-Amelias PoV-
-October 6th, 1999-
Amelia groaned and turned over in bed as the morning sun peeked through the window of her room inside the Lafaire estate making her pull the covers over her head having been been up until almost 4AM. She had been weaving a ritual which, naturally, meant that her voice was completely shot due having to hit and hold certain notes. Stretching her fingers under her bedsheets she winced feeling the persistent ache that came from performing for as long as she did. Blearily opening her eyes and pulling the sheets down a bit she she glared at her bedside clock seeing that it was a couple minutes before her alarms were supposed to go off,
"great…."
She muttered reaching out to preemptively turn off her alarms for that morning and immediately pulling her arm back under the bedsheets as she shivered from the ambient cold in the room. Warmth secured again she closed her eyes as she did the morning routine she had been doing for almost five years now ever since Micheal and Jeanne Alter had both vanished under Glastonbury. Tuning into the wards and bounded fields to check the overnight reports she felt her chest hurt as she once again saw that her son nor Jeanne had come home.
A knocking on her bedroom door pulled her out of her quickly spiraling thoughts as she heard Desmond's voice,
"Good morning Madame Lafaire. Eleanor sent over a familiar to ask if you still wanted her and Alison to come over for the… event next week."
Amelia sat up in bed, pulling her blankets around herself to keep some warmth around herself, and sighed as she looked around her room sleepily. It had basically remained unchanged up until the spring and summer of 1995 which is when she added several photos to her photo shelf. Wrapping the blankets around herself she got out of bed to walk over to the shelf and found herself looking at one in particular, smiling to herself as she reached out to pick up the framed photo.
It was a photo with no real composition or planning as the people within it were all in the middle of something or another in the kitchen downstairs. She looked at herself noticing she was clearly trying not to laugh in the photo as a woman with ash white hair and golden eyes had started chasing after a man with black-white hair and ice blue eyes while a small purple haired girl with purple eyes watched on laughing. The white haired woman was clearly annoyed as she was yelling and trying to hit the man with a creme bag while the man had dodged and was running around the central island to avoid her.
I hope they're both safe…
She put the photo of the only Bastille day she had shared with both Micheal and Jeanne d'Arc Alter back onto its shelf before she heard Desmond knock again. She sighed,
"I still want her and Alison to come yes. She's my sister as well as Sakura and Micheals aunt-"
She caught herself on saying her sons name and immediately swallowed the ball of emotions in her throat,
"Rather… I'd like her to be here since- I don't want to celebrate his 25th birthday with just the three of us…"
She trailed off and could imagine the butlers understanding smile as he said,
"Of course madame. I'll let her know immediately. Sakura is-"
"Let the girl sleep Desmond. She and I were both up late with that ritual even if I sent her to bed before I finished it."
She heard a hum of agreement and then,
"And the ritual itself?"
She paused,
"Nothing… Just like last year."
Silence from behind her door as she firmed her jaw and looked at the photo again,
"Wherever they are… They'll be fine. They both will be fine. They're both too stubborn to end up dying on each other."
Chuckling from Desmond,
"You are correct in that. Shall I get your breakfast ready then?"
"Nope. We'll make breakfast together."
"Of course."
She sensed more than heard Desmond walk away from her door as she sighed and got started on her morning routine. Almost as soon as she left her bedroom some time later the door to one of the rooms down the hall opened and a still half asleep Sakura Lafaire wearing pajamas walked out yawning tiredly,
"Morning Sakura!"
"Morning Mrs. Ame-"
She smiled as the girl caught herself and blushed a bit,
"Morning…. Mom."
"You don't have to force it you know. I'm still perfectly fine with whatever you decide to call me. You've been living here for over five years now anyway and have made astounding progress."
Sakura smiled and hummed a bit before she quickened her pace to walk beside her as they went down the stairs. She noticed that the girls fingers were still bandaged and frowned,
"Remind me to look at your fingers in the infirmary later. That was your first real time doing anything that intense with the family magic."
Sakura looked down and flexed her fingers mostly hiding a wince as she curled them in slightly,
"I know you trained me but…"
"Actually doing it is different though isn't it?"
the girl nodded and sighed,
"I just wish we got something back from it though. I just- I just want both of them to be okay."
Amelia paused and wrapped an arm around the girls shoulders as they walked downstairs into the kitchen to find Desmond standing in front of the stove cooking some eggs,
"Figured I'd get a head start. How are you doing Sakura?"
Sakura rolled her eyes and pouted at him before smiling,
"I'm fine you nagging old man~ scooch over. My fingers aren't so injured that I can't help flip an egg or two."
