Fate/False Order

The sound of light knocking made me stop my writing, and look towards my 'office' door. "Sakura?" I asked aloud, causing the person on the other side to slide open the door, revealing a purple haired little girl in her pajamas that Vivian had made for her.

She still looked far too nervous, as her head was tilted downwards, as if she was too scared to look up. In her hand, she was clutching a ribbon, which was surprisingly the only thing she took back with her from the Matou estate, meaning that it had some sort of emotional importance to her.

Smiling slightly, I closed the Japanese language book I had been studying, and swivelled the chair around, allowing me to face Sakura. "Come," I said while patting my thigh.

Hesitating slightly, she quickly walked over, and stood in front of me. She looked slightly confused, before she climbed up on my lap.

As she settled herself into my lap, I gently took the ribbon, gathered some of her hair, and tied them together.

It was an odd style, but she seemed to like it, so who was I to deny her some comfort.

"How are you feeling?" I probed gently.

"Lonely," she muttered unsurely, causing me to sigh. It would seem not waiting for her to wake up naturally, and leaving the bed alone was not the right choice.

Unfortunately, Artoria had come and visited me early, and gave me an idea of where Caster was, while telling me that Alistair and Vivian would be sleeping in.

I didn't know whether to feel bad for my son, or be envious at all the training he got, but knowing that he had been training throughout the night made me lean to the former.

Wrapping an arm around her, I pressed her into myself in a makeshift hug. "Want to go out and play?" I asked with some enthusiasm, as I'm fairly sure she'd say no if I didn't show any interest in going.

The meek nod I got in response was a good start, so I stopped the hug, put my arms under her armpits, and lifted her down to the floor.

"Can you go and get dressed alone?" I asked with a hint of skepticism, causing Sakura to seriously nod her head, which made me smile. "Good, I'll see you in a minute," I said while patting her back.

Understanding my words as a dismissal, she quickly left the room, causing the smile on my face to drop.

Sakura was cute, but her overall actions and body language made me feel sad.

She had been practically stuck to me for the past two days, refusing to do anything without my implicit permission, causing her to be a bit too cooped up. It was good that she wanted to go outside with me, as I feel some fresh air would do her some good, and she might even get the chance to interact with some children her age.

My only fear is that she'll not be able to properly connect with any of the children, as the things that worm did to her have made her incredibly introverted and a bit emotionally stunted.

It made me feel a bit reluctant that I had let Vivian keep the worm, as I am sure that I would have squished him long ago, after observing what he had done to such a cute little girl… Which was probably the reason why it was with her, and not with me.

That girl had a good head on her shoulders, as I'm sure that a few of the Clock Tower Lords would kick up a fuss if I killed him, without proving his crimes and presenting him with a 'fair' trial.

Ignoring the thoughts of the irritating Lords of the Clock Tower, I stood up and picked up my phone, pocketing it, before moving towards the entrance of the house.

Once I got there, I slid on a nice double breasted red checkered coat, pairing it with a red scarf, before sliding on one of my nicer ankle boots.

Knowing that it was relatively chilly outside, I looked over the available hats. I only had a few that were in red that I had brought, but unfortunately I had no more French berets, which would have been perfect, due to Alistair saying that they were unacceptable.

I have no idea what caused him to dislike the French so much, but it was amusing enough for me to humor him. After all, a nine year old demanding me to throw away my 'cheap French garbage clothing' was amusing to say the least.

Picking up the hat that closest resembled the French Beret, I placed a red Pillbox hat atop my head.

Looking at myself in the mirror, I gave a contented smile, moving the odd strand of hair to make myself look presentable.

Full red might have been a bit much, but I think it's for the best, as Sakura's odd hair color would attract a lot of attention, so it was for the best to be the center of attention instead, so as to not make her feel uncomfortable.

And what self respecting woman would say no to sprucing herself up.

Nodding with satisfaction, I made my way over to a chair, and sat myself down, waiting for Sakura.

Waiting patiently for a few minutes, it only took a little while for her to scamper over, wearing the clothes I had bought for her.

Quickly standing up, I picked up the jacket I had bought for her, and knelt down while presenting it for her to slip on.

She quietly threaded her arms through it, allowing me to zip it up for her.

Smiling, I picked up her shoes and placed them in front of her.

