Well, it seemed that at least someone here was attempting to ally people together to deal with the threat. Ruler couldn't deny that he was opposed to this measure at some level; otherwise, he'd just have called the war off until the threat was dealt with. The show had to go on, though; the Grail War had to reach a conclusion, and if they waited until the threat was dealt with then by that time the very limited clock on the Grail War could have ticked away.

However...

The other party would probably undermine the war itself if this was allowed to continue. A simple hiatus until the threat was neutralized would waste too much time, but continuing the war as-is would go against his duty as Ruler by just as strong an amount. Whatever the enemy was, it needed to be dealt with before another step forwards could be taken.

"...I know the locations of all summoned Servants. Priests will be sent to deliver a message to each of them; these are neutral parties, so do not attack them or follow them in the hopes of ambushing who they are delivering the messages to. Doing so will make me view you as a threat." He spoke up coldly, adjusting his sunglasses as a sharp exhale left him.

"The message will be as follows: come to the Eastern Field at sundown today. I will be calling for a meeting between all Servants of this war. Servants who do not attend will be forced by means of a Command Seal to commit suicide. Masters are also encouraged to attend if they think themselves able to contribute, but this is not required. The purpose of this meeting will be to work out a way to deal with this interference."

The overseer of the Holy Grail War stood tall, an unbending oak to weather the storm that laid ahead, and with this new source of conviction, he made a statement that dwarfed all that had been said so far.

"I will bring snacks."

The Holy Grail War had finally begun in earnest.

Ernest nodded, listening to Chi-You's advice on the matter. At her suggestion of impending tragedy, he merely nodded with a grave, but determined expression. “Oh, I'm well aware of that. I assure you, I am prepared for whatever misfortune might lay before us, but... having said that, I am willing to risk anything for this.” In truth, as far as he was concerned, there was little risk involved. This would likely be the only opportunity he would ever have to achieve such an impossible thing. If he failed, he would be no worse off than he was before... well, perhaps he would be dead, but that wasn't too far off from the husk of a person the last few years had turned him into.

“But on to our plan. Of course we will want to avoid drawing too much attention, so ideally we should strike decisively. Perhaps we could find a way for you to lure this Servant away from his Master, and then I could have my Thralls strike while she is unguarded.” He thought for a second. “But location is important as well, maybe if we-” Ernest felt a faint buzzing in the back of his head, a sort of 'alert' from the Thrall at the Church. “One moment.” He closed his eyes, transferring his consciousness to the puppet.

The conversation between Ruler and the newly awakened female Master sent a shiver down his spine. He wasn't the only one who had been attacked by that thing. As they spoke, he was already drawn towards the thought of removing that empty abomination. It only made sense. As much as he tried to portray the stoic aristocrat, some part of Ernest was still the emotional young man he had once been, an that thing had very nearly crushed the only hope he had. The idea of vengeance was one he was already fond of, but if the other Masters went out too, they surely would have a better chance at crushing that thing. The idea was cemented with Ruler's declaration. There would be a meeting to discuss the interference in the current War.

Ernest opened his eyes. “Chi-You, I'm sorry to inform you that our plans have been postponed. Ruler has declared that all of the Servants are to meet in the Eastern field at sunset to discuss a strategy for dealing with interference in the Grail War, that is, a plan to remove the third-party who killed my previous Servant.” He looked toward the Tyrant, gauging her reaction. The prospect had to be a bit of a letdown for her. “Masters have also been invited, and I plan to attend, as I seem to be one of the few who has directly interacted with this interloper. We are forbidden from targeting the other Masters and Servants in any capacity for the moment, though perhaps this meeting will allow us to view the competition in greater detail.”





The Thrall listened intently to the conversation between Ruler and the noisy young woman who had just awakened from its position by the Church's door. The figure nodded silently, as if agreeing to the proposition, before speaking up in Ernest's typical fashion. “We shall certainly attend, Ruler. I'd like to see this... problem dealt with as quickly as possible.” The Thrall bowed before turning toward the door. “Until then, adieu.”

The puppet made its way out of the Church and back toward the city. It didn't seem to be heading toward Ernest's house, but rather to some random location. It still traveled at a casual speed, drawing very little attention to itself as it strolled along.

@Holy Grail @Moonlit Sonata @SIGINT @Beloss @Cu Chulainn @Errbody In Earshot

---

Quite a few surprises had arisen. For one thing, his existence was more affirmed than he thought. It seemed they'd misjudged Airi's capacity. Due to the contract being formed having opening her circuits for the first time, it had placed greater burden on her than subsequent recovery. The Emperor holding his own Command Spells as a result of the mistake was fortunate. Dangerous, from a magus perspective, but not needing to subsist off them for prana while manifested helped significantly. To say that was a relief would be...an understatement. Still, he would not be able to fight at full strength for any substantial time. However, his prana was otherwise stabilized.

The priest's arrival had cued him to reunite with Airi, and they made plans to arrive at the meeting. On the way, however, he requested alternative clothes, cheap was fine, for the sake of being able to manifest without giving away his identity. This in turn led to addressing the issue of communication between the two of them.

The Emperor appreciated bombast, but not in a situation where discretion meant more. A thrift store made perfect sense, though his taste in the available options...perhaps less so.

Afterwards, actually getting to visit a store of modern technology's convenience was interesting! Claiming that he was an overseas friend of Airi's grandfather and a bit 'behind the times' would have been an easy to accept excuse. But, it wasn't even necessary to say what he'd prepared just in case, as the cashier was all too happy to conduct the sale. A cellphone and hands-free earpiece he could wear would do the job nicely. Both were sublimated into Kindly Alms, allowing Norton to manifest or dematerialize them as freely he would any other part of himself.

Along the way, continuing to head north through Shinto, Norton made a brief pit-stop to shave. The emperor's majestic mustache and beard of regal authority were mowed away, in a pragmatic tragedy. Really, a Servant who manifested with facial hair had an easy time changing how their face looked significantly!

---

And so here was the field. "Sundown" was slightly ambiguous, so arriving early just in case was only prudent.

Imitating his current Master, Norton wore a zip-up hoodie, though paired it with a baseball cap. A brim like that would be good for hiding his eyes subtly, same for his hair. A pair of raggedy jeans that were a bit too short for him, that was hardly even worth noting... Really, the Crocs-With-Socks combo was the only crime against fashion of the ensemble. It was cheap, it was generic, and it made him look harmless. Whether by intent or design, Norton looked like a harmlessly doddering embarrassment of a grampa.

Given this temporary ceasefire, it was in theory safe for Airi to attend in person, though he left it to her discretion. As the Emperor surveyed the fields, though, he harrumphed. Was he really the first one? Possibly the only one manifested at the moment. Norton crossed his arms while looking outwards. A flat field, clearly for agriculture. The roads split it into different properties. Buildings were considerably far apart, and mostly in the form of small houses, warehouses, and what he surmised to be storage sheds. The bay north was hidden by a bulwark of trees, but otherwise, there wasn't much that could be described as a possible hiding place.

Ruler had probably chosen this area due to the difficulty of possible treachery between camps. It was remote and isolated, yet out in the open. The Emperor surmised that it made sense, and was willing to wager that it was also in neutral ground. None of the Masters probably would be staking out a workshop here, and the terrain was probably useless for doing so to begin with. He wouldn't drop his guard, but it was at least not problematic territory.

Still, with how Imperial Decree had surprisingly been able to temporarily alleviate corrective pressure from him, the Emperor decided to test another unorthodox usage of it. Now may have been a poor time to experiment, but it was an idea he only just had at that moment, and the benefits were potentially worth it.



This had zero chance of affecting his parameters at all and he knew it. Nothing he could actually do would change. However, the fact that they'd have to be manifested and communicate made him eager to try and obfuscate his actual parameters from the sight of other masters. A defensive measure was sensible. The Emperor was aware that if he were being currently observed, it was possible for a Master to see his parameters change. That was not preferable to outright misdirection, but the kind of paranoia that might instill was acceptable.

And if it did nothing...oh well.

@Moonlit Sonata
@Berserk Gene

---

"Boss, you've got ten seconds to start making some goddamn sense."

Airi sighed heavily, the weight of recent events finally weighing down on her after so much time spent running dauntlessly ahead. She considered it something of a secret to moving forward — don't look too hard at the blurs. After all, you'll pass them soon enough, or you'll die.