Desmond chuckled as Sakura pushed him out of the way and took over the eggs. He gave Amelia a look only for her to shake her head a bit before setting about making coffee for the three of them. Soon the kitchen was full of happy banter and good smells as they made breakfast for themselves and eventually everyone had an diced pepper and onion omelet with turkey bacon, hash browns, and a slice of toast. They all stood around the island in the center of the kitchen eating contentedly when,
"Do you think he's getting enough to eat? Wherever he is?"
Amelia looked up at Sakura to see her staring at her food with a complex look on her face. Before she could speak Desmond chuckled,
"I'm sure of it. The man's never once missed a meal either before and after his coma. Don't forget he has someone just as stubborn with him to make sure he does eat."
Sakura smiled a bit,
"yeah… I guess you're right. So whats the plan for today? More training or…?"
Amelia blew out her cheeks and glanced at Desmond who nodded at her. She looked back at Sakura,
"The plan for today is to take it off and just do our own thing like we do every year. So thats unchanged. This week however is different for a couple reasons."
"Oh? What are those reasons then?"
"You've heard me talk about my sister right? Eleanor?"
Sakura nodded and then frowned,
"Eleanor… Pendragon right? I still can't see you being related to a family like that if I'm being honest."
Amelia chuckled,
"Means that I'm doing my job correctly. No, I invited her and her daughter over to come celebrate Micheals 25th birthday with us."
Sakura went from cautious to visibly annoyed immediately but just as quickly masked her annoyance,
"Oh? I've never heard of or met the Pendragon Heir Apparent."
Amelia frowned while Desmond just raised his eyebrows,
"Sakura. I know you're possessive of Micheal but-"
"I'm not possessive of him."
The response was immediate as she watched the girl blush a little. She blew out her cheeks,
"Just… try to be nice to Alison. Not saying you have to be friends with her but don't…"
"Why? What does she have to do with Micheal anyway?"
"She…," Amelia shook her head and gave the young girl opposite her a firm look, "Whatever Alison Pendragon had to do with Micheal is irrelevant. You are to behave yourself while they are here. Understood?"
"….Fine. I won't start anything."
Amelias danger sense faintly prickled as she watched Sakura Lafaire sullenly continuing to eat her breakfast before going back to her own food.
-The Following Week-
"They're both a bit possessive of him it seems."
Amelia stared at the carnage from behind the bounded field she had hastily erected and briefly wondered if they'd actually try to kill each other as she watched Sakura Lafaire and Alison Pendragon fight each other. She looked back at Eleanor who winked at her as the bounded field shook a little from the small war going on outside of it. Looking back at the fight she watched as Alison used the divine construct she had contracted with shoot forward to slice apart the hunks of stone that Sakura had launched. The pieces of cut stone kept going and detonated barely two meters away from the blonde girl as Sakura drew her bow across the strings of her mystic code with a resounding chordal sound.
The cloud of dust cleared showing a mostly untouched Alison standing behind a golden barrier while Sakura adjusted the tempo and pitch of her music to cause meter long icicles to form in the air above her. They quickly sharpened themselves into needlepoints that she then launched at her enemy by playing series of quick staccato notes. Alison wore a furious look on her face as she broke apart the barrier and made a hand sign, splitting her construct into four single-meter long green crystalline spears which she then fired at the incoming icicles with a flick of her fingers. The crystal daggers looked to have easily pierced through the incoming ice only it became apparent that they hadn't sliced through the ice but instead the ice itself had briefly come apart to let the daggers fly through unimpeded.
Both sets of projectiles soared at the girl's enemy which had Alison reinforcing her legs and slamming her heel into the ground to cause a wall of stone to erupt upward and intercept the icicles while Sakura merely played a series of off tune notes causing both a layered pink bounded field to appear in front of her as well as making the daggers start to fly off course as the mana in the notes interfered with Alisons control over the construct. Those same lances still impacted the layered bounded field though, managing to break through the first two layers, and then were stopped by the third layer.
Amelia blew out her cheeks as she watched the green spears vanish into golden motes and braced herself as mana surged off of both girls,
"So restrain them and seal their mana then?"
"Sounds good. If nothing else they'll be great friends after all this. Reminds me of us growing up."
She gave her sister a annoyed look only to get a smirk back as Eleanor tapped into the Pendragon crest causing golden reinforcement lines to crawl up her legs. Amelia prepped a notation spell meant to interfere with mana control and the inner ear while she reinforced her own legs before she dropped the bounded field and quickly whistle-casted the prepped notes. The response from the girls was immediate as the mana they had gathered around themselves was immediately thrown into chaos causing Alison to fall to one knee and vomit while Sakura dropped her mystic code and slammed her hands over her ears to fall to her knees, yelling in pain.
