Chương 367: Fate Recast: Side Stories by MM007
Words: 49k+
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14278189/1/
(A collection of side stories set in the Fate Recast world. These are canon to that story but are optional background or fun material. These start after the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War. Expect crossovers with other Type Moon characters and settings that can reasonably exist in a Fate-compliant universe, from A Witch on the Holy Night all the way to Fate Grand Order.)
Author's Note: These are various stories that are part of the main Fate Recast Worldline, but are either too disjointed to be part of the main story, are between time skips, or otherwise do not fit well in the main format. The main story became a bit too broad in scope to focus on every character or idea I wanted to explore. I will try to write it so that reading these side stories is not required to understand the main story, but it will be a nice supplement.
This Side Story was originally found in Chapters 23 and 24, and some of the text from the Fujimura meeting will be duplicated over.
Chapter 1: Prismatic Problem
November 24, 1994
Remains of the Tohsaka Mansion
Fuyuki City, Japan
5:16 AM
It had been sealed away for so long, only for light, noise, heat, and vibration to rock Its world and destroy Its prison...then nothing. Oh, It had detected the powers throughout the city and stayed put for Its own self-preservation. Could It feel fear? Cowardice? But now the power was all gone. The danger had finally passed. It moved carefully through the wreckage, shaking loose the debris before escaping what had once been a large, European-style estate. Well, It assumed the place was large. There wasn't enough left to know for sure.
When the early morning chill replaced nervousness with calm, It wondered what had happened. Was It the only magical being left around? The entity started to explore what magical signatures could be found that were still fresh, save for the two massive ones. Those might still be dangerous. There was also something 'underneath' the World that was massive and unusual, but It needed to focus on one thing at a time. It explored more wreckage next door and found rotting flesh that was not human. There was nothing here, either. After this, It decided to proceed into the city.
Its inhuman form floated through the shopping district without being noticed before finally arriving at another damaged place. This one was in better condition, but only marginally. There was a recent battle here. Blood could still be seen nearby, as well as dead insects that felt like the rotting flesh in the other place. But even as empty of life as this was, It felt something. There, on the floor, was a lost playing card. The King of Hearts. The card looked normal, but It could feel the magic. It integrated the power into itself.
The Shadow-Treading Carnwennan. This Noble Phantasm seemed to be converted directly into a form that It was meant to handle. And someone just left it here! How lucky!
After leaving the place, It kept searching for a time before finally feeling something. It floated off toward a large estate that seemed to be a prominent one in the area just as much as the previous places were. It floated over the wall and hid in a tree, listening in on conversations while slowly approaching the building.
"I can't believe all of those visiting miko were killed in the mountain's explosion. First the gas leak, then the earthquake and the massive sinkhole in the middle of town, and now this? It's the second time this century that the Shrine was destroyed. Will they even bother rebuilding it? What if Mount Enzo is a volcano that's waking up? All these things point to geological activity. We shouldn't have tried to reclaim swamp land and build a city on top of it!" A young man in a monk's outfit lamented while resting on the porch.
A girl who appeared to have perpetually closed eyes smacked him in the arm and whispered in an angry hiss. "Stop that, Reikan! At least your family all survived! Poor Tachie in there lost everything! Do you want her to hear you?"
The teen boy tensed at that realization. "Y-you're right, Neko. I should be focusing on what I still have. It's just hard...that temple was my future, but Tachie has it worse. We're all lucky Taiga's grandfather was willing to let us stay here...thanks for visiting us, by the way. I couldn't exactly sleep."
"I figured her grandfather would be setting up something to help someone through this, even if I didn't know the details. I'm more surprised that Taiga's not here yet. She called to say she was alright, but she sounded rushed and panicky. I...think she saw some bad things tonight." Otoko, also known as Neko, said.
"...We'll be here for her too, then." The boy said this before the two entered into a companionable silence, unable to sleep due to contemplating the trio of nightmares that had rocked their city within the last twelve hours. It empathized to a degree, even if It wasn't human. This broken town needed someone to stand up for it. A symbol...a hero...and It knew just what to do.