"Thank you," she said softly as she put on the shoes.

Standing back up, I extended a hand for her to grab, which she did unhesitatingly.

Giving her hand a light squeeze, I unlocked the door and opened it. Moving the two of us through it, I closed and locked the door behind us, before starting our little outing.

Leaving the property's premises, I glanced down at Sakura, who was looking around with clear interest. "Anywhere you'd like to go, Sakura?" I asked in a pleasant tone, causing the girl to look up at me and shake her head.

Fully focusing on her, I gave her a wry look. "Is that so?" I said in a questioning tone, before giving an over-exaggerated pout. "That's a shame, as I am new to Fuyuki, I was hoping for some help finding fun places to stay," I said in a sad tone.

At that, Sakura looked a bit panicked after 'upsetting' me, causing her to tug on my arm. "I can help! Don't be sad!" She exclaimed in a mildly panicked tone, causing me to dispel my fake pout.

"Really?" I said in a hopeful tone, causing the little girl to nod fervently. "Good! Let's go!" I said enthusiastically while pointing forwards with my freehand.

That seemed to do the trick, as she started to gently guide me.

To be completely honest, it was a bit amusing to be guided by a six year old child, but seeing as she was a local, it was certainly for the best.

As we moved out of the residential district, I felt that our little outing was a bit quiet, so I pointed at a structure that Sakura was just barely too short to look at. "What's that?" I asked with interest, causing her to try to look at where I was pointing, even going onto her tip-toes to get a glimpse.

She was just too precious.

'Noticing' her struggling, I let go of her and knelt down. "Let me help you," I said while placing my hands under her armpits, and hoisting her up while standing up.

"Up you go!" I said while carrying her, unceremoniously seating her atop my shoulders. 

Lowering my arms, I securely placed them on her legs, holding them like one would hold the straps of your backpack, allowing me to securely hold onto her.

With her new vantage point, I just pointed at a random building that looked a bit more interesting than the rest. But I was rather certain that it was in the shopping district. "That one!" I said with mild enthusiasm.

Sakura took a moment before replying, but her voice sounded a bit uneasy when she answered. "I don't know," she mumbled.

Humming lightly, I started to move forwards. "How about we explore it together then?" I suggested lightheartedly.

I felt her lean slightly more forwards, and she leaned against the back of my head. "Mhm, that sounds nice," she said gently, causing me to smile.

Picking up my pace, I started moving forwards. "Then let's go!"

~~Fate/False Order~~

Taking a bite out of a Takoyaki that Sakura had convinced me into buying for the two of us, I watched her gingerly look into her shopping bag.

It's always nice when problems can be mediated with some money. 

Sakura seemed to have a great interest in books, fairy tales specifically, but she leaned towards scary stories for some odd reason.

Other than that, we had secured her some sweets and increased her collection of ribbons from one to six.

Skewering another Takoyaki, I felt my phone start to buzz. Frowning slightly, I put the food back in its packet, and pulled out my phone.

The number displayed was not one I knew, but the number code on it told me all I needed to know. 

+39, the area code for the Vatican.

It was about time someone from that place got into contact with me.

Leaning into the bench, I glanced over at the playground filled with children playing, and glanced over at Sakura.

Tapping her on the shoulder, I got her to look up from her gifts to look up at me.

"You should go play a bit, it should be fun to play with some other children," I commented, causing her to look a bit hesitant,before nodding.

Raising a hand, I gave her head a light tousling, before gesturing for her to leave. "I'll stay here, go have fun," I said with a smile, causing the girl to hop down from her seat, and move towards the playground.

As she left, the smile on my face disappeared with her, causing me to quickly erect a privacy bounded field, meant to keep any sounds from leaking around me.

Clicking the accept button, I pressed the phone up to my ear.

"Who am I speaking to?" I asked sharply, not caring for their opinion after all the bullshit excuses they had sent my way.

I got a bout of gentle chuckling from the other end of the phone, sounding as if it came from an old man, causing my brow to twitch. "I believe the name 'Crown' should suffice," he said with a hint of amusement.

… It would seem I finally got one of the bigwigs to get down from their lofty thrones and speak with us mere mortals.