But when the time came to stop and rest, she had to look. She had to confront the track she was running on, and the vision stabbed at her eyes.

"Okay, okay, Hana, look—."

"Nine."

"Kajin! Just listen, you fucking dickbag!"

...Had Berserker overheard that outburst? They were supposed to be headed to the thrift store soon...

"Look, it's...shit's not going down right over here." A ragged breath escaped her oft-stony demeanor, as she placed a single hand over the other side of her head, physically pushing against the headache that was rapidly forming. "You know the way Yuko explained this whole thing, right? It's not like that at all. There's a lot more people in the running than there are supposed to be, and there's this 'Ruler' person that she didn't say anything about..."

Hana was quiet on the other end of the line, but she could hear him seething. Long-distance conversations with him were always difficult. They were both very physical people - without that crucial means of communication, both of them were prone to finding themselves unable to express their feelings.

"And there's this guy. No one knows who he is, but...he's not part of the War, and he's just, he's fucking with everything. Fucking everything up. So, like I said, it's on hold for a b—"

"You know what's not on hold!? The fucking zombies!!" The phone screeched into her ear, almost cutting into static as Hana's voice rose above any normal parameter. "Airi, you fucking listen. Yuko's been telling me about those religious wackos. The church people, or, or the church itself, or whatever. They're motherfuckin' cold blooded. If they catch wind of what's going on over here, they'll kill everyone. They'll make everyone forget that this place was even a part of Tokyo. It'll be like we never fucking existed, man! And once they get a whiff of the vampire pie on the windowsill, it's game over, for us and your sister!!"

She couldn't remember the last time she had heard Hana so afraid, so visceral. She couldn't say that she knew much about the nebulous organizations that seemed to oversee so many things, but the threat looming over her hometown wasn't something that could just be brushed aside.

"We're trying to put a cap on the fuckin' Night of the Living Dead shit over here, but we're only human. It's slowed down a lot, since the curfew and all, but...it's not like the disappearances here have stopped." She recognized his tone. He had exhausted himself in his own anger. "The clock's ticking, Airi. And we don't even know how much time is left on it."

Her back slid down against the wall, seating her on the cold ground. The girl's head rested on her knees, as she closed her eyes, tugged in too many directions at once, burdened with too much at once. Don't falter, don't break. It's not what Asuka would do. She would have been able to handle this, somehow, someway. What would she do? What would a strong person do?

Each day the holy grail remained unformed, remained in Fuyuki, remained out of her hands...back in Tokyo, that strange plague would continue to spread, person by person. With someone precious to her at the center of it all — someone precious only to her. Someone whom any other actor wouldn't hesitate to eliminate, in order to quell the cancerous growth.

For each day that she pursued another goal, lives were lost and thrown away, for the sake of her love, her beloved and twisted justice.

"...Listen, Kajin." Airi's voice failed to return the boy's ardor, lethargic and weak. "There's...another reason I want to bring Asuka back. More than just because she's my sister. There's...something that I have to do." With her eyes closed, and her hand over her ear blocking out everything else, the phone was her world. The rocky ground was hard and uncomfortable, the wind chewed at the holes in her ragged clothing, but none of it moved her. None of it reached her. "I have to...apologize. For the life I lived. For the second chance that she gave me, the one that I...threw away, like a goddamn idiot."

"That's why, I have to do this right. That's why...I mean...if I really did go through this by turning a blind eye to everything, by letting it all go downhill, and sacrificing everyone else to stay on top of the mudslide...what would she tell me, if I brought her back that way?" The girl asked, not to the phone, but simply to herself, a question that she already had the answer for. "I can almost hear it in her voice. 'You should have just staked me'."

"...Does that even actually work?"

"Who knows?"

For a while, it was only breathing between the two of them. But as weak as her voice was, the girl's stance was firm. There was no rushing this. Her method was bound by a foundation, and to undercut that foundation was to destroy the value of the method.

That was why she had to chase this. That was why she couldn't ignore the Black-Haired Man, or the fact that the landscape of the ritual was so drastically altered. That was why she had to get to the bottom of everything.

...So that, when Airi faced her sister again, she could greet her with a smile.

"Ugh..." Hana sighed into the receiver, blowing more static into his close friend's ear. "You've always been like that, you know?" As he pointed it out, Airi could almost hear the reluctant grin in his voice. "Looking back, I think that's why I joined up with you, after all..."

The girl's body leaned back, opening its eyes once more. "Alright, boss. We'll do things your way, like usual." He relented, "Yuko and I will keep things under wraps here as much as we can. Leave Tokyo to us. You...you do this right. Once the gang is back together, I'll punch you in the face for all the trouble you're putting us through. But for now...you do this right."

---

---

A short girl who would be unassuming in any other context. But here, despite her statue, physical and societal, that girl held her head high. A faux master, perhaps. A temporary contender, perhaps. But her fists, and her resolve, were neither fake nor transient.

A short girl who wasn't afraid to stand up in a room of saints, kings, and magi, and shout what she believed in at the top of her lungs.

The clock is always ticking. Life's too short to save your words.

Her dark hair was unkempt as always, giving the appearance that it had, at one point, been tied into a neat pair of twintails, which had since frayed and nearly come apart. Her overtop, the same white hoodie that she had kept for years, was worn and scuffed, and her faded jeans were no different, with a threadbare gash at the right knee that only grew larger with each passing day. Even the pair of relatively solid-looking running shoes around her feet looked like they had been sanded down at the soles by concrete and asphalt, and many, many nighttime walks.

She was the very opposite of royalty, a walking antithesis to sovereignty in every aspect of her gait and appearance. A person who had inherited nothing. A person who could never be a called 'magus'.

And yet, here she was.

"'My discretion', come the fuck on." She jeered at her own Servant, stretching the pockets at the front of her hoodie as she rested her hands there, casting a pair of bright blue eyes across the field. "I'd be here even if I wasn't invited."

In a way, she wasn't invited at all. Invited by the Grail itself, maybe, in some twist of circumstance. Fourteen was a tough number to reach, it seemed. By Ruler, maybe, only by virtue of that indefensible right that an impartial overseer wasn't within their power to deny. But in the end, that was all. A singular entity, the bare minimum level of acceptance required for entry. A complete nobody, shoving their way to the front of the line, because somehow, at some time, they had found a golden ticket on the ground and happened to pick it up.

Izumi Airi was perfectly fine with that.

The way she held herself was overtly aggressive. Hands balled into fists as they rested in that tattered hoodie, chin up, back straight, and a mean look on her face, nose crumpled as though someone had just shoved a fistful of garlic in front of it. When she spoke, her voice was steady, loud, and held nothing back.

In the back alleys, on the darkened and deserted sidewalks, that kind of look had kept her out of trouble, and that brutal honesty had made her irreplaceable friends. What it would all accomplish here and now was anyone's guess.

But there was one thing that no one could doubt, from the very first glance. Whatever it did accomplish, everyone would see.

"Sunglasses called everyone here, right? Or all the Servants, at least." Airi mentioned, to Berserker, completely failing to keep to any kind of indoor voice. She had already given him all kinds of shit about his outfit on the way there, but the guy was just being himself at the end of the day. It would almost be respectable if it weren't for the crocs. "Jeez, does he know that you can give people a kick in the ass without making them kill themselves? Like, seriously, you'd think he's never heard of a fucking time-out."

It would be the first, and maybe the only time that each and every contender was gathered to one place. It meant a lot of first impressions. A procession of people who wanted the same thing as her in the end, who would look at her, judge her, and decide for themselves who she was or wasn't. And the girl would do the same in turn, without apology.

And then, everyone would move forward. Just like her, everyone would run wildly forward, without looking at the blurs. After all, if they didn't, they would be left behind.


In contrast to the pervasive and shadowy mysteries surrounding the city, the one that preoccupied the girl's mind at this moment was quite the simple one.

What does 'forward' mean to them?

The duty of Servant Ruler was to ensure that the Holy Grail War was carried out properly, and to protect its foundation. For this reason, the meeting among all participants of the war had been called.

No, that wasn't quite right, was it? There was something else mingled in there, some sort of mental justification that stemmed from Ruler instead of from his class container. Ah, how annoying, how incomprehensibly annoying that things had reached this point. How annoying that the first obstacle he had faced as Ruler had forced him to do this.