Floating into a makeshift bedroom with a futon on the floor, one that contained perhaps the only magical signature it could detect in range at the moment, It scanned the raven-haired girl trying and failing to fall asleep. Twenty-seven Magic Circuits, only one of them opened very recently. There was obviously a heroic backstory there. "Pssst...psssst! Hey! What's your name?"
Tachie blinked as her eyes cleared and she tried to get a look at what was calling her. It remained in the shadows and the girl seemed a bit suspicious, but she needed the distraction. "Tachie...Tachie Kyrielight. Who are you?"
It moved forward into a beam of moonlight shining through one of the windows, revealing its floating form in the process. It was power. It was magical. It was...
"I'm Magical Ruby! How would you like to be a Magical Girl?"
"..." The girl stared at the floating thing that entered her borrowed bedroom with wide blue eyes, frozen like she was a deer caught in headlights. This moment was used by Ruby to conduct a deeper scan of her beyond a mere Magic Circuit analysis. She was recovering from some sort of magical drain, the strain of which had probably opened the one circuit of twenty-seven that she had access to. She showed signs of intense stress, having nibbled on her thumb to the point of bleeding. It seemed that she had come down from an adrenaline rush earlier in the night and was now at a low point. But the most surprising thing was the potential the girl held across the various Worldlines. Tachie ended Ruby's line of thought when she let out a squeak of fear and abruptly pulled the sheets over her head in an effort to hide.
"Well that's kind of rude, Tachie," Ruby said, materializing her handle and starting to prod the human lump hiding under the blanket. "Hey, don't hide from destiny! You have a chance to be a magical girl! Doesn't every girl dream of waking up to the ability to cast spells?"
"...Magic killed my parents and destroyed my home last night. Magic almost killed me too. I wish it didn't exist..." Tachie said, fighting back tears.
Ruby paused as she heard this and realized that the girl wasn't really in a state to be played with too harshly. This was serious. Her wings drooped slightly. "I'm sorry to hear that...but don't you want the power to make sure it doesn't happen again to someone else?"
"W-why does it have to be me? Why can't it be some other girl?" Tachie asked in mounting fear and anger. "I found Taiga's hidden doujinshi stash when they lent me this room, you know! I don't want my life to be full of tentacle monsters and sleepless nights patrolling the city!"
"You don't have to worry," Ruby said in an effort to calm the girl. "I'm about 80% sure that someone else killed all the tentacle monsters in town already!" When Tachie moved her head out from under the blanket and gave Ruby a glare, the Kaleidostick realized that she was not being very reassuring. "...Okay, maybe closer to 85%. Minimum. I'm running with very little data. And the reason it has to be you is because magical energy is something people are either born with or they aren't. The extra-powerful people can shape the elements to their will and discover the secrets of the world. You? You're in the middle. A first-generation Magus who has 27 circuits of average quality. You normally wouldn't go very far without training or some specialization, but with me? You could do all kinds of things! All the other Magi who are supposed to be around here are gone and the magical sites in town are wrecked, so you might be the strongest Magus in Fuyuki left alive. I think we just finished an underground tournament arc that happens every sixty years or so."
This didn't reassure Tachie either. The idea of doing something to strengthen herself against a threat that she had no defense against did appeal, but she wasn't as impulsive as Taiga. "...I'm going back to sleep. If you're still here in the morning, I'll take you to the priests that live outside town. They know about magical things."
"Priests?! They'd just lock me away!" Ruby exclaimed, but the girl flopped down and pulled the covers over herself. Several minutes passed. She was being ignored. Magical Ruby was being ignored. This simply would not do.
Tachie attempted to sleep, but she soon felt herself being poked up and down her body. The handle of the stick poked through the covers. She tried to ignore it for a solid ten minutes in hopes that Ruby would give up and stop, but then the handle levered the blanket up off of her head and pushed against her cheek. And prodded...and kept prodding with increasing force. Tachie, finally angered to the point of action, lashed out with a scowl and grabbed the handle with her dominant hand as she sat up. She drew her arm back and aimed for the open closet in hopes of throwing the wand into it and hurriedly closing the door—just as the Mystic Code accepted a blood sample from her stress-chewed thumb.