Though, if Altrouge's 'blackmail' had any real substance, then this 'Crown' was not human. Time to put that to the test

"I was hoping to speak to an actual person, not a glorified mouthpiece, Rat," I said with clear annoyance.

The silence from the other end was deafening, which made me feel that it was a good thing that Alistair had gotten Altrouge to give me some of the dirt she had on the Burial Agency, or rather specifically Merem Solomon.

Arguably the Church's biggest dirty secret, their own pet Dead Apostle Ancestor.

There was a sound of movement on the other end, before a much younger voice spoke up. "I'd be grateful if you didn't spread that information, Ms. Pendragon," came the tired voice of one Merem Solomon.

"And I'd like it if you and your clique stopped violating agreements made between the Association and your Church, yet you all don't seem to care. Meaning that we don't always get what we want," I bit back with annoyance.

I had finally gotten a big fish, arguably the biggest fish within the Burial Agency, and I would not settle for anything less than a shit ton of concessions when I had his metaphorical balls in my hands.

A slight sigh came from the other end, before he spoke up. "I apologise on the side of the Church for your inconveniences these past few days, but your report came at a bad time," he explained.

"We have recently gotten information on Nrvnqsr Chaos's movements, along with the knowledge that Arcueid Brunestud has reawakened. Both of them are moving towards Japan as well, and if the Princess is moving to Japan, it can only mean one thing," he said with a hint of weariness.

Fuck.

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, this whole thing just went from Shit Creek to Clusterfuck Cove.

The only reason Arcuid wakes up is due to hunting Roa, who is at the very least an Ancestor level Apostle, and a body hopper to boot.

I'm fairly sure Altrouge said something about Chaos wanting to hunt Arcuid, meaning that two Ancestor level Apostles and a True Ancestor are either in Japan, or heading to Japan.

I am suddenly a lot less pissed at being blown off by the Burial Agency, as they actually had a decent reason to ignore me.

But this information just overturned everything. While I'm not sure if Roa would come here, as the word of the Church violating their end of the bargain, and not having a proper presence here should not have spread yet.

Hopefully the knowledge of the chaos that it would cause, Roa won't come here, but Chaos might just come here, as the chance to consume a Heroic Spirit, and assimilating it into himself would be too tantalizing to ignore.

Case in point, this situation, even while ignoring the probably corrupted Grail, is completely fucked.

Raising a hand, I rubbed my temples, while giving out a shaky sigh. "I can understand that you had some issues on your side, but things aren't going much better over here," I said tiredly.

While I wanted to rip the Church a new asshole for the shit they pulled with their neutrality deal, right now, they needed to know about the Grail's status. If only to potentially get some help in either purifying the Grail, or dismantling the whole war, either are potential options right now.

"How so?" Came the mildly interested voice of Merem.

"The Grail system is malfunctioning, as in it is capable of summoning Anti-Heroes, case in point, the witch Medea has been summoned and has gone rogue," I explained, before inhaling a deep breath.

"And we have reason to believe that a Servant from the last war, Angra Mainyu, or rather the Zoroastrian god of darkness and evil, has infected the Grail with All the World's Evil, meaning that the Grail should be incredibly unstable."

Merem didn't speak, but I could hear papers being frantically shuffled about on the other end, which caused me to feel a hint of relief.

The Grail, something capable of performing miracles, even reaching the Root, malfunctioning is a massive fucking problem, so hearing him being a bit frantic makes me feel a bit better.

After a minute of silent shuffling of documents, Merem finally spoke up. "We are already spread thin, but I am willing to send one of our new members to act as a new supervisor, and to help with checking in on the Grail," he said seriously, but his words caused me to frown.

"A new member? Shouldn't an older and more experienced one be supplied instead?" I asked with a hint of steel.

"There is no need to worry, she is a rising star, and what she lacks in age, she more than makes up for in strength and dedication," he said placatingly, causing me to sigh.

Getting a greenhorn was not a good thing, but if they are spread as thin as to only send us a newbie, then it says something.

"Fine, when can I expect her to arrive?" I questioned in a resigned tone.

"She's currently out of the country, but I'll get word out, and she'll be in Fuyuki by tomorrow morning," he hurriedly explained, causing me to nod absentmindedly.

"Fine, but know that I am not staying here for much longer, at the earliest I, and my family, will leave in two days," I explained coolly, earning a hum of understanding from the other end of the phone.

"That is understandable, and rather commendable that you are not leaving immediately," he complimented, earning a slight scoff from me.

"I'd leave now if it wasn't for the fact that I find it more important to check if the suspicions of an evil Divine Spirit trying to resurrect itself are true. If you people were already here, then I'd just have dumped it onto them and left on the first plane," I said with a hint of amusement.

Merem gave an amused hum. "I can not fault you for that, and I am thankful for the help, the Church will remember this," he said placatingly.

Rolling my eyes, I spoke up. "Uh-huh, know that you are still not off the hook for the stunt the Church has pulled here, so don't expect to get off scot free," I said with a hint of amusement, earning a dejected sigh from the Apostle Ancestor.

"I was hoping you'd let that go, but I understand your position," he said tiredly, before continuing. "While this has been an illuminating and productive talk, I must hang up now, as I need to inform the higher ups, and send a missive to agent 'Bow' to make her way over," he said in a polite tone, causing me to nod.

"Good, then I shall be in contact," I said seriously, effectively bidding him farewell, and hanging up.

Sighing, I dispelled the Bounded Field, and pocketed my phone.

This just got a lot worse…

Looking over the playground, I saw Sakura standing alone, not playing with any of the other children.

Sighing lightly, I pushed myself up, picked up the shopping bags, and made my way over to her, while plastering a smile on my face.

I'd deal with this later, for now I needed to make sure Sakura was doing well.

After all, Rider and Artoria would be visiting later, so they could be informed then.

~~Fate/False Order~~

The sound of the doorbell ringing caused me to lower the book I was holding for Sakura, and look up.

Understanding what was about to happen, Sakura hopped out of my lap and looked up at me. "I can open the door," she suggested cutely, causing me to smile back.

"Sure, I'll sit and wait for you to bring in our guests," I agreed, causing her to nod, and put a serious look on her face, before moving towards the entrance.

As she left the room, I let out a sigh of relief, and quickly put a bookmark to note the page we were on, and closed the book, putting it on the table.

Sakura had… unique tastes.

After being violated, and traumatised by worms and bugs, she can somehow stomach reading a book about a half-spider woman hunting men, and eating them.

Safe to say, Japanese legends were really odd and creepy.

It only took a few moments until I saw Artoria enter the room, accompanied by Sakura, who looked just a hint accomplished after completing her task.

As she looked at me, I felt that her almost expressionless face looked like it was asking for praise.

"Good job, Sakura," I said with a proud smile, earning the smallest of smiles from the little girl, before I looked up at Saber. "And welcome back," I greeted her in English, earning a nod from the Servant.

"I am glad to be back, may I know if Rider and his Master are coming?" She probed, while walking towards a chair to sit down on.

Smiling, I patted the spot next to me for Sakura to sit down, before answering Saber's question. "Yes, they should be here any moment," I explained, just as Sakura climbed up onto the spot next to me.

Nodding, Artoria looked around the room, before looking at me. "And your son and Vivian?" She probed, causing me to sigh. "I assume that they are still sleeping," I said with a hint of embarrassment.

I had meant to wake them up earlier, but I was a bit too engrossed reading aloud for Sakura, as while creepy, the Legend of Jorogumo was rather interesting.

Hearing that, she started to push herself up from her seat. "Then I shall bring them here," she said, causing me to frantically wave my arms.

"Nonono, I'll do it, it's my son after all," I exclaimed, causing her to raise a brow, before nodding her head, getting herself comfortable once more.

Smiling, I stood up, and gave Sakura a smile. "I'll be back in a few minutes, have fun," I explained gently, earning a nod from the little girl, who looked over at Artoria.

Smiling to myself, I made my way out, quickly slipped on some shoes, and walked over to my son's house.

Standing in front of the door, I rang the doorbell, and waited for a moment.

Not receiving any answer after waiting for a minute, I rang the doorbell twice more, getting the same result.

Frowning, I opened the door, using the spare key I had… liberated from Alistair, I entered the house.

Not bothering to take off my shoes, I quickly headed towards Alistair's room.

Knocking on the door, I waited for a moment, not receiving any sign of life in response.

Now I was starting to feel a bit nervous.