Amelia shot over to Sakura and got her restrained with stones before she placed a hand between her shoulder blades, partially sealing her mana, while Eleanor did the same to Alison. Amelia glared down at Sakura who just turned her head enough to look back at her looking both guilty and angry,
"I believe you promised me you wouldn't start anything."
"SHE'S THE ONE WHO STARTED IT."
Amelia flicked her eyes up to see that Alison had yelled the same thing at the same time and caught her sister eyes. Even from the distance they were at she could see the others womans eyebrows raise in appraisal. Amelia sighed and looked down at the girl seeing she was struggling against the stone a bit. Amelia constricted the restraints slightly and the girls struggling stopped,
"You are grounded for the next month young lady and I'm sealing your mana until then as well."
Sakura Lafaire fell silent at this and looked away,
"….Fine."
~~~~~~~~~~~
-Eight years later-
-August 12th, 2007-
-Sakuras PoV-
"Ugh Mom- I'm going to be fine. Stop worrying."
Sakura Lafaire huffed as she sat next to Amelia who just smiled serenely and kept trying to adjust the red, blue, and white ribbon wrapped around her ponytail. She groaned a bit as she rolled her shoulder still feeling the series of bruises that Alison had left there with Carnwennan during their spar a little over a week earlier a few hours before the Pendragon Heir had left to go to the Clock Tower before her. Amelia noticed what she said and gave her a pointed look,
"Yes and I just flashed back almost fifteen years to when your older brother said the same thing to me right before he utterly demolished and humiliated another student."
Sakura smirked at this but quickly arranged her face into one of neutral interest as Amelia narrowed her eyes at her,
"Don't you know that women are more mature than men? I promise you, I'll be well behaved."
She said with a sweet smile only for Amelia to groan,
"Why do I feel more nervous now that you've said that?"
Sakura laughed a bit and stared out the window of the car as Desmond drove both of them through the channel tunnel. Idly adjusting the ribbon keeping her ponytail in place she caught her mom looking at her strangely making her tilt head at her,
"Yes?"
Amelia shook her head and pretended to wipe her eyes clear on a handkerchief before looking at her slyly,
"You've just… you've just grown into a beautiful young woman is all and my heart hurts for the men whose hearts you're going to break."
She glared at her mother who just snorted a single laugh before smiling at her,
"Do be sure to write while you there okay? Also try not to get Alison involved in anything? The last thing I need is my sister ringing me at three in the morning again saying that you and her strung up some poor bastard from a street lamp because they tried to hit on the two of you."
Sakura huffed and looked away,
"Yeah and I still… thought of Micheal in the way I used to when that happened. We both did but… I've had to move on and so has she."
They fell silent at that as Desmond slowed down the car upon approaching the English side of the tunnel. After giving their IDs they were on their way with Sakura staring from her spot in the car blinking at the buildings right as her mobile phone beeped signalling it had connected to the UKs Cellular service. She pulled her flip phone out of her skirts pocket and flicked it open with a finger to check her messages as Amelia huffed,
"Strange how much stuff in the normal world has turned into its own form of magecraft almost. Speaking of, you do remember who your homeroom teacher is right?"
Amelia smiled in a way that made Sakura nervous as she pulled up the email she had gotten about her homeroom assignment as well as her lodgings and everything else. She reread it,
"It says my homeroom teacher is…. Lord El Melloi II. He is the current Lord of Modern Magecraft Theory and his classroom is full of people who have gone on to do incredible things… How did you even get me into his class anyway? When I asked Alison about it she about lost it."
Amelia chuckled and reached into her purse to pull out a thick beige envelope. She handed it to her and she turned it over in her hand as her eyebrows shot up seeing it was sealed with the official Lafaire Seal. She looked over at her mother who winked at her,
"Do let the good Lord El Melloi II know that he and his wonderful hooded assistant are welcome at the house anytime."
Sakura looked between her mother and the envelope as her brow furrowed,
"….You're not trying to hit on this Lord are you?"
Amelia openly laughed at this causing Desmond to look into the rearview mirror with his own smile. Eventually the woman calmed down but was wiping the mirthful tears from her eyes while still chuckling a bit,
"Not even close. I planned to get married the one time and did just that. No that envelope is your guarantee into his class and homeroom while also hopefully…. Helping avoid any complications with another student that I have heard is in said homeroom."
Sakura gave Amelia her full attention at this. She knew that tone and knew it meant that the woman was holding back on information. Before she could pry her mom open Desmond rolled the divider down,
"Alright Sakura. We're about to pull into the Clock Tower parking lot. You sure you have everything? Even with the tunnel it might take a bit to get anything to you."
Narrowing her eyes at her mother she stuffed the letter into her bag then looked at Desmond and nodded as she pat the violin case sitting beside her on the seat,
"Yeah I have everything Desmond. Thanks again for helping with everything."