If he wanted to reach his goals, dealing with this threat to the Grail War was a necessity. And yet, the only recourse he had was to forcibly gather a swarm of nuclear bombs together in the hopes that one of them would have some method of solving the issue.

...no, that wasn't his only recourse. While he was undoubtedly a third-rate Heroic Spirit, especially in this Eastern land, he had one tool available to him that could potentially threaten the blight on this war. If he deployed his Noble Phantasm, then maybe he could resolve this without calling for something as absurd as this gathering, but what he would lose in activating that crystallized legend was so significant that he could only hesitate in its face.

In that sense, the gathering was necessary. Whether it was to create a plan for dealing with this threat, or to lure it out of hiding when it saw that all of its targets had been brought together, something like this had to occur. That was the only way this could each a terminus acceptable to Ruler.

Across a small area of the Eastern Field, preparations that looked more akin to ones for a party than ones for a meeting had been spread out, weak lights splaying over the night-bathed expanse. Tables lined the area, with an assortment of snacks and drinks laid out. A few bottles of wine rested on one of the tables, with two cases of beer below that same table. As for Ruler himself, the currently-introspective Servant was in his standard attire, sunglasses still on despite the sun having dipped below the horizon, in front of a grill. Currently, he was making burgers.

"Ruler. It's been some time."

Greeting the war's overseer in this fashion, a Servant of the bow showed himself. While his name and affiliation would be unknown to those competitors who were in the dark on such matters, they were clear as day to Ruler himself. The Archer of Fuyuki's oldest king, a terrifying Servant who had earned the title of hero. Facing such an existence, Ruler nodded slightly, not turning around to face the Archer as he flipped a burger. "You're alone. Is that freak not coming?"

"I decided to represent my Master as well as hers. I decided that would be for the best. I trust you don't have any issue with that."

While it was technically a violation of his order, Ruler couldn't help but be glad that the Archer had chosen to do that. After all, that freak, Dulle Griet...abilities aside, it could be said that as a person, she had the worst possible compatibility with Ruler. Not to mention that, were she present, Ruler would be worried about the prospect of her going berserk and attempting to kill everyone present.

"Your message was vague, though. What's so important that it needs a gathering of all the Servants?"

"...I'll explain when others have arrived."

A young man silently watched from behind a window as the sun slowly set - painting the horizon in breathtaking shades of red, orange, and a little bit of violet. He’s tall, but not too tall, and lean, while he was sharply dressed in a dark grey suit and maroon dress shoes. His short, wavy hair was an odd shade of blue, while he wore a stylish pair of glasses on his person - the lenses turning into two bright rectangles as they reflected what little light the sun could spare before the warmth-giving star would leave this part of the Earth for the next few hours. To put it in layman’s terms, it was almost nighttime, which here meant that one Xavier Arkwright needed to hurry up!

Not too long ago, a messenger from the Holy Church had knocked on Xavier’s very doorstep - or, to be more precise, the doorstep of his current residence that he had booked before even arriving in Fuyuki City - as they informed our blue-haired magus that an entity known as ‘Ruler’ had called for a meeting between all participants of the Holy Grail War on neutral ground. Xavier had informed the Mage’s Association of his participation in the Holy Grail War beforehand, so it didn’t really surprise him that the Holy Church were also aware of his presence in Fuyuki City. After all, usually when the name of a well-known magi family like the Arkwright’s came up, news tended to travel twice as fast. Problem was… Xavier hadn’t even summoned a Servant yet! He had made all the necessary preparations, but between setting up a Bounded Field and various traps around his home, preparing the summoning ritual, getting hold of a catalyst to summon a Servant with, all the while studying what little material he could find on past Grail Wars, he had not anticipated that he would have to actually summon a Servant this soon. However, the invitation from this ‘Ruler’ person meant that Xavier now pretty much had to do so.

Brushing past the fine furniture of his lavish, pre-furnished home, the Arkwright heir climbed down the wooden staircase leading to the main hall, then proceeded to take a second pair of stairs down to the basement, where the summoning circle was located; The lighting in said basement was kind of dim (as tends to be the case with most basements), yet there was hardly a speck of dirt to be seen anywhere around. Though he didn’t like bragging about it, Xavier was actually surprisingly good at housekeeping duties for a male! In fact, one of the first things he had done once arriving in this house was meticulously cleaning up the basement. In retrospect, maybe spending so much effort on trivial tasks was precisely why he had taken so long to summon a Servant.

The blue-haired magus glanced at a peculiar shard of rock that rested atop a shelf nearby. He raised his arm and pointed his open palm towards it, as he focused his magical energy on it. Within a second, the shard of rock was now suddenly in his very hand. Xavier examined the piece of rock closely, feeling up with his fingers the text that was engraved on it; It was faint, having grown muddier with the ages, and appeared to be written in some kind of dead Hebrew dialect. Luckily, Xavier had already made sure to find out exactly what the translation was…

“Thou shall not kill…”

The irony of such a phrase in the context of the Holy Grail War was not lost on the young Arkwright soon-to-be Master. Though he had never killed anybody in his life, nor did he feel particularly eager to, Xavier knew that the very nature of this time-old competition would probably force its participants to commit acts that went against their usual code of morality. The glasses-wearing youth touched the edge of the rock shard, which was actually quite sharp where the mineral had been broken. With a swift motion, Xavier used the sharp edge of the rock to cut his own palm, wincing and grunting slightly in pain as he did. He let his own blood drip on the summoning circle that was under his feet, then placed the shard of rock in the center of said circle. He took a few steps back and held his now open hand over the runic circle, bleeding palm facing downwards, revealing an elaborate red mark etched on the skin on the back of the young adult’s hand - his Command Seals.

And thus, Xavier Arkwright began the mystical chant that so many magi had used in the past…

“Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill...”

… so many people putting everything on the line for one, single, solitary wish. A chance to right wrongs, a chance to make things right… or in other cases, to sate their own greedy desires, or even to bring destruction. Regardless of their motivations for joining this ‘game’, they were all people who aspired to do the impossible. And, as Xavier was finishing reciting the summoning chant, a realization hit him that he was now officially one of them…

“... come forth, Protector of the Balance!”

There was no turning back now…

@ConstantlyComic

Sundown, Eastern Fields. The message had been clear and brokered no room for argument, and considering the nature of the sender, he could not very well refuse. It put him on edge, in a way – at least on a certain level, to be surrounded by so many potential enemies, and his eyes narrowed at the thought of how his last confrontation had gone down.

In that regard, he knew it was not really a pressing concern – after all, to attempt something at that time would be almost guaranteed to be suicidal, but he was cautious nonetheless. It was a matter of how he was as an individual, and simply could not be helped. At the very least, it’d allow them to actually scout the competition, even if it would be the same for them.
And so, at the appointed time, in the appointed place, he approached the gathering with certainty in his step. He made no attempt to hide his presence – at least in so far as this temporary ceasefire would be concerned, it would serve no purpose. He materialized with little fanfare, lacking any sort of modern fashion choice that he could have used to blend in at any one point. Balmung was slung across his back, resting in its sheath, and he hoped he would not have to retrieve it in the following hours, but. . .

Well. Better be prepared anyway.

It shone softly, that greenish sigil etched across his entire chest, reaching his cheek and making his appearance all the more striking. Certainly, to someone looking at him right now, he could very well seem a knight straight out of a fairy tale. Looking at the other attendants, he tried to force the tension to ebb away and act polite – after all, common courtesy should be observed, correct?
“Good evening.” His voice was firm, but soft – nothing like a boastful bellow, or a haughty declaration. Merely a simple greeting, before he fell silent once more. Perhaps he was just not much of a people person, perhaps he saw no point in saying further at the moment. Or maybe both. Not much one could tell when he sported that grim, stony-faced façade that seemed to fit him like a well-worn cloak.

It probably was like one. After all, a tragic hero can’t ever really escape being one, can he?

But, well. . .no time to dwell on that. His piece said, he awaited to be addressed or for his Master to give a command. Subservience was not a habit he had managed to break within his lifetime, and he seemed to be unlikely to break it now of all times.

A shame, really. Perhaps he would be better off if he was just a more outgoing man. But, well – words were never really his forte, anyway.

@ConstantlyComic @Anyone Who Cares

---

To say he was expecting to be called would be a lie. And for an instant, it had worried him – like so many things tended to, these days. But it seemed he was not in trouble – and, in fact, this appeared to be a wonderful time to scope out potential adversaries. Plus, he would be able to confer about the presence Lancer had felt, though the thought was pushed to the back of his mind for the moment.