Alistair was not a heavy sleeper, and while I don't know anything about Vivian, I'd like to think that she'd wake up too after all this noise.

So while feeling a bit uneasy, I roughly opened the door, and practically rushed into the room.

The second I entered, I saw a sparsely decorated room, with a large double bed in its center.

In it was a half-naked Alistair, who was only slightly covered by the blanket, as the rest was used to cocoon the person sleeping next to him.

I saw that Alistair was still sleeping, as his chest slowly rose up and down, while the person in the 'cocoon' was awake, as it was wiggling around and making ruffling noises.

Feeling a wave of relief at confirming that they were here, I fixed the two with an amused look. "Good evening," I said with a hint of amusement.

As if that was a signal, Vivian's head popped out from the blanket cocoon, and fixed me with an annoyed look. "Morning," she said with an undertone of displeasure.

Raising a brow, I was about to speak up, but stopped as I saw Alistair stir.

As he blinked his eyes open, he looked at me with confusion. "Mom?" He questioned hesitantly, causing me to roll my eyes. "Yes, now get dressed, the two of you were meant to be up already," I lightly chastised them, not being too harsh, as they had had a long night.

Alistair merely rolled his eyes, and pushed himself out of bed, wincing slightly when standing up. Looking a bit reluctant, he moved over to the dresser, and grabbed a few pieces of clothing.

"Sure, I'll get dressed quickly," he said in a tired tone, causing me to give him a happy nod. "Good, I'll see you in my living room," I said with approval.

Alistair gave a slight scoff as he moved past me, grumbling some nonsense about it technically being his living room.

Silly boy, he should know better than to argue with a British person about ownership of items or property, it's a conversation greater people have tried, and all have failed to achieve anything.

As I turned to look at Vivian, any words I had in my throat died, as the look of absolute annoyance and displeasure I got from her shocked me for a moment.

She looked as if I had robbed her of something precious, and she was most certainly not amused.

But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, causing me to blink with mild confusion.

"I'll get ready soon, you can go back," she said in a mildly strained tone, and the twitchy smile she gave me made me know that what I had seen earlier was not something I had imagined.

Nodding, I quickly left the room, closing the door behind me.

Frowning slightly, I moved through the house, and left for my own.

I was a bit curious what I had done to annoy her to that extent, but I'd have to shelve that thought for now, though I would be asking her later.

Entering my home, I heard a booming laughter echo through the house, followed by someone loudly whining. 

It would seem Iskandar was here.

Quickly moving towards the living room, I widened my eyes in surprise at the sight I was seeing.

Sakura was sitting atop a smiling Rider's shoulder, who had one of Sakura's new ribbons tied to his beard, as the Servant was trying to tie onto his Master's hair.

Artoria was sitting in her chair, eating some of the Takoyaki I had bought for her, not that she knew that, but whatever.

She too had another ribbon on her head, this one was not blue like the one she usually wore, but one she had tied in the same style as Sakura.

As I entered, none but Artoria noticed me, and the look on my face must have been telling, she sent me a light smile. "Sakura offered me another ribbon after noticing this one," she said while pointing at the blue one holding her bun in place.

"Rider said that it was only fair that he too got one, and Sakura was more than happy to give him one," she explained while pointing at the hulking mass of muscles that was Rider, who had finally managed to tie the ribbon onto his resigned looking Master.

At the sound of Saber's voice, the three turned to look at me.

Rider looked smug, and gave me an amused smile, while Sakura looked surprisingly shy from atop Rider's shoulder when looking at me.

Seeing this, I couldn't help myself.

Pointing at myself, I looked at Sakura with a pout. "Where's mine?"

—

13 Hours, 26 Minutes And 51 Seconds Until Zero 

—

----

A/N

Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I was at Grandma's funeral, and I was helping my father with his speech, so I was busy.

But ignoring that depressing topic, I thought it prudent to give a more happy chapter for Christmas, as that is what Christmas is about?

So Merry Christmas!

And now back to the chapter, thoughts? Ideas? Predictions? Time is ticking, and we are getting closer to Vol.3...

https://discord.gg/Rn6Zrw8N

Now I'm tired as it is 6PM! So have a nice day, or at least one better than mine, and send me some stones or some shit (Not literal shit), as I need motivation!