"Of course. I've arranged for the rest of your luggage to be delivered to your room later this afternoon so your free to explore a bit before you have to go to your dorm room."
Amelia sighed and leaned her head back into her seat closing her eyes as Desmond turned the car into a carpark nearby the Clocktower building and drove down to the very bottom. He pulled out a small carved crystal and briefly pulsed it with mana as they drove towards what looked like a solid wall. The wall, however shimmered, and turned transparent as the Lafaires drove into the car park reserved for the important mage families.
He parked the car, opened the doors for both of them, and Sakura stepped out onto the pavement making sure to get her violin case and bag as well. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she turned around to see Amelia holding out her arms for a hug. Smiling a bit she walked into the hug and embraced the woman who she considered her real mother as they held each other for a few seconds before letting go. Amelia held out Sakura by the shoulders and gave her a once over as she furrowed her brow,
"And you're sure you want to make your entrance into the Clock tower at large wearing all of this?"
Sakura looked down at her outfit. In addition to the bow holding her waist length purple hair up in a high ponytail she was wearing a weathered jet black band t-shirt that had been turned into a sleeveless crop top to expose a bit of her midriff along with an even more cropped zip up hoodie. Adding to this was a semi-leather pleated skirt that went down to her mid-thigh that she had paired with fishnet semi-opaque leggings and leather heelboots that went up to just below her knees. It was, naturally, all black and purples for the fabric and leather while all the metal was either gold or gold colored,
"I'm wearing the colors and clothing style of the woman who saved me along with Micheal. Yes. I'm sure."
Amelia's hesitation vanished in an instant to be replaced with an almost furious pride as she nodded,
"Do your best in there and do all of us proud."
She nodded and hugged Amelia one more time before turning around and walking to the elevator quickly finding the program in her phone she needed to pull up her ID before she held it to a slate black plastic box offset from the doors. They beeped and slid open as she stepped into the elevator, took a deep breath, and turned around in time to wave to both Amelia and Desmond before the doors closed.
Thumbing the button for the main floor she felt the elevator smoothly slide upwards for a bit before the doors dinged and opened to show her an atrium full of easily several hundred people. She stepped off the elevator and looked around her mouth partially open before someone yelled her name,
"Sakura! Over here!"
She looked around and grinned when she saw an all too familiar blonde ahoge standing near one of the doors leading out before she caught sight of the rest of Alison Pendragon who was waving at her. Sakura made her way over to her, noting the Pendragon Heir apparent was wearing blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and sneakers, then smirked as the blondes mouth fell open while looking her up and down,
"Oh you look awesome. Also who did your hair! Its gorgeous! No wait." Alison shook her head and refocused on her causing Sakura to narrow her eyes, "I… need some help."
"The last time you said you needed 'help', we wound up in the bottom of some crypt at the ass end of Scotland for three days. What now."
Alison winced at this but waved for her to follow. Sakura followed her until they got to a hallway with no people at which point Alison turned around and looked at her with puppydog eyes,
"I need a second for the sparring ring."
Groaning she massaged her temple with her fingers trying to ward off the headache she knew this would bring as she glared at the blonde,
"Who the hell did you piss off this time?"
"Okay this time it actually wasn't my fault at all-"
"Bullshit."
She folded her arms and furthered her glare as Alison winced again,
"Okay so I got here about a week ago as you know and inbetween then and now I have been challenged to a spar by easily seventy plus people purely because people want to try and 'beat a Pendragon'. Its getting exhausting so I finally snapped and accepted the most recent one not realizing that it was a pair of people who then told me that they don't fight without the other. Which means I need a second so I'm not fighting 1v2."
Tilting her head at this she thought to herself before asking,
"Are they paired magus?"
"As in do they both wield two halves of a singular magic? No idea but when I snapped at them I raised my voice a little at which point I looked around and saw two people openly staring at me like they were seeing a ghost before turning around and running away."
"So… okay. Wait a damn second. Back up."
Sakura shook her head as her phone beeped causing her to pause and pull it out of her pocket to see it was an email from admin. Frowning she opened her phone and read the email as Alison bounced in place but after getting about halfway through the email her eyes widened and she looked at the Pendragon Heir who paused,
"Your fights been canceled. Check your phone."
Alison furrowed her brow and pulled her touchscreen phone out of her bag as Sakura noticed the miniature Excalibur charm hanging off of the bottom of the phones case. She opened her email app and then openly swore causing Sakura to raise her eyebrows,
"The Pendragon Heir Apparent has quite the sailors mouth on her it seems~"
"Gag on a dildo Lafaire. What the fuck do they mean we have to go meet with a Clocktower Professor within the next hour and who the hell could it be to override a sparring match?"