BLOOD SAMPLE ACCEPTED.
KALEIDOSTICK HANDLE GRIP ACTIVATION VERIFIED.
MAGICAL RUBY BONDED TO TACHIE KYRIELIGHT.
ALTERNATE WORLDLINE VARIANT CHOSEN: F/SN "SHIELDER PROTOTYPE" 2004 VERSION.
PRIMARY COSTUME CHOSEN: "KALEIDO-RUBY"
TRANSFORMATION INITIATED.
ERROR—DEMI-SERVANT TRANSFORMATION AUTO-INSTALLED. COSTUME OVERRIDEN.
With a bright flash of light that flooded the room and surely showed through the window outside, Tachie felt pain as 26 Magic Circuits were suddenly forced open for the first time while the remaining one opened more normally. The energy felt like liquid fire as it poured down all 27 channels, straining them. Then came the transformation. The raven-haired girl found herself wearing a skimpy black armor with red highlights over top of a dark red-purple bodysuit. The armor shouldn't have functioned well in combat with how her cleavage, belly, and inner thighs were exposed. In one hand remained the Kaleidostick, and she held a massive dark-gray shield in the other. Tachie felt powerful—unnatural, numb, and wrong on some level, but powerful.
"W-What is this? You-" Tachie sputtered.
"Oh my...it seems that I am activated by both a blood sample and by gripping my handle. Biting your thumb is such a bad habit Tachie-chan~" Ruby teased. "Still, it's strange that the uniform choice got overridden. I was aiming for something else entirely."
Tachie couldn't respond before the heavy footfalls of running feet were heard in the hall and the sliding door was shoved open, revealing a certain panting kendoka who had only just gotten home. Behind her were a confused Reikan and Neko. "...T-Tachie?" The Tiger of Fuyuki asked as she looked over the borderline indecent outfit that her classmate was wearing and could only think to say one thing; "Hey, I know you've lost a lot tonight...but you should really ease into cosplay instead of jumping headlong into it like this! Bodysuits and cleavage window armor aren't for first-timers."
"I-It's not...this isn't me! It's this magic stick thing! It tricked me!" Tachie pled in embarrassment and horror as she gestured with the Kaleidostick in her hand. Reikan and Neko looked at Tachie with pity and concern in their eyes, but Taiga was different. Her eyes showed recognition, contemplation, and irritation.
"What? You got magical powers tonight? That's it! Next time I see that dragon girl, I'm asking to drink her blood too! I'm not getting left behind!" Taiga's words shocked everyone in the room.
"...Taiga...as a monk-in-training, I must advise against the drinking of blood under any circumstance. I think your cursed sword might be starting to possess you." Reikan worriedly spoke.
"Eh? You knew my sword was cursed and didn't tell me? I only found out tonight when—oh...I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff. Uh...Tachie, I know some people you need to meet later. But first..." Taiga drew Torashinai and focused...allowing the curse to manifest with conscious effort. A dark miasma started to flow into the visible spectrum and the distant sound of roaring tigers was carried on the wind, unnerving Reikan and Neko. The gleam in Taiga's eyes was like that of a cat's, made more evident in the darkness of the room. "That's a sentient magic wand like in some manga and doujinshi, right? And it tricked you into this? I know what to do. Hold it out in a kendo stance and I'll practice some forms on it!"
"W-wait, who are you and why do you have a cursed—*THWACK*—GAAAHHH!" Ruby exclaimed as Torashinai tried its luck against an entity designed to take Noble Phantasm attacks without damage. Apparently, pain still got through due to the nature of Torashinai's 'legend'.
"Let go of my friend, you hack!" Taiga shouted, while Reikan did his best to adapt to the chaos and started to chant Buddhist prayers. The stick was crying out in pain with each hit, confirming for the bystanders that this madness was real enough.