He had considered whether it was wise of him to go, obviously, but he could not help but feel it was the right choice to attend in person instead of looking through Lancer’s eyes. He surely felt it would, at least, serve to build up his relationship with his Servant – and he could not very well stay cooped up in that house for the duration of the war, anyway. He would have to leave, eventually, for one reason or another – might as well take the chance and see the city by himself while the opportunity of risking little by doing so presents itself so graciously.

The arrival could have been better timed, perhaps early to try and get a gauge of the overseer of the war himself, but alas, that was not to be, and it seemed quite a little party had formed by the time he stepped foot into the clearing.

Quaint, so very quaint. They had provided snacks, even! Very nice of them, though his first thought had been checking them for poison before deciding that he could lower his guard a bit – attempted assassination would not be a smart thing to attempt here and now, of all times, would it? So, with what he hoped was a relaxed smile, he approached the group. Lancer would keep watch for both of them. . .or so he hoped, anyway. It’d be quite embarrassing to die because he was too trusting, of all things.

“Hello, sorry if we are running late.” He offered an awkward chuckle, or what passed off as one, anyway. At least breaking the ice could be the first step.

That, however, did not really stop him from still being somewhat on edge. So many things could go wrong, so many potential problems that could arise. . .

Calm down, get your act together, and try to scout some of the competition while you are here anyway.

@Ijoyen @Anyone Who Cares

The message had been a relief, in all honesty. It had come in the middle of the reconnaissance that had been so rudely interrupted the night before, yes, but it neatly helped settle many of her concerns. For one, it confirmed that there was something rotten in the city of Fuyuki, so to speak. Something was… incorrect about this Grail War, something that required a temporary truce, it seemed. In Marguerite’s mind, it meant that she was right about her concern about the thing they had first encountered. It was an aberration, but then what else could it be? Surely no one would summon someone that could create something like that.

Also, the truce gave her and Saber a chance to make up for the risky maneuver that had resulted from the encounter. Marguerite was not a gambling woman, but if she was, she would be willing to bet that at least one, likely more of the other Masters had been watching that battle and seen Saber let off his Noble Phantasm. And if they had, they would almost certainly know his identity. This lull in the inter-Servant fighing to focus on a common foe would give them an opportunity to show that he was formidable, that they were formidable, known weakness or no. It would also make it easier to perhaps negotiate alliances with other Master-Servant teams.
And there would be snacks. So all in all, she was quite optimistic about the whole thing. Not that she looked it, of course. Standing there grinning like a loon would detract from the image she was trying to project. Instead, she stood beside her Servant, her suit as close to immaculate it could possibly be after the trip here, her posture perfect, her arms behind her back as she surveyed the others there. This first moment was about dignity, about a presentation of power. The friendly approach could wait until after the introductions.

“Hello, everybody,” she spoke after Saber, acknowledging the others with a nod. She intended to do most of the talking between the two of them here. Saber was… not the most social of Servants, and it was here, in social situations, where she excelled.

@Breo, @everybody

---

The man who stepped forth from the summoning circle did not seem like much, at least not at first. He seemed young, only barely older than Xavier himself. Pale, almost white hair framed a round, unassuming face with a slight smile that could mean any number of things, good or bad. On his feet were sandals that had clearly seen the wear of the road, and hanging from his back was a wooden staff. This was a man who had made the King of Kings bend to his will, but for all the world he appeared nothing more than a simple shepherd. Only two things hinted at his ability: a golden band around his neck—a gift from an old friend—and the way he stood. For he did not present himself as a mere shepherd—he was not sure he even knew how to stand without power anymore.

Moses stayed where he was for the moment, studying his new surroundings. The lighting in the room was dim, but he could still make out that it was very well-kept. That meant that someone here had an eye for detail, as well as enough forethought to make sure the room was clean before they summoned him. That was a good sign. He would not want to be bound to a careless Master, although he would rather one careless than cruel or ruthless. Moses knew why he was here, he knew what he could do, and the very thought of how things might turn out sickened him. As for the person himself…

He was younger than Moses expected. When he had felt himself being summoned, he had expected his summoner to be older, perhaps even wizened, or a priest like those magicians Ramesses had kept around. But this man looked young, although he did have the unmistakable air of someone that had been raised for power. He did not look to be the type to force plague on his enemies, but then, not many did. Only time would tell.

“Peace be with you,” Servant Caster spoke softly, but his words easily filled the basement, “I ask of you, are you my Master?”

@Kost Alter

---

Rostam, his Master close in tow, approached the Eastern field where the meeting was to take place and quickly made himself at home. He had been happy to attend, an almost complete reversal of the frustration he would have experienced before the fulfillment of his wish. Now, with no desperate driving goal, he felt himself glad for the chance to test the hospitality of this so called Church, and their appointed men. He only wished that he had brought along finer clothes for the occasion. As it was, he had debated deeply with himself over whether or not to ride into the meeting. It was after all, the closest he could come to an affectation at this point.

He had decided against it in the end however, a Rider's most prized weapon would not be suitable to a strict peace talk.

So it was that, horseless and shed of armor, Rostam took his place on the meeting field dressed in simple but elegant clothing over which he wore his tiger striped dragon skin. This was the one thing he never took off.

Stalking slowly into the meeting clearing he paused, scanning the place and the long tables filled with food. Ruler himself seemed to be cooking something, much to his surprise, though he had broken off in favor of speaking with a newcomer, a man who was clearly a Servant as well.

Unclear as he was on precise rules of edicate here, Rostam abstained from the food for the time being instead inspecting some of the few people who had shown up.

His eyes came to rest on a grey haired man with a gloomy air. By the standards of the others around him he was a tall and well balanced hero, and Rostam could guess from a simple glance that he was a mighty champion. The size of the weapon slung across his back alone was impressive, and he found himself giving the Servant ornate armor an approving look. It was heavy and ornate, at once suggesting both wealth and strength to be able to carry and maintain it.

Slowly, as to not cause alarm, he made his way over the man, stopping only to see that his Master was still alright before approaching within a few paces of him, to look down on his strangely white hair.

"You seem to be a warrior of no small means, or nerve, to come to a peaceful meeting so bedecked. For myself, no clothes of this era fit me at all, but I still have put away my armor. I am Rostam, put away your sword and eat with me. It is improper for two great heroes to feast alone, especially in a foreign land.

---

@Moonlit Sonata @Holy Grail @Breo

---

Lancer had decided that even if it was a required meeting in her case that it wouldn't excuse any carelessness. Thus she had been sure to leave her armor off. While she was obviously eastern from what was left, atleast her armor style and symbol was now hidden. Even she realized the six coins she felt pride in would reveal her almost instantly.

Much like her Master though she hadn't expected this. It was somewhat welcome in her mind, seeing as it gave her a chance to size up other Servants and try to figure out who they were. Though the ones she was viewing as she arrived and took form behind David weren't as obvious as she had been hoping. It wasn't likely to get a hero who's identity was that easy to guess but she had held out a little hope.

It was obvious she was on high alert still though, as she stared at each of them warily, not stepping far from her Master as to protect him the moment something occurred. The fact he had seemed to relax told her that he was her duty to stay on guard. That being said she would also like to socialize a bit and it would be best to make what conversation she could.

"... Greetings! It is a pleasure to meet all of you!" Speaking somewhat loudly in a voice sounding more like she was doing a war shout, not having thought about it, Lancer gave her greeting of arrival and her intention to become somewhat acquainted with the rest of the people there. By this point she had taken her Physical form since it'd be required or so she was thinking.

Her attention was a bit pulled towards the food and guests abbot rather than her Master, but she quickly corrected that, trying to keep an eye on him and the potential enemy that was already here and may arrive.

The appearance of a girl of her size probably wouldn't give the other Servants and Masters the idea of a brave hero but there was little doubt that most of them knew appearances were truly deceiving.

