rupturing Carlotta's eardrums." Lazarus chuckled and ruffled her hair.

Yui chuckled. "Yeah, I can do that. What time is it in Italy right now?" she mused. It was already getting late here in Japan. Were they ahead or behind?

"Oh, that reminds me," Yui snapped her fingers. "I'm thinking this War is gonna be pretty messy. We might want to get a catalyst for this one, shoot for a hero we know is going to be strong."

"It doesn't matter, she'll wake up if she's asleep, but it's 1 in the afternoon, in any case." he smiled and gave Yui a kiss on the cheek, "and I definitely agree on the catalyst idea! Did you have anyone in mind?"

"I had a few ideas. Hercules and Gilgamesh are some famously powerful heroes, but finding catalysts for them might not work. I think we're better off going for a real historical figure. Anyone come to mind?"

Rider raised a hand. "My cousin Roland! He's super strong!!"

"As a spirit, though, or as a mortal?" Caster drummed his fingertips against his cheek. "I think this will require some thought."

The mage shrugged, "Hmm...ask Carlotta? Perhaps she would have somone in mind."

"Good idea. Better for her to have someone compatible with her anyway." Yui picked up her new smartphone and leafed through her contacts, eventually finding Carlotta's number and hitting "call."