The yakuza guards who followed Taiga's cries of anger would see their heiress with an oppressive aura attacking a cosplayer with a screaming stick while her monk friend did chants. The leader of the group immediately came to a conclusion. "The honorable granddaughter and her classmate are possessed! Wake up the boss and get those weapons away from the kids!"
Neko simply watched in confusion and stood out of the way as the yakuza swarmed the room and worked to disarm her friends. She idly wondered if she could steal some alcohol from her father's bar and kill the brain cells storing her memories of the night.
November 24, 1994
Streets of Fuyuki City
Fuyuki City, Japan
6:58 AM
The sky had finally started to lighten from the long, final night of the Grail War. Sadly, that did not mean that things were well. The assets of the Mage's Association embedded within the Japanese Self-Defense Force, the United States Air Force, and Lord Animusphere's people aboard the RMS Galehut were doing what they could to manage the aftermath of Caster's rampage. Reports of a massive natural gas leak were being made to dissuade people from approaching the impacted area within the city, and rumors of volcanic activity at Mount Enzo were being floated around. They'd declare the 'volcano' inert after a few years.
Of course, none of this could be dealt with right now. There was a need for damage control of a far more immediate type. That's why those in the Fuyuki Faction who had just returned from London were riding in Leysritt's van to the Fujimura Compound in order to resolve this latest mess.
Tokiomi put away a report and held back a light sigh as he rode in the rather full vehicle. "I need a telephone, a car, and to see if a computer would be as useful to me as it is to Mister Emiya."
Kirei perked up slightly at this admission. "You told me at the dawn of the War that you considered such technology inferior to your Magecraft-derived devices."
The newly minted Lord of the Clock Tower remembered this conversation. "While I still believe it to be the case and would continue to employ Magecraft for more secure uses, there are no magical offerings that are as portable or swift to use. If I am to efficiently manage my duties, the new era requires that I adapt. It is clear from King Artoria's futuristic device that the future will move even further in that direction." There was also the fact that he realized a number of the lords and nobles at the meeting used vehicles to leave but had some servants driving them. Reaping the benefits but without dirtying their own hands with the new devices themselves by technicality. Lord Inorai Valualeta Atroholm was an exception who drove herself and boldly enjoyed modern conveniences without worry.
Kiritsugu spoke up. "Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald brought over some equipment that I took from him during the War. The Clock Tower counted it as my 'spoils' and there was a car mixed in. We can take a look at it later." There was no time to discuss this further as the van arrived, pulled up to the Fujimura Compound, and was subsequently guided to drive into a guest area. The group stepped out, greeted by a number of wary Yakuza. After brief introductions and making sure that the group temporarily surrendered any weapons, the group was brought into the main Fujimura Compound. They soon found themselves standing in front of an old man by the name of Raiga Fujimura. There was also a line of roughly a dozen Yakuza who had seen the event in question, Taiga, her two friends from school that EMIYA had met before, and a young woman in a skimpy suit of armor who was further wrapped in a blanket ostensibly for the sake of modesty. This last person was someone whom Risei and Kirei both recognized. One who gave off the feeling of a Servant.
Pushing down his surprise at seeing someone new whom his Grail-given Master senses classified as a Servant, Tokiomi gently cleared his throat and decided to speak carefully to the group. "I am Tokiomi Tohsaka, the one Miss Fujimura called for. One of my duties is to resolve situations such as these within the territory of Fuyuki City. This matter would normally be limited to me, the people involved, and perhaps the Fathers Kotomine given the situation; but I have associates from Germany and Britannia who happen to be here for another matter and are well-suited for assisting with this meeting. One of them happens to be my superior and is better versed in some of the more unusual details."
"Yes, the Grail War. A nasty business," Raiga said to the surprise of the newcomers and Taiga alike. "Oh don't be so shocked. Okita Souji couldn't use solely legal means to keep the Third under wraps, so she and Risei used our services to protect the populace as best we could. That was always her main priority. One of her grandchildren, my mother, had married the Fujimura head at the time and we accepted the request. She visited and asked me to do so again for this War, but most of us fell ill until we drank the military's water." Raiga found it odd that Tokiomi was ignorant of this. "Your grandfather should have been aware of that history, Tohsaka-san."