@Breo [@All Attending]

---

And so the meeting began. As Airi had opted to come along, teasing him for his uncertainty if she would, he decided to give her a slight reprimand. It was something that he'd been thinking about, albeit a much-distant priority compared to other matters. "Please try to curb that potty mouth to some degree, Lass?" And he'd lapsed right back into calling her that! @SIGINT

Still, the Emperor was amused at being the most shabbily-dressed among them. The grey-haired knight with a glowing, unrecognized symbol on his chest had, in particular, taken no concealing measures. The strong build, heavy armor, and sword across his back left little doubts regarding his class. Likewise, the middle-eastern man with a tiger-striped hide draped over elegant robes addressing the knight was certainly not hiding his noble airs, particularly with his- wait what? Rostam? Did that Servant just casually drop his true name in front of everyone here!? And HE was supposed to be the crazy one? @Breo @Beloss

Speaking of others, it seemed as though not everyone had arrived yet, as the pair he'd seen in the Church before, under the cunning disguise of Boxzerker, were in absentia.

With that example set, the Emperor chose to approach Ruler and the other Servant addressing him, waving his hand to beckon Airi to follow along while brushing off her likely protests to him chiding her profanities. Every step of the way, those ridiculous foam slippers made faint squeak noises. These "Crocs" had nothing to do with mighty crocodiles, to his disappointment, but were excellently comfortable footwear.

Ruler's burgers smelled delicious, and the Emperor couldn't resist a taste of his home country's cuisine! He'd need Airi evaluate the parameters of everyone present, but disregarding his personal tastes, being in closer proximity to the mediator of this occasion was sensible. As light-hearted as the gathering seemed so far, it was anything but. Even when greetings were exchanged, the matter remained that they were all enemies. Listening in on what the others said, he took particular note of Ruler speaking to the Servant behind him. One servant, it seemed, would not be in attendance, despite the order. Ruler acknowledged this, referring to the non-attendee as a freak, while the other confirmed she was female. Thus far, additionally, there was no sight of the 'Berserker of the Einzbern', who certainly did fit the definition of a freak given the abysmal glimpse of her abilities he'd spied on. Plus, as a Berserker who wasn't him, having her around the meeting would threaten it with violent collapse at any moment. Unless she arrived, the Emperor would assume her as the one being referred to. What to take from this? The Einzbern had an ally with a servant of their own, one who knew Ruler beforehand. As he did not know of the war's invitation letter jointly sent by the Matou and Einzbern, he was unable to piece this together. Still, he knew that this servant in proximity to Ruler was allied with the Einzbern's Berserker. Even before this meeting had been called, no less, about the war's interference. Given how the war had only just begun, that meant there was an established partnership from the start. Which made him recall something Ruler had also let slip. The Einzbern faction had some sort of head start. @Moonlit Sonata

The Emperor mentally tallied up what he'd learned here already, glancing about with his eyes hidden by the brim of his cap. Quite a bit! Given his eccentric attire and educated manner, the Emperor was hoping to be mistaken as a Caster. Several of the others, it seemed, were much less concerned with discretion or misdirection. Honestly, he was almost content to let everyone else continue dropping clues to piece together.

If not for Stirner. The lad was still unaccounted for and in presumed grave danger. Furthermore, the threat to the war's conduct had stolen him away, which was, allegedly, only part of the reason for this meeting. Thus, the Emperor spoke up for any of the assembly to hear, roughly the same volume as the female Servant of the east's greeting.

"Pardon me. Something is preying on this Grail War that is not part of it. Lest we be picked off like stray sheep, action is needed. I witnessed this black-haired demon's speed firsthand. Faster than even my senses, he had invaded, attacked, and left. That glimpse was enough, however, for me to know he was no Servant. Alarming, given that no human could move like that."

“Peace be with you,” Servant Caster spoke softly, but his words easily filled the basement, “I ask of you, are you my Master?”

"Yes, that would be me." The young, blue-haired Master replied with an affirmative nod. "I'm Xavier Arkwright, born to the Arkwright family of mages. It's an honor to meet you, Leader of the Exodus." The well-dressed magus introduced himself, before giving a slight, respectful bow towards the pale-haired Servant in front of him. He was pretty confident that he had not messed up his Servant's true identity, especially after all the trouble he had gone through to acquire the right catalyst. Admitedly, he kind of expected to see a wisened old man, as was the most common portrayal of the figure in question. Now that Xavier had given it some more thought, however, it made sense that the Holy Grail would manifest Heroic Spirits in their younger, most potent form, which would be more suitable for battle, rather than as older men. "Of course, I can easily refer to you by your Class name, if you would prefer..." Xavier explained, hoping to not have accidentally offended the pale-haired man that stood before him. The Arkwright Master proceeded to check the Servant's Parameters with his Clairvoyance - out of curiosity, if nothing else. His Strength and Endurance where ranked quite low, which probably was a sign that he did not belong to the four Knight Classes. By far his highest stat appeared to be Mana, which provided Xavier with a decent guess of what his Servant's Class could be. "Caster, I presume? Of course, feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong..." Xavier said, hoping to not have just embarassed himself by guessing wrongly. While it was still possible that he could be an Assassin or even a Berserker, he was better known for having performed many miracles and thaumaturgical feats in life. Him being a Caster was really the most sensible guess, from Xavier's point of view. But, if he was wrong, he was confident that his Servant would let him know...

"Now, I understand that you probably have a lot of questions you want to ask me right now, and the same is true for me. Unfortunately, time is not a commodity either of us can afford right now. You see, before summoning you, I had gotten an invitation to an emergency meeting hosted by a person called 'Ruler'. The exact purpose of the meeting was not disclosed, but the host was quite clear that the presence of all participants of the Holy Grail War - and especially Servants - is required, and that failure to do so will result in them being branded as rogue entities at best, or eliminated at worst." Xavier proceeded to explain to his Servant, skipping the rest of the formalitites and just giving him the raw facts. "Therefore, I think that our foremost priority as of now must be to get to the rendezvous point as soon as possible. Even though my attendance to the meeting is not strictly speaking mandatory, I believe it is for the best that we go together. Firstly, it would be very inconvenient if somebody tried to assault either of us while we're separated. Secondly, given how well-known the Arkwright family is amongst magi, I fully expect my identity to be compromised sooner or later, meaning that showing myself amongst other Masters will not be as harmful in the long run."

Having finished his kind of lengthy bout of exposition, Xavier took a deep breath, waiting for his Servant to take in all that information and provide his own thoughts on the matter...

@ConstantlyComic

Not everyone was present, he was sure of that, but it would be undoubtedly premature to brand those who were late as having decided to defy the invitation, especially given that Ruler could perceive a handful of Servants heading in the direction of the gathering. No, he'd continue waiting for a fair bit longer before he made any declaration of traitors to the cause of the Holy Grail War; haste made waste in a situation like this, just like that old woman at the grocery store two days ago had said.

The words of the once-Boxzerker were enough to make Ruler's expression harden as he moved some finished burgers off of the grill. "It is as he said, there is a blight on this war, which is why you have all been gathered here. A being that takes the form of a black-haired man, neither Servant nor monster, has interfered in this war. He has kidnapped a Master for unknown purposes, and struck down a Lancer-class Servant. If this entity is something acting on the part of any of you, then inform me immediately and this will all be forgotten, but my instincts inform me that this being is something that threatens the Grail War itself."

"...black-haired man?" The Archer who had been speaking to Ruler moments earlier repeated back, before shrugging slightly. "He's unrelated to my Master and I, at the very least."

Slight annoyance played across Ruler's expression after having been interrupted, but he took it in stride as he continued. "Put simply, a temporary armistice has been called until we devise a means of dealing with this threat. Those who have information on his abilities should come forward now. Moreover, those who participate in felling the interferer will be rewarded accordingly, especially if they take actions that harm their competitive standing. Should you have any questions, ask them now."

After being sent off by his Master, only one path was clear to Archer; he decided to make his appearance back to the Church. The discussion earlier had been increasingly more interesting the more other servants have arrived... and besides, whatever fight Boxzerker had been sent to, it most likely was but a short one, judging Ruler's quick action to use a Command Spell just to even the odds.

And so, the man in the gray hoodie had entered the Church, once again, hands in his pockets. He had his hood down, and took a seat on one of the church pews.

"Servant Archer, here once again, if you don't mind. I won't be causing any trouble..." Archer waved, with a small grin. And true to his word, he was, as his intentions were not to find out information about his potential opponents, no... his plans were actually to scope out any prospective Servants and Masters who he could make as allies. He was already making himself partially vulnerable, revealing and confirming that he's a Servant to those who are present, as well as his class, so any beliefs the others have of hidden intentions he may be keeping will be put at ease, at least hopefully. Archer hopes to at least make one ally tonight.