Sakura snorted a single laugh at Alisons turn of phrase and kept reading the email only to pause as she clicked down and saw the signature at the bottom of it. She narrowed her eyes and was thankful for her level of mana control because she felt her mana spike through it regardless due to her sudden nerves. She once again remembered the envelope her mother had given her sitting in her bag as Alison picked up on her nervousness,
"What."
She blew out a shaky breath and swallowed nervously before looking at her friend,
"It would seem that the Clocktower professor in question is also my homeroom teacher. Lord El Melloi II overrode your duel."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"This…. Can't be the right place… can it?"
Sakura looked around at the dilapidated buildings as Alison flexed the fingers on her casting hand when her gaze suddenly focused on a rat that briefly came out of a hole in one of the nearby buildings. She ignored the rat to look at the paper map she had been given again and angled it so Alison could read it too. They had followed it to the letter and even scanned it for glamours or charms before Sakura sighed and looked up to see the rat still looking at them. She narrowed her eyes at it and activated her mana sense on instinct,
"No. This is the right place Alison… We're being watched."
Alison stiffened in place before she moved her casting hand about to summon Carnwennan when Sakura quickly grabbed her wrist stopping her. She stared at the rat for a few more seconds then,
"If you're done staring at us through your familiar we'd like to be shown to where Lord El Melloi II's classroom is. He says he needs to see us."
She watched as the rat nodded twice and vanished back into the hole in the side of the building while Alison let out a shaky breath. She looked over at the other woman,
"Don't be so quick to pull out your trump card like that. I would have thought that your mom taught you better than that."
Alison glared at her,
"And I wouldn't have to if I had my knives on me except they're back in my dorm room because I wasn't expecting to have to come to Slur street of all places today."
Sakura hummed a bit and then noticed that a door into one of the buildings had opened further down the street. Adjusting her bag on her shoulder and firming her grip on her violin case she walked forward with Alison close behind her. They got to the building and she looked up above the door to read the metal plaque above it,
"'Department of Modern Magecraft Theory'. This is it…"
She looked down from the board and at the open door wondering if they should just walk in when they heard an explosion from within the building. Alison reinforced herself and shot forward first cracking the stones under her, having always been the faster to cast of the two of them, with Sakura close behind as they entered the main hall ready to help or fight if needed only for a young blonde man to come staggering out into the room from a nearby hallway with smoke curling off his clothes. He was waving his hand in front of his face and coughing slightly before he caught sight of them.
"oh wow…"
Sakura slowly slid out of her combat stance as the blonde man openly stared at them. She narrowed her eyes about to ask what happened when another man practically flew into the first one blowing him through a nearby wall causing the first man to shout in anger.
"uhhhhh…."
Alison said dumbfounded as she looked at Sakura who just mirrored her look back right as a girl with pink hair and an eyepatch wearing with a dress that had too many frills for Sakuras tastes came out of the hallway as well with her fists clenched,
"YOU IDIOTS. THE BUILDING'S ALREADY RICKETY ENOUGH WITHOUT-"
She paused as she caught sight of Sakura and Alison before a smile broke out across her face. She strode over to them confidently and held out her hand,
"Yvette L. Lehrman. Student of El Melloi classroom and spy for the neutral faction."
Sakura blinked and shook her hand,
"Sakura.... Lafaire. Is- Is this… normal for you guys?"
She looked behind Yvette to see both blonde men staggering out of the hole they made in the wall. One started laughing while the other was dusting himself off and clearly forcing himself to look annoyed at the other ones antics,
"Do you mean the other people in Lord El Melloi IIs class being like this or the whole atmosphere with the area were in?"
"Both?" Alison ventured as Yvette held her hand out to shake hers as well, "Oh. Alison Pendragon. So-"
"GOD DAMMIT FLAT YOU IDIOT. YOU GOT DUST IN EVERYTHING. INCLUDING MY HAIR."
Sakura and Alison both blinked as a brunette girl came storming out of the hallway and grabbed a fistful of the shorter blonde mans shirt to pull him down to her eye level only for him to openly laugh,
"I can't tell any difference though Radia. Also-"
Her eyes widened as circuits flared to life on the brunettes arm before she flung the blonde man back down the hallway followed by another crash as he impacted somewhere along it. Soon enough more people were walking out of the hallway all looking slightly disheveled including one woman with black hair and a red hoodie who Sakura thought she had seen somewhere before followed by a man with red hair who noticed them and immediately froze in place.
"I assume that guy with the red hair is one of the people who saw you before and ran off."
Sakura said looking behind her at Alison who just frowned at the man,
"Him and the girl with the black hair and wearing the red hoodie next to him."