Tokiomi's eyes narrowed slightly. "A mandatory contract of secrecy was forced on the people of that time as part of a conspiracy. It restricted the ability of the people from the Third Grail War to the point where my grandfather couldn't even tell his own descendants everything. We only learned of it after the mountain exploded again. At the very least the threat is over and done with."
The old man sighed. "Yes, at least there's that. Anyway, I would first like to thank the dark-skinned 'Archer' for saving my granddaughter's life from that monster and the rest of you for doing what you could to see to her safety." The man gave a deep bow to the visiting party, as did all of the other Yakuza present. Taiga was the beloved granddaughter of the clan, after all.
"E-everyone..." Taiga said, touched by the unexpected gesture. The yakuza did not bow lightly, especially the head of the organization.
"It wasn't a problem. I'm glad I made it in time," EMIYA responded diplomatically. He may not have openly advocated being a Hero of Justice anymore, but the instincts were still there. That and he felt he owed Taiga for the years her future self so eagerly served as family to a broken and orphaned child.
"Indeed. Some people with our abilities are indeed amoral, but this group isn't interested in needless death." Tokiomi answered for the group.
Raiga raised his head, clearly thankful that these people were decent enough. "Thank you. That attitude has also made us willing to work with you and leads to the second reason you're here—to discuss coordination between recovery efforts in Fuyuki and your group's intentions. We're already doing what we can to help with the victims, but you might be needed to help streamline our efforts and help act as a bridge with the militaries. They hesitate to coordinate directly with the yakuza. We are also willing to see to your housing temporarily since Taiga mentioned that every asset within your collective ownership became a target."
Tokiomi noted this and gave a nod. He wasn't opposed to restarting the coordination between the Tohsaka and Fujimura families. The Holy Grail War his family hosted was no more 'legal' to the non-magical law enforcement than some of this family's yakuza enterprises, after all. "I would be more than willing to support those efforts, and they even fall under my duties as Second Owner due to the initial cause of the situation. Does anyone else in the group have other intentions?" Tokiomi inquired with the group that had been assembled. No one protested. "Very well, it seems we have a common interest to explore. As for housing, we may have available alternatives. Natalie here is a real estate broker, among other things, who purchased a number of Fuyuki properties for us throughout the early 1980s before the housing bubble. She sold most of them at the height of that bubble, but still retains a few we can use."
Irisviel smiled, choosing then to speak up. "I should mention that my grandfather was ordered to pay for the damages to Fuyuki and its people by the highest authority our people have. He has enough money to manage a small country, so make sure to account for every yen you spend so we can make him bleed that much more, okay?"
"You don't seem to be much of a fan of your family," Raiga said to the woman, wondering how much responsibility she bore for this mess if her grandfather was forced to pay compensation.
"They did send me here explicitly to die without telling me that it was all for a lie. Then they planned to do the same to my daughter when she was older." Irisviel responded.
"I have already said that they were an evil family. The only decent ones have already left Germany to come here." Zelretch contributed.
"Quite," Tokiomi responded in agreement.
"We'll make sure to provide records of our expenditures, then." Raiga was satisfied with this. If the man really sent his own granddaughter to die and intended such a thing toward his great-granddaughter as well, then they weren't accountable for his sins. "The third reason you're here is the maintenance of the Concealment of Mystery, as you people call it. We need to figure out what to do about Tachie, Taiga, and the witnesses." Raiga said this and a few of the younger men in the lineup tensed. Raiga noticed and shouted at them. "What's with the trembling?! Am I the sort of man to do heartless things to witnesses? To cast aside my men simply for rushing to protect my grandchild and her friends? Discard whatever notions of betrayal are in your heads! You'll all be fine!"
"It is true," Tokiomi explained to the assembled. "For those of you who wish to remember, we can have you sign a magically binding agreement preventing you from revealing what you've seen or divulging other sensitive information. This would be mainly so you could provide Miss Fujimura and her friends with your aid in the future or to otherwise coordinate with our hidden side of things as part of your duties. The exact text of such an agreement can be negotiated to a degree but is quite standard as we sometimes use mundane people for contract work. For those who don't want to carry that knowledge, we can employ the more common solution and wipe away your memories of the morning's events. There is ample precedent for these things." That helped calm the yakuza down. Their lack of Magic Circuits meant that any geas might have to be enforced with runes instead, but that was something that had already been long established and was not too difficult to employ. Half ultimately elected to forget while the remainder agreed to the contract so as to support the leader and grandchild in magical happenings. The room was soon secure enough to discuss other matters.
"Alright, now that that's finally over and done with..." Ruby said, her voice speaking out in irritation as she peeked out from inside the blanket Tachie had used to cover herself, "...where were you people? I didn't detect any other Magi in Fuyuki! I thought the War had wiped out all of them but Tachie!" The Kaleidostick was irritated at having to hide and wait to ask her questions until now, but she behaved ever so slightly since her creator was in the room.
Zelretch chose to respond to his creation's reasonable query. "They were at Ahnenerbe for their protection and impossible to detect on a basic scan. Others in town who are currently embedded in the military or serving as Lord Animusphere's assets are wearing magical energy concealment Mystic Codes that you would also fail to see on a basic scan. It could be harmful for a Servant to detect and hone in on them given how Servants can consume souls to sustain themselves. As for not sensing Gilgamesh or Enkidu, it's likely that something from his Gate of Babylon interfering with your sensors."
"I apologize for Ruby's conduct," Tokiomi said to the group as he gave a bow. "It was sealed away in my home long ago but escaped when the home was recently destroyed. I have not yet had the opportunity to return to the site to contain the artifacts there."
"I've done nothing wrong!" Ruby defended herself. "I found a Magical Girl with a tragic backstory and the capacity to become a Demi-Servant! I even found a Class Card-like thing on the way here that has a Noble Phantasm that can augment that of her Servant! How could I not take her as my partner?"
"A Class Card?" Zelretch's eyes turned serious for a moment. "We will discuss that later. For now, though, explain why can she become a Servant."
"Kekekekeke...well, it turns out that she dies in most timelines at the end of the Fourth Holy Grail War and is brought back with Necromancy Magecraft. She fights in some versions of the Fifth as a vessel for the Shielder-class Servant. Having a corpse as a vessel helps with the energy costs. I just use Prism Trace to copy over the body, powers, and skills of that version of her and boom! Instant Demi-Servant!" Ruby said this with pride, but Tachie shuddered. Being reminded of how close she came to dying and her corpse being desecrated was hardly a pleasant thing. "There is also a lot of mental contamination in her counterpart, but the nature of the Prism Trace protects her from going crazy."
"I-I'm not even alive when I'm like this...Everything feels dulled and numb and I just want to go back to normal! Please help..." Tachie managed to convey, fighting back tears. Taiga and the others were horrified. The poor girl was an animated corpse in this form.
Zelretch looked somewhat irritated as he heard this. This was a man who was a Dead Apostle in some other Worldlines and could get an idea of what Tachie was feeling. He wouldn't want to be forced to go through living as his vampiric self, after all. "Ruby, you are crossing the line. Respect your partner or I'll transfer your contract over to Sapphire and put you back in the box. I'll see about tweaking your system so she can tap into that power without losing her pulse."
"Fiiine..." Ruby groaned out before Tachie was suddenly detransformed back into her borrowed nightwear. "Try to fix the costume selection system while you're at it, will you? That Shielder armor keeps overriding my choices. Kaleido-Ruby, Prisma-Tachie, Dangerous Beast, Trick or Treatment, none of them work."
"Those last two have no place being worn by a fourteen-year-old girl," Zelretch warned sternly. "Now let me see that Class Card you mentioned. Those shouldn't exist in this Worldline." Ruby floated out from Tachie's blanket and provided the man with the King of Hearts Playing Card, which he inspected...then activated, turning it into the Noble Phantasm Carnwennan. Zelretch gave a sigh of relief. "It's not a Class Card, but it is compatible with the system. This stores the entirety of a Noble Phantasm's data and is a copy of something Merlin made for King Artoria. No reduction in rank in exchange for needing to power it natively. Where did you find this?"
Ruby spoke proudly. "A wrecked Japanese house that had mercury and dead worms everywhere. It was on the floor of the living room. Not only is it from the same lore as Tachie's Servant form, but her defensive Noble Phantasm even launches a bunch of lances at her foes. Normalish ones, but they are so similar to Carnwennan in theme and design that Carnwennan can easily be swapped in to make her Noble Phantasm's attack power all the more deadly! She can also call on at least one Carnwennan at any time from inside her shield to fight with."
"Shirou must have dropped it when he used the shield and lost consciousness..." Irisviel uttered. There was no mistaking the described location. It was a good thing he could make another, not that she'd voice that.
"Well, finder's keepers. I'm using it to upgrade Tachie. It's that cursed training sword of Taiga's that you should focus on! It hurt!" Ruby stubbornly said.
"Shut up!' Taiga exclaimed in anger. "Don't make this about me just so you can weasel out of things!"
"Torashinai," EMIYA said, drawing attention. "A wooden training sword that was used to painfully beat so many people that its victims began to attribute mystical power to it. This belief started empowering the weapon in a similar manner to a Servant's Noble Phantasm, specifically in the form of a curse. A weapon that 'longs to shed blood, but is unable' and tries to resolve the paradox through brute force."
Tokiomi was more than a bit surprised. "Wait, we have an analogue for a Noble Phantasm forming in the modern day, even if a low-grade one? How is that possible?"
EMIYA shrugged. "Taiga's luck is extreme to the point of ridiculousness. I think the Grail might also have jump-started the sword's growth by empowering it further."
"That could be worth studying..." Tokiomi pondered before putting aside the thought for later. There was something else he should be doing right now. He looked to the magical orphan and took on a formal air. "Tachie Kyrielight. I, as the Second Owner of Fuyuki City and in the traditions of our society, recognize your residence in the territory under my magical administration. I will allow you the construction of a magical workshop within the city upon your proving a basic level of competency with Magecraft and safety protocols." After this traditional declaration of acceptance and welcome was made, Tokiomi kept going. "Also, the same people who are paying reparations to Fuyuki were further ordered to fund your care and education. There is a world-class magical school and research institution in London that they are ordered to pay for you to attend in a few years if you so choose—an opportunity that many children in your situation simply never obtain. Ms. Einzbern and I are going to be collectively teaching a group of children Magecraft, so it may be to your benefit to join those basic lessons over the next few years in parallel with your early high school education."
Zelretch nodded. "As the creator of Ruby, I will assist in providing you with some basic insight as to her operation. The power she grants you is based on imagination and willpower rather than the typical forms and formulas of Magecraft, so I think it should go more swiftly."
"I..." Tachie started, pondering the situation carefully before answering. "I want to learn it. It almost killed me, so I can't stay ignorant of Magecraft."
"Woo! You won't regret being a Magical Girl, Tachie! I will teach you everything I know!" Ruby said, making Tachie quickly adopt a look of regret and worry.
"Then we will consider that matter resolved for the moment and move on to another issue." Zelretch knew that Ruby would need more discipline, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Today, he needed to run a plan by the group while all the parties involved were here. "I have a few ideas about how to rebuild this city at minimal cost and labor while also ensuring that the Einzberns pay their due. It would require some front companies in construction," he said while glancing to Raiga, "some real estate management," Natalia met his glance next, "and the ability to remove the curses from this city while cheaply and efficiently restoring what was lost," EMIYA was regarded next, the tanned man scowling a bit at the prospect of essentially being cheap labor.
"What do you have in mind?" Natalia inquired, her question met with a wide, cocky grin from the Old Man of the Jewels.