If only his Master shared the same mindset as him... he seems disinterested in the other participants of the war, being a bit vocal at times at how much he dislikes other Magi. Ah, well, they'll talk about it later. It'd be a waste is he were unable to put his high Charisma skill to use. His skills, in the end, won't be enough for him to survive in extensive direct combat by himself, even if he can't bring himself to admit it.

Archer stayed mostly silent, making his quips. Archer did make a right call coming right to the Church instead of making his way to watch those two Berserkers fight... the poor Master had already made his way here.

The big looking servant had already introduced himself as Rostam, apparently. He's heard well enough of him, the information the Grail has given to him notwithstanding. Persia and Greece weren't in the best of graces with eachother during those times. Still, a great and powerful warrior such as him would make as a good ally to have fighting in the front while he provides support from the backline. From what Archer knows, however, Rostam was said to be an honorable man. If he were to find Archer's actual identity, that may put a strain on their relationship, should he agree on an alliance in the first place. He'll have to give this one a big 'maybe.'

Then came the topic of this Black-Haired Man. Two of the Masters, and even a Servant, had mentioned they lost their partners to this being... one who wasn't even a Servant in the first place, yet had the power to eliminate one in a singular blow, at least, according to what he has heard. Ruler pointed out a substantial reward to those who will get rid of this interference. Another bargaining point to make when prospecting for allies. Archer had planned to vocalize his confidence in eliminating this Black-Haired Man, but not before Ruler made his ultimatum; to have a meeting at sundown, with all the Servants and Masters, in order to discuss this issue further.

"There will be no need to send a priest to my Master's position... I will simply tell him, myself," Archer spoke up, standing up and making his way to the door.

"It was nice meeting all of you this fine evening. I will see you all at the Eastern Field tomorrow." Archer said as he reached the door, giving a nice smile and wave to everyone else before leaving the Church, making his rounds around Shinto in order to evade any followers before finally heading back to the Scuttle.

"There seems to be a topic of interest amongst a few of our fellow participants in this War, Master. A Black-Haired Man, not a Servant in his own right, bur able to eliminate Servants single-handedly. To deal with this issue, Ruler had proposed having a meeting with the rest of the participants. It will be held in the Eastern Field, at sundown, and Ruler made it clear enough that he wished both Master and Servant are to be there. So I hope you didn't have plans tomorrow..."

"...And please, for both our sakes, try to make friends while we're there."

@Beloss@Moonlit Sonata@Holy Grail@SIGINT@Yukitamas@DrowsyPangolin

Ernest approached the gathering at the Eastern Field alongside Chi-You on foot. The magus had instructed his Thralls to link up and return to limousine to the house near the cemetery a few blocks away. He had no real desire to make the vehicle a target for any of the others, and bringing the Thralls along seemed in bad taste. As the pair of them approached, Ernest was a bit surprised by the pleasant nature of the meeting. It seemed Ruler had taken care to make things as comfortable as possible, and the refreshments would probably help to ease tensions. After all, they were all on the same side, temporary as it might be.

Others had already arrived by the time the duo reached the field. Some were familiar, most notably the enormous Rostam and his Master. There was also the noisy girl who had been at the Church, and what appeared to be her Servant. Many were making introductions, or at least making some attempt to socialize. Ernest looked a bit out of place, dressed in the same neat, black suit as always, cane in hand. Following the introductions of a few of the others, the necromancer gave a slight bow. “Greetings. My name is Ernest LaCreux.” Hiding his name was impolite, but also practically pointless. It was only a matter of time before someone pieced together his relationship to the undead puppet that had been at the Church earlier. He looked toward Saber, making no attempt to introduce her. He imagined she would prefer to handle that herself.

Ernest's gaze swung toward the noisy girl's rather odd-looking Servant as he described the dangers of the Black-Haired Man. The magus knew nothing about the eccentric fellow, but whatever Heroic Spirit he was, it seemed that he had been easily outmaneuvered by the mysterious interloper. It seemed the encounter with Lancer hadn't been a fluke. As Ruler replied, the magus nodded with a grim expression before speaking up. “Yes, this 'Black-Haired Man' killed my Servant in the forest on the edge of town last night.” There was no point in hiding information. “In a span of seconds, he killed Lancer. There was no fight. Whoever... or whatever that thing is, he was able to take down a Servant without any trouble, and with his bare hands no less.” One of the other Servants expressed a lack of knowledge regarding the individual, and denied any connection to him. That was to be expected. Even if one of the participants was trying to sabotage the War, it wasn't like they would make that fact public.

Ernest took a place next to Airi and her Servant. Of those present, they, and Ruler of course, were the only ones present that he could be certain had absolutely no hidden connection to the Black-Haired Man. “If we are to deal with this problem, I believe we must first find out where this 'Black-Haired Man' resides. As the two encounters that have been had with him already illustrate, the element of surprise gives him a powerful advantage. Perhaps, if cornered, he could be more reasonably dealt with.” Ernest looked around at the others. It was the most basic of ideas, but it had another purpose. “I don't know that we have any means to track him, and luring him out seems both dangerous and uncertain, as we can't be sure what exactly it is that he's after. So, perhaps the first step should be determining where he is not.” He straightened his posture. “I would imagine a magus would know if he were hiding in their territory. For obvious reasons, I wouldn't ask anyone to disclose their bases of operations, but you must know of them, right Ruler?” He turned toward the overseer. “If we can determine that this man is not working with anyone present, then wherever he is hiding must be outside of any of the Masters' established territories.” It wasn't much, but perhaps it was a decent starting point.

@Moonlit Sonata
@Berserk Gene
@DrowsyPangolin
[@All]

---

"Oh, hpey, are you phe ohn who waph comph—" Airi attempted to start a conversation with Ernest, but her mouth was full of burger (slightly less burger now, having sprayed a bit here and there). She finally managed to finish it off after a few seconds, turning back to her Servant. "Oh fuck off, dude, I haven't eaten since I got here."

...Does she know what the term 'potty mouth' means?

"Anyway..." Now not burdened with a mouthful of dead cow, the girl turned back to the necromancer with slightly less of a scowl now that she had finished her fourth burger and wasn't fucking starving. "Are you the one who was talking through that creepy-ass zombie earlier?" Their appearances were different, but their manner of speech were recognizably similar. "Hey, if you're the one who's Servant got offed, we're kinda in the same boat, dude. Not to, like, shit on what happened to you or anything, but I'm kinda glad it's not just us." Thumbing back to the croc-bearing man whose sense of fashion could only be described as Chaotic Mad. "I'm Izumi Airi. Mind if I just call you Ernest?" So many foreigners mixed up in this. At this point, it seemed like a reasonable assumption that anyone with katakana in their name could cast magic.

"Anyway. Yeah. Oh, hey, you're— oh wait, no, different guy. Damn, is every Archer in this war a white-haired prettyboy? Is that a Class Skill?" Casually referring to the mysterious servant of the bow as she grabbed hold of a fifth burger. They had a decently-sized chat group together, five people, not bad. "Anyway. Yeah. It's kind of a big deal. I mean, I said it before, but, the Church isn't even a safe place with that guy running around. Ruler, serious question, what would you even do if you were trying to shelter a former Master, and whats-his-face just plowed through the wall like the fucking Kool-Aid Man? Can you even actually do your job right now?"

Maybe she was giving him too hard of a time, given that he'd clearly put forth his best efforts to deal with the situation with the barbecue and all, but Airi wasn't the type to pull punches, verbally. The Archer Servant hadn't been there at the Church, so it merited repeating in any case. "People can't even drop out of the war safely. So we gotta group up and do something if we wanna have an actual Grail War without it turning into a massive fucking mudslide."

After downing a fifth burger in record time, the unpleasantly loud girl began reaching for a sixth with no hesitation. "Props for the free food, by the way." She mentioned to Ruler, turning back to Ernest. "And I think we do have a way to track down where he's been operating from recently...or narrow it down further, at least..." Her speech slowed down somewhat, as she came out of her usual ramble and into a more serious dialogue.