She said distractedly as the man with the red hair slowly walked over. He reached out,
"...Saber?"
Alison and Sakura looked at each other right as they heard a loud voice from behind them,
"ALRIGHT, WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT."
They watched as the man looked past them with a sheepish look on his face,
"Ah. Erm… Hello Professor Charisma."
Sakura turned around on the spot to see who the man with the red hair could even be talking about and her mouth fell open as she laid eyes on another man with an angular tired face and flawless straight black hair that was almost as long as her own when it was down. He was wearing a brown suit jacket with a black button up shirt along with what looked like leather jeans leading into black shoes.
This new mans eye twitched,
"Kojioka. My name is not 'Professor Charisma' nor is it any of the other ridiculous things I've been called. It is El Melloi II and-"
"Welcome back Sir! How was your trip!"
Sakura watched as the man sighed, ignored the voice of that Flat person, and then seemed to notice both of them for the first time. He frowned,
"Neither of you are my students. Who- Ah! Grey thank you again for your help with that."
A girl wearing a grey cloak with the hood pulled up managed to get by El Melloi even with her arms full of filled paper bags but she froze and seemed to start shaking upon seeing them. El Melloi quickly took note and moved to stand between them and the girl,
"Mary! Show these two guests to my office please!"
He looked at the two of them again,
"Sorry but I'll be able to talk to both of you in a bit."
A woman with straight blonde hair managed to squeeze through the crowd of people that had gathered and motioned to both of them. They looked at each other and followed her as she led them up some stairs and down another hallway. They were all silent for several seconds before,
"Lots of…. colorful characters in here it seems."
Alison said cautiously causing the woman to laugh and look back at them with a wink,
"Yes. Lord El Melloi II tends to teach in a very unorthodox manner which leads to similarly unorthodox people attending his classes. My name is Mary Lil Fargo. Pleasure to meet both of you."
"Alison Pendragon. The pleasure is mine."
"Sakura Lafaire. I- What… happened back there? We both were told to meet with Lord El Melloi II so we get to this street and then eventually find ourselves outside of the building when we heard an explosion from inside it."
Mary chuckled a bit,
"That was a result from something a few students wanted to try while the Professor was out of the classroom. Don't worry about the building being damaged either, it all gets fixed. Here we are! Feel free to go on in and wait for the Professor."
Mary stopped in front of an oak door with a plaque on it that had the Professors name written on it. She turned, smiled at them, and then walked past them back to the main area.
"So… Do we go in?" Sakura asked after a minute of silence looking over at Alison who was examining the door with her mana sight. She flicked her glowing green eyes to her,
"What just break into a Lords office? Yeah, no. I'd rather stay alive and in one piece. Its bizarre though I can't seem to detect any bounded fields on this door… You don't think he's managed to make them undetectable do you?"
"I mean... he is a Lord so…."
They stood there for a few more minutes before they heard footsteps behind them and they turned around to see El Melloi II pausing at other end of the hallway. He blew out his cheeks and walked towards them,
"Apologies for all of that. Now then,"
He walked forward to the door and pulled out a completely normal key that he inserted into the lock and twisted. Upon opening the door immediately the smell of cigar smoke hit Sakuras nose causing her to cough a bit while waving her hand in front of her face as El Melloi II walked into his office. Alison followed him in immediately and Sakura was right behind her.
What struck Sakura first about Lord El Melloi II's office was that it was somehow incredibly messy and very clean at the same time. There were stacks of papers sitting on tables alongside a series of books that had more bookmarks than pages while two sofas sat off center of the middle of the room to allow for a desk to sit in front of some windows one of which El Melloi was opening. Sitting between the two sofas was a coffee table and what looked like a half eaten meal sitting on a plate.
"So… Lord El Melloi?"
She started asking only for the man to shudder,
"Please add 'II' to my title. I'm not… enough to bear the title as it is."
Sakura pursed her lips about to amend her sentence when Alison spoke up and held out her phone accusingly,
"Why did you cancel the sparring match I was going to have? I would have wiped the floor with them!"
She sighed and gave her friend a tired look while El Melloi II stiffened from behind his desk as he seemed to see Alison for the first time. He came around the desk to get right in front of her as he leaned down to stare into her eyes. Alison stiffened in place but held his gaze with her arms folded. Eventually El Melloi II stood back up and breathed out what Sakura could only describe as a sigh of existential relief,
"Oh thank fuck you're not her."
Was all he said before he staggered to one of the sofas and fell face first onto it right as the girl with the grey cloak came into the room.
~~~~~~~~~
"So…. Your name is Grey?"
