Binding Fate

As Skadi and Irisveil watched the cheesy American drama with rapt attention, I saw the remote and grabbed it to turn off the TV to get everyone's attention. The two women glared at me with a grievance at turning off their show.

" Why did you do that?! It was getting to the good part!"

They said in sync, which woke up the sleeping Illyasviel and dozing Gray. I then bluntly told them with a solemn tone.

" We have bigger issues right now."

That drew everyone's attention to me, and Gray asked.

" What is the matter, sir?"

" Family meeting for dinner, and Rin is invited since I don't want to repeat myself, but long story short, the Grail has appeared early due to Kaleidoscope's interference, and we are not dealing with an ordinary Holy Grail War."

Everyone looked surprised at this information, and Illyasviel was the first to ask.

" What do you mean we are not dealing with an ordinary Holy Grail War, Silva-nii?"

Despite being 18 years old, the half-homunculus girl looked no older than 10 or 11 at most due to Jubstacheit von Einzbern slowing her aging process so she would be at her prime during the next Holy Grail War that should have happened 50 years from now. Her Mother is still researching how to mend that issue without causing any health problems. In the ten years she has lived with me, she considers me to be an older brother figure more than anything, which I still have mixed feeling about since I associate the term Onii-chan with incest-based eroticism. I sighed and told her.

" The explanation will have to wait until Rin is here for dinner since it involves her."

I then heard the doorbell, and I went to see who it was, but before I left, I told them.

" Check who among you has Command Seals since the Grail has already started to hand them out."

I went to the entrance of my home in Fuyuki and opened the door to find Rin Tohsaka waiting outside in her usual red sweater and black skirt with matching stockings. I greeted her in a friendly manner.

" Hello, Rin; I am glad you could come."

" I only came because Sakura invited me, you giant."

" Rin, it's not that I am tall. It's just that you are small and adorable."

The Tohsaka Head's eye twitched at my nonsense, and she let out a large sigh as I did not get a rise out of her.

" You are ridiculous; you know that?"

" Unfortunately, we have a ridiculous situation on our hands."

Rin looked at me with confusion as I invited her in and then went to help Sakura prepare dinner.

***

" HAH?!"

Rin exclaimed as I explained that we were now dealing with a Great Holy Grail War instead of a standard Grail War. Everyone's reaction was similar but less audible at the dinner table, and I grabbed some mushroom tempura to eat along with my slice of Margherita Pizza and crab legs. Irisveil then asked with a concerned look.

" Why would the Wizard Marshal do this?"

" I have no clue, and even if we were to ask him, he probably would not answer, but that aside we have six Masters here, and we have one other Master unaccounted for, but it is likely someone we all know as the Grail considers them an ally to us."

I answered the homunculus woman. The Masters of Black are Myself, Sakura, Rin, Illyasviel, Irisveil, and Skadi, whom I know of for the time being, but I am curious about who outside of our household is the seventh Master. I should soon know about who the Masters of Red are as soon as they are decided from my contacts in the Mage Association. As dinner continued with some chatter on the upcoming War, my mind wandered to who was going to be summoned as the arbitrator.

Meeting the penniless saint would be nice as she seemed easy to tease. However, Amakusa Shirō would be someone I would need to keep a close eye on, considering what he tried to pull in Fate/Apocrypha. There are also a few other candidates that I could think of from FGO, but I won't know for sure until later on. Then there was the matter of who to summon on our side; I collected a lot of summoning mediums in the ten years I have been here, and I could confidently say I could almost summon anyone I wanted as a Servant. I then brought up an important point.

" Rin, seeing how you're allied with us, I will link you to the homunculi network so you can maintain your Servant without expending any of your personal Mana."

" Homunculi network?"

" It's basically a bunch of Homumculi made for the sole purpose of providing Mana in the Holy Grail War."

Rin looked at me with shock and exclaimed.

" You had something like that ready in advance?!"

" Of course, I fully intend to win by any means necessary. I will also provide you with access to the armory so you can stock on single-use Mystic Codes plus defensive Mystic Codes to ensure your life. Skadi, Sakura, Iri, and Illya have been quite a few in their spare time, either as experiments or intended use for the War."

The Tohsaka Head leaned back on her chair with a defeated look and said.

" I never stood a chance against you, did I?"

" At the risk of sounding arrogant, most people don't stand a chance against me if I am serious."

I answered as I am only worried about Servants with troublesome Noble Phantasms, Beasts, Types, and True Ancestors in this universe. I then said.

" After dinner, let's summon our Servants, everyone, then be on the lookout for our missing Seventh Master."

Everyone agreed to the idea, and dinner became a relatively lively affair as no one had any doubts about our victory with the sheer amount of preparation we did and the backup plans I had set up. Now I wonder who the Servants of Black will be?