"Stirner Cartisius. This guy and me were planning on going after him anyway, but it'll be better with a group." Airi didn't go for a seventh burger — not yet, at least — arriving at the figurative meat of what she wanted to say. "We can't track down the Black-Haired Man, since he basically doesn't show up on radar. But we do know that he kidnapped a mage, who is also a Master in the war." She recounted, "'Tracking down other Masters' is a thing that most people here can do. Even if we don't find the culprit, finding where he took Stirner will probably give us some intel on him, since it'll be an area that he's been to before, at the least. And if we get really lucky, he'll be cornered up there and we can just collapse on the guy like you mentioned."

'Safety in numbers' was rule number one in her world. To the others, the prospect of partnering up with other Master/Servant pairs, or even revealing abilities to them, must have been a hard pill to swallow. But for Airi, that reticence was something that she simply didn't understand. She was glad that Ernest seemed to be on-board with the Anti-Interference Coalition — having his own Servant killed by the guy probably helped with that. Airi hadn't been sure how well she'd be able to get along with mages in general, based on Yuko's description of them, but this guy and her were already pretty much on the same page, from her perspective, despite their wildly differing backgrounds and demeanors. If nothing else, that was something that Airi could be happy about.

"He was on the northwest end when he got sideswiped. So based on that n'the other stuff, maybe Ruler can do like you said and point us somewhere, without giving away people's info? Otherwise we'll have to go to the hotel they were at and do like forensics n'shit. Hopefully someone else has a third piece of info that can narrow it down more...as fast as that guy is, he can probably cross over the city without too much time, so the locations of his previous appearances might not even mean much."

Having given her piece, Airi finally began on burger number seven, turning back to her Servant. "Hey, though...you said 'black-haired demon', earlier...do you really think that's what he is? Like, 'Demon' with a capital D?"

Hisoka had walked out of a taxi, sliding a stick of bubblegum into his mouth. He had made sure his taxi driver had dropped him a couple hundred yards away from the meeting spot, and waited at least a minute before he started making his way. His tongue clicked as he looked at his smartphone. He was a bit late, but not too late. Fashionably late, as he was always known to being by those he has worked with, or for.

"Assassin. We will have to have you out of your spirit form from here on, in your suit." Hisoka had told his Servant, who was by his side. They were already late, and Hisoka didn't want more reaons for the Overseer and the rest to harbor any suspicion towards them, especially with his Servant being of the Assassin class.

"Very well." Replied Assassin, as he began to manifest, wearing a navy blue three-piece suit. He straightened his tie after fully manifesting. It took them the whole day to find the specific suit Assassin requested for, having had to go to Shinto to find the right shop. Hisoka had no problem with it, however, as it meant they were both able to have a better feel of the city.

It took about five minutes for them to reach the meeting spot. Hisoka was wearing his normal attire- a red-trimmed black jacket, black slacks, sneakers, and a tie. His outfit basically looks like a school uniform, and along with his deceptively young facial features, it wouldn't be far off to mistaken Hisoka for a high school third year. His pistols were also still concealed within his jacket, as he didn't have time to head back home and change out. Assassin wore the aformentioned three-piece suit. Both their pants had a few pieces of grass stuck around their lower leg areas, and Assassin can't help but feel only a tad upset that his newly purchased suit had been dirtied on the first day. He put it off as a casual of war.

"Hisoka Matsunaga. Sorry we're late." Hisoka waved, blowing a bubble from the gum he was chewing. He gave all the other participants a quick look-over, not bothering too much to make any real observations over them yet; there was one need he needed to fill that he hadn't yet... he walked to wear the burgers were at, taking one for himself.

"And I am a Servant of the Assassin class." Assassin nodded, as well.

"Matsunaga and I had spent the whole day running errands, and I'm afraid my Master had skipped breakfast because of it." Assassin added. "Our apologies for not showing up sooner."

"So..." Hisoka had said, spitting his gum onto the ground before takig a bite, taking his time to chew his meal before swallowing. "What's this all about?"

@Moonlit Sonata@SIGINT@DrowsyPangolin@Berserk Gene@Ijoyen@Beloss@Breo@ConstantlyComic

As the conversation between ruler and the others continued, and more of the masters and servants arrived on the scene, Lorelei's eyes scanned the crowd with what seemed like a polite curiosity...though in truth was more of trying to scan every servant she could with her master's Clairvoyance. Some were familiar, mainly being the white-haired servant she had scanned before, whose basic parameters and build seemed fitting for an Archer if she had to place a guess on the matter. Though she could not know for sure on that matter, at least getting a read on everyone there would help for the future, both for their cooperation right now and once all of this was...well, inevitably over.

Letting out a light sigh at her train of thought, the homunculus moved forwards closer to the group, trying to follow suit with her servant's own attempts to approach another individual to conversate with until things formally began. However, as she listened to the talk from new arrivals and others who spouted out info on the situation, her eyes drifted in particular towards another white-haired servant, one who she had noticed speaking with Ruler earlier. She had already felt a sneaking suspicion about the man, though his parameters were admittedly low in virtually all areas but Agility. That could be telling of his class, especially with the given similarities to the other servant's parameters she had seen before, the same servant she suspected of being an Archer without further basis for such a thought at this point in time. She knew that her servant had been pierced earlier...by a ranged attack of all things. A very powerful ranged attack able to pierce his body and armor with a frightening ease. Could this...hmmm....if she were guessing correctly from a certain point of view, could this servant be the one who had nearly cost her a servant and the war the previous day?

Whilst her own servant was attempting to conversation with the other man from before, Lorelei moved closer to Ruler, as if to get a better place to listen and hear from in the meantime. However, at the same time she had placed herself close to the new white-haired man, who seemed to be dressed in Japanese-like garb that did not seem to be from the modern age to her foreign eyes. And as a new arrival seemed to interrupt Ruler's words and two of the other masters continued to jabber on, Lorelei took in the main information she needed about this mysterious "black haired man" who was interrupting the war...and also turned her head to speak to that certain white haired servant she had so placed herself near.

"Hello there," she said to the man, giving a light bow of her head as she used a polite and composed tone to try to engage him with words, putting on a curious but innocent air of wanting to speak for friendly conversation, "I assume you are here to participate in the hunt for the interloper in this war as well? What sort of skills do you bring to the table for this endeavor and to help the group, if i may ask?"

It was not outright asking for the man's name, but her curiosity would not be deterred until she could identify the Archer who had shot her servant. Right now she had two, admittedly outrageous, suspicions in the form of the servant from the Church and this servant she was speaking to, but she had to start somewhere with her thinking and assumptions. Were she to go on not making any guesses or outrageous suspicions (to a certain extent without getting too crazy), then she was asking to not know anything or being able to narrow down possible targets for herself and her servant. At least, she was trying to do her best at that considering her mission here and all.

Truly, perhaps she was just mentally scrambling to get somewhere in this war. Her servant had no wish right now for all she knew, and had no drive for the war much to her eyes. She herself was struggling to find a wish, and had been ignored earlier by Ruler after this incidence of the "black haired man" interfering with the war had been brought up by apparently multiple sources. Further, her servant had nearly died after she had summed him the previous day. It was not a best start by any means, nor the best time since then, and she had not been able to do much in the way of scouting herself or even making new familiars to scout with for that matter.

With all of that in mind, she had to improve her game, if nothing else to better do her mission...and to perhaps find a drive for herself and possibly her servant at that. What would she do if she managed to get the Grail, for example? What wish might she have for such a device? That, in part, seemed to be a thing other masters had that drive them to participate in this. She wanted to understand this as well...wanted to find something to fight for, really. And she felt a little scared by not having such a thing at this time. A wish, that is. And with her servant's having been fulfilled, that fear seemed more realized if by chance her servant gave up on this war or such and found it "too boring" or became disappointed with her lack of performance in this war thereof. Though she would not be using a command seal on this matter, if it ever came up, as she was unsure if she could perhaps get a second servant if the worst happened.

Mmm, but her thoughts and fears and speculations aside, she patiently awaited the response of the servant she had spoken to. Perhaps, if she was lucky, this man would answer her for purposes of the group. This would, perhaps indirectly, give her a better idea of if this man was possibly the servant who had shot up her servant in one attack earlier.

---

It could be said that Chi-You made a formal introduction the same as her master had tried to do. It could have been that she simply walked in silently and stood near her master as he and the other dodo brain girl master from the church spoke of the matter of the black haired man who had killed the previous servant Chi-You's master had. It could have been the case that the giant female decided to get in on the tactical speaking right away to ensure that this menace to the Grail War was taken down sooner than later so they could get on with the bloodbath of a Grail War she hoped and felt this would eventually become. But no. None of these things were to be the case as Chi-You made her entrance. Rather, the giant of a woman instead decided to make an entrance like this:

"Welcome, mortal mages and fellow heroic spirits! I am Chi-You! The God of War! The Greatest Foe of the Yellow Emperor! Proud King of the great Hmong People! Rejoice, for your king has arrived to help quash the enemy that dares encroach upon this war!!!" Chi-You said after her master had introduced himself, her voice roaring louder than a car crash and echoing to all who were in the area of the meeting place with a booming sense of pride, power, and authority fitting for a figure such as Chi-You herself who had no shame in announcing her glory to the assembled heroes and master at that time.

Truly, Ernest had gained quite a character as a servant, one who did not seem to fear death or those around her. Or rather, perhaps it could be said that fear was translated into her bloodlust and love of war, to further bolster it in times of crisis. whatever the case, the deed was done, and Chi-You's words had been said.

After introducing herself, the tyrant gave a hearty laugh, then allowing her master to walk over and begin talking of things she had heard of before she moved to a new target to talk to. The great and mighty Rostam, the giant of a man still wearing that armor her master's thrall had seen back at the Church. She did not need to speak of things she already knew some of, at least before the meeting began in true earnest and such. Rather, before then she desired to speak to a fellow hero.

"Hail, hero Rostam! I have heard of your name and see you are a man of fitting size for one of great legend!" the female giant said, approaching her fellow male giant with a hearty voice and a slight sense of excitement at tonight's prospects tinting and coloring her voice.

She could be more calm and tactful, but hell if she wasn't going to enjoy the company of other fighters at this moment before the hunt started for the war's interloper. Ah. War and fighting were such a beautiful thing.

---

@DrowsyPangolin@Beloss

It was, perhaps not too surprising that he went for the food first. Without a word he went to the table to pick up a drink of what was on offer, slinking through the crowd that was admittedly, a bit strange to be around. This gathering was hardly the atmosphere of that of a war. It was more like an….an american picnic or something? Well, that’s what it made him think of anyway.

The others were enemies. He didn’t need the excuse to avoid them but it wasn’t weird for him to not come up to them chattering. Enemies, each one of a them another person between him and victory. Kill them all, beat them all… They all have servants, so many legends like the demented things he’s seen. They’re all like those berserkers… No, none of them could be like her. Even then...

Having given her piece, Airi finally began on burger number seven, turning back to her Servant. "Hey, though...you said 'black-haired demon', earlier...do you really think that's what he is? Like, 'Demon' with a capital D?"

At this he finally spoke up, leaning over and slumping onto the table as best as he could, barely avoiding placing his arms and face in some food. Noisy wasn’t she? It was what got them all grouped up in the first place so he couldn’t complain, but she was a weird girl.
“Berserker sort of was one but that thing, that black haired man was it?… if it was a demon then it’d be under that other girl. If it’s really not part of any servant then it can’t be a demon.” It was a childish reassuring thought, with the logic of a fallacy. If it was so dangerous he hoped it wasn’t under her, that it couldn’t be shackled by her. She was already something she didn’t want to fight and he hoped someone else would kill her. Things wouldn’t work out that pretty he felt, and it felt like it’d be likely she’d be the last one standing. Please die, please don’t be there at the grail at the end of all this bloodshed, that was the fervent wish born of fear and pain that he whispered as he took a bite to eat.

“This beats sitting around with a frozen dinner, so even if nothing happens I won’t complain about my time being wasted." With the food returning back to his mind he craned his head over his shoulder to stare at Ruler. What a strange man. He was a person who seemed to hold a sense of responsibility but went beyond that as well, taking into account considerations and concerns other might consider frivolous or trivial in the wake of a war like this. In a way to him, he seemed less like a judge and more like a nanny, or a well-meaning person. What was he exactly? He was some hero, right? but what kind of hero flips burgers during a war meeting? There were a lot of people here that were weird, but for some reason he felt like that man and the girl whose initiative started this meeting in the first place were the oddest. Even weird became normal if it was the majority, in the presence of all these magi, they seemed to be normal in a weird way. What then, did they think of him? someone who seemed to be charging into his death, he'd probably be considered the weirdest of them all.

"So, are you confident in winning once we deal with this stuff?" he decided to ask the girl.

"Hm." Ruler murmured aloud, turning from his burgers to glance at those who were in attendance, before turning back to the grill. When he did so though, he noticed that no fewer than four burgers had suddenly disappeared off of where he had plated them and into thin air. Where had they...

The sight of Airi scarfing down food like someone with an a spatial quarantine inside their body rather than a stomach was enough to answer that momentary question. And she was reaching for another one now too, was she even chewing or was she just swallowing them whole-

No, no, more important matters to focus on. Superhuman blight on the war. Right, right.

"...at this time, I've seen and obtained the true names of all Servants in this war. Or at least, all the ones summoned before the interloper's first appearance." Ruler spoke up, letting out a slight sigh. "Not that any of you would have a reason to hide this given that, as I've said, if this black-haired man was affiliated with a Master and Servant then there would be no violation of the rules present. But, all the same, this confirms that this being isn't the result of a Servant's creation, and I can't think that it's the work of a Master either. The number of magi capable of making familiars equal to Servants can likely be counted on one's hand, and if one of them had come here, I'm sure that would have made waves. In other words, I can be reasonably certain that we're dealing with a genuine third-party." He explained, letting out an irritated sigh.

At Airi's questioning, the Servant raised his hands up helplessly, before bringing them back down to set cheese on a burger. "The privileges of the Ruler class are nearly almighty against Servants, but that's only against Servants. With something like this, all I have to rely on is my own personal ability, and if this thing is capable of dealing with Knight-Class Servants easily, my power is almost certainly lacking. I'm aware of where Servants have largely been congregated, but the issue with this is that I'm sure none of your bases of operations cover much more than the immediate expanse of a house or a hotel room, at least in terms of Bounded Fields. We can rule out the workshops of the Masters, yes, but that's just pouring a few drops out of the bucket. As for using the kidnapped Master..."

Another exhale left the Servant as he shook his head. "While I can detect the locations of Servants, the same doesn't apply to Masters. Moreover, his contract has been severed with his Servant; now he's merely a magus in possession of unspent Command Seals. Unless one of those here has a means of locating a magus, that's just as much of a dead end."

---

A slight chuckle left the Archer-class Servant as a girl approached him and proceeded to interrogate him about his abilities. "If you expect to be able to walk up to a Servant and have them happily reveal their abilities, I'm not sure what to tell you. If I was a more bitter man, I'd have been offended that you even asked." He replied simply. "Well, obviously ones like your partner and that war god over there are exceptions to the rule, though. If I was that overt about screaming out my true name, I can't imagine that would go over well with my Master, and for good reason."

"Frankly, I don't understand why you're just letting him scream out his name like that without mentioning that it might be a poor idea. That sort of approach is all well and good when we're cooperating, but once this threat's been dealt with, you'll want every relative advantage you can get your hands on." He said, dismissively waving a hand as he spoke. Evidently, he didn't seem to care much for the burgers that Ruler was preparing, or maybe it was better to say he was confused by their existence. An absurdity like Ruler who could adapt to the modern world as though he'd lived in it for years was rare, after all.

Casting a glance over at Rostam, he let out another brief laugh. There was that brief urge to draw his bow and strike him without holding back, to see if he'd be able to survive an attack made with true intent to kill behind it, but alas, he had to hold the boiling of his blood back. Besides, there were plenty of options to choose from among the Servants here when it came to prospective opponents; even if Rostam died, he was sure he'd be able to find a suitable one to play with. His eyes went to Siegfried as the thought crossed his mind, one that matched the garbled description Berserker had obtained about the one who killed her demon the previous night almost to a tee. He'd certainly be an interesting one if he could handle that defensive bulwark of a demon. Though, admittedly, earning Berserker's ire by killing 'her prey' was something even he wasn't eager to do.

"With that said, though, save for Ruler and myself, you and your partner should be the ones here that are most aware of just what it is that I bring to the table. It's not every day something managed to survive one of my arrows, after all." He remarked offhandedly, shooting Lorelei a knowing glance as he felt a grin play at the edge of his lips. "However, don't get cocky. Next time around I'll be shooting to kill."