Sakura asked hesitantly as the hooded girl poured her some tea while pointedly avoiding Alisons view. It had taken some quick thinking on both of their parts to convince her that they hadn't done anything to El Melloi II but after she had checked his vitals and saw he was just sleeping she relaxed. Not completely though as the fact remained she still wouldn't look Alison in the eye and did her best to not let either of them peek under her hood,
"Ye- Yes. Thats- My name is Grey."
Her voice was quiet as she finished pouring everyones tea and sat down in a nearby chair while glancing on El Melloi. Sakura pursed her lips about to ask what all Grey did for El Melloi when Alison took a sip of her own cup of tea and visibly melted at the taste. Curiosity piqued she put her questions on hold and gently took her own tea cup in her hand as she brought it up to her nose to smell.
She blinked in surprise at the depth of scents that flowed off of it and took a sip only to melt as well as the tastes of chocolate, rasberry, and finally a savory flavor she couldn't place went over her tongue in that order. She tipped her cup back about to take another sip only to blink and look down at it to see she had drained it in one go.
Coughing awkwardly she put her cup back down and looked at El Melloi before looking back at Grey,
"So Grey… Maybe you can explain something to us."
The girl looked up at this and tilted her head to the side,
"I'll… try but I'm not sure how much help I could actually be."
"Thats fine."
Sakura smiled reassuringly,
"El Melloi took a close look at Alison here," She gestured at her friend who was in the middle of drinking her second cup. She choked a bit and Sakura gave her a look before continuing, "And the first thing he said was 'Thank fuck you're not her' before passing out on the sofa. What… did he mean by that? Who else could Alison even look like to get that kind of response?"
Grey fell quiet and went still for long enough that Sakura wondered if she had asked a question she wasn't supposed to when,
"I… Realize I've been…. Very rude to Ms. Alison but… I don't do well with people who…. Look like me. I'm sorry."
Alison put down her cup and turned to look at Grey who winced and physically turned away,
"People that 'look like you'? What is that supposed to-"
A groan sounded from the sofa and they all turned to look at El Melloi as he rotated over in place and squinted at them as though he was hung over. He blinked a few times and then sat up as Grey put a cup of steaming tea in front of him that Sakura hadn't even seen her prepare,
"Thank you."
"Not a problem at all."
El Melloi took the teacup in hand, brought it to his lips, and threw the entire thing back like he was taking a shot. He shook himself out a bit and then looked at her with an analytical gaze that unnerved her. She shifted in place and held his gaze only for him to grunt and glance at Alison before looking at Grey who nodded. He ran a hand over his face and fell back into the sofa,
"Alright. First things first: I canceled your sparring match because I thought you were someone else entirely. I can't have someone like her taking out half the building with one swing of her sword."
Alison blinked at this,
"I… don't think I'd ever be able to do something like that sir and I don't use a sword. I've been trained in using one but..."
"Not you. The person who looks almost identical to you and someone I met over fifteen years ago…"
He trailed off and smiled a bit before Grey coughed into her fist and he came back out of his memories.
"What are your names?"
"Alison Pendragon."
"Sakura Lafaire."
El Melloi II snapped his head to look at her so fast she thought he'd have whiplash. He stared at her, his mouth open,
"El Melloi II? Sir?"
"Lafaire…."
He chuckled to himself and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back against the sofa,
"Which naturally means your little Sakura then."
She blinked and tilted her head at him narrowing her eyes as he let out a shaky breath,
"The past always catches up with you at some point or another. Did Amelia have anything for me?"
"Uh yes, actually. Let me get it…"
Sakura reached over and opened her bag to pull out the envelope which she handed to El Melloi II. He took it, opened it, and pulled out a bundle of papers which he skimmed through until he paused on one of a few sheets of paper. He chuckled, shook his head, and folded the papers while setting aside the rest of what had been in the envelope. Grey quickly took the papers and began to sort them as El Melloi II leaned forward and interlaced his fingers as he looked at her,
"Sakura… 'Lafaire'," he said softly to himself as he smiled and looked at her, "How much do you remember of your time in Japan? Of Micheal and Jeanne Alter?"
She stiffened in place as Alison choked on her refilled tea,
"You knew- Wait. Who…"
"YOU KNEW MICHEAL AND JEANNE!?!?! TELL ME EVERYTHING!!!!! PLEASE!!!!"
El Melloi II physically leaned away from Alison as she practically leapt across the table at him only for Sakura to grab the girls shirt and haul her back to her seat with some difficulty. She smacked her on the back of the head and turned back to El Melloi who's lips were twitching,
"Ignore her. What do you mean? Were you there when I was rescued?"
"Indeed I was although I don't blame you for not remembering. I've changed quiet a bit in the intervening years. Do you remember a giant of a man with red hair who was more muscle than anything else? Loud boisterous laugh?"