Over the next few hours, the group came to the agreement that Natalia would buy up all of the damaged land and buildings she could at the predictably rock-bottom prices she initially intended. The Fujimura would use their construction companies as a cover to have EMIYA restore various buildings and infrastructure while he also cleansed the curses lingering in the city and its sewer system. It would greatly reduce the cost of resources and labor. The Einzberns would be stuck with the full bill and be none the wiser, ultimately paying for the costs of purchasing the land in question and much more. New development was even possible. Some repaired homes would be reserved for their original owners or next-of-kin where possible as part of a 'local charity program' that Natalia and the Fujimura would be the face of. The Fujimura would even get a few new buildings and businesses of their own that they had been hoping for on the cheap.
It was ultimately a productive meeting and would likely set the tone for the days to come.
Author's Notes: I did not plan on using Carnwennan's playing card form like this when I first wrote it in, but when someone pointed out that Kaleidostick Ruby was stored in the Tohsaka Mansion in the FSN timeline and might have escaped when it was destroyed...my mind made the connection and I had to do this. I just wish they gave more than the name "G" from a guest account so I could credit them better for dragging our favorite cursed transformation wand into the story.
While the details are a bit sparse, the theme and design of Tachie's version of Lord Camelot seem to have been recycled for Fate Grand Order Lostbelt 6 if the artwork is anything to go by. The more gray Camelot and the multitude of lances it can launch at enemies are key design elements that they both share. The lances launched as part of Camelot's defenses are also somewhat similar visually to those used in LB6, but LB6 upgrades the lances into Lostbelt Morgan or Caster Artoria's respective signature weapons. With the 'class card' Carnwennan used in conjunction with Tachie's version of Lord Camelot, you essentially eliminate that final difference and have her Noble Phantasm take the final form of Lostbelt Britain's Camelot. I lack hard stats right now, but it is likely a solid balance between Caster Artoria's defense/buff-based Noble Phantasm and Lostbelt Morgan's offensive variant. This was not planned, but it turned out to fit together almost seamlessly.
WEAPON DATA:
Name: Torashinai
Owner: Taiga Fujimura
Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: E (incapacitates mainly through pain rather than damage)
Range: 0-3
Maximum number of targets: 1 person
Torashinai is an odd existence among weapons in that it is a training blade that is incapable of cutting its enemy while still being a cursed sword. Taiga Fujimura's nigh-invincibility in competition and her brutality with the blade caused her classmates and opponents to label it a 'demonic sword craving blood' while at the same time never being able to shed any, a legend further propagated by the Fujimura family initially as a joke. This contradiction of 'wanting blood but never being able to obtain it' seems to result in the blade trying to solve the paradox by savagely beating its enemy and causing disproportionately high levels of pain to break an opponent's will. The blade's simple(and flawed) brute-force answer to this complex problem reflects its master's mindset.
The ease with which the weapon became empowered is due in part to the EX-rank luck of Taiga, the rumors of the training sword among the junior high school(grades 7-9) classes establishing a 'legend', and the magical nature of Fuyuki City's land. The presence of the Grail, which allowed for the weight of legends to manifest as increased power, also influenced the development of Torashinai. In addition to all of this, being taken into Shirou's Texture by Taiga Fujimura at the close of the Fourth Holy Grail War caused the cursed sword to take on ten years of added legend including Shirou's own subconscious personal experiences with the blade that had so readily beaten him in training bouts over the years. All of these things put together allowed the weapon to manifest as a modern-day Noble Phantasm, even if a weak one. There are plans by Lord Tokiomi Tohsaka to research the cursed blade's continued development in his future Spiritual Evocation classes at the Clock Tower.
The weapon is capable of causing only superficial welts or bruising at first glance(barring the use of Reinforcement to allow for crush damage), but it still has its purposes. Torashinai is most suitable as a means of incapacitating an enemy with relatively little harm or for enforcing discipline through swift punishments. It allows this by causing a large amount of pain disproportionate to its power and carrying an intimidation factor sufficient to falsely trigger an opponent's Instinct skill. This intimidation factor manifests as a black miasma and the sound of tiger roars upon the wind to induce a primal fear, while also causing the user's eyes to take on a cat-like gleam.
It is considered by some as an excellent training aid because it emulates the stresses of combat and motivates someone to instinctively dodge without placing them in mortal peril, but the psychological impact of Torashinai must be taken into consideration.
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