Sakura frowned and tried to think back narrowing her eyes as she found she couldn't place the appearance but if she focused she could vaguely hear a laugh that sounded familiar enough,
"I… can vaguely remember a laugh but aside from that nothing else. Why?"
El Melloi II sighed, glanced at his right hand, and then smiled,
"Its nothing. Frankly I'm relieved you don't remember since I wasn't… mature enough to really understand how things worked. How much do you remember of the Fourth Grail War?"
Alison froze and turned to look at Sakura who winced a bit,
"Sakura…. You were in a Grail War? How- When-"
"I was six or seven and my family name used to be Matou. Micheal and Jeanne rescued me from…"
She trailed off and gripped her wrist tightly as she remembered the pit. She took a shaky breath and was about to speak when someone knocked on the door.
"I'm in a meeting. It can wai-"
"Its Rin. I want to talk to the woman who looks like Saber. Shirou wants to speak to her as well."
Sakura felt that first name vaguely ring some bells in her head but for the life of her she couldn't place where or when she had last heard it. She glanced at El Melloi II who shook his head and looked at Alison apologetically,
"You don't mind entertaining them do you?"
Alison tilted her head,
"...No? I don't- Who is this 'Saber' person anyway?"
El Melloi II chuckled darkly,
"Who indeed…. Now, Sakura. Amelia asked me to let you join my class. I'm fine with that but be aware its not the most... peaceful class and I don't teach in an orthodox way. If thats not a bother to you then class starts tommorow at 8:30am sharp. As for you Alison Pendragon…"
He turned to look at her and narrowed his eyes again before sighing,
"Would you like to join as well? I'd probably get less grief from the two outside the door if you joined honestly."
Alison blinked and her face broke into a happy grin as she jumped off the sofa and fistpumped the air,
"Yes! I will happily take your class Lord El Melloi!"
"Add the 'II' please…."
He groaned out before turning to the still closed door,
"Enter…"
The door slammed open and a woman with black hair that reached just below her shoulders ran into the room followed by the man with red hair. The woman immediately zeroed in on Alison who took a step back as the woman quickly walked forward, grabbed her shoulders, and stared into her eyes,
"Sakura? Help? Please?"
Sakura chuckled and leaned back into the sofa content to watch as she crossed her legs and smiled wickedly at the blonde who gave her best "I'll get you back for this" look before she looked back at the woman with black hair,
"Erm… Hello? My name's Alison Pendragon…. You are?"
The woman blinked and seemed to realize what she was doing as her face went sheet white and she quickly took a few steps back,
"Sorry. Sorry. Its just…. You look identical to someone I- We both knew and we thought…."
"We thought you were her. Shirou Kojioka by the way."
The man with the red hair held out his right hand to shake as he moved past the girl with black hair,
"Alison Pendragon."
The woman coughed and looked at Shirou with a deathglare as he shook hands with Alison. He either didn't notice or didn't care that the woman was looking at him like that as she turned to Alison and held out her own hand,
"Rin. Rin Tohsaka. Pleasure to meet you Alison."
Sakura instantly flashed back over fifteen years in an instant as she remembered her life before the Matous. She stared at Rin with her mouth hanging open and slowly stood up,
"...Rin? ….Nee-san?"
Rin stiffened in place and turned to look at her, her eyes narrowed for a few seconds before they widened in recognition,
"...Sakura? What- You- How..."
"You have a sister Rin? How come you never mentioned her?"
Rin glanced at Shirou as Sakura began to shake slightly,
"Because… She was given away to those bastard Matous and- Do you remember how I told you there used to be a third magus family in Fuyuki that was destroyed in the Fourth Grail War? Those were the Matous."
Shirou looked at Sakura with renewed interest as her vision tunneled on the floor while she hugged herself. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the light of Micheals Divine Construct as she felt the feeling of the worms all over her body. She felt someone grip her shoulder and she looked up to see Alison looking at her concernedly,
"Sakura? You okay?"
"I… Sorry just…" She shook her head and straightened up to look Rin in the face as the other woman seemed to be taken aback by her change in posture. She walked up to her former older sister and held out her hand to shake,
"Its Lafaire now. Sakura Lafaire. Fuck the Matou and all their creepy ass bugs."
Rin's mouth fell open as Shirou sputtered out a laugh while Alison just shook her head fondly,
"Alright can you all leave? I would like my office back."
They all turned to look at El Melloi II who seemed to be annoyed by the expression he was wearing,
"Sure. Sakura I-"
"We can talk somewhere else. Lets let Lord El Melloi II have his office back for now."
Rin hesitated and then nodded,
"I can take you to the dorm cafeteria then. We actually have some pretty good food all things considered."
She seemed to glance back smugly at Shirou who blushed and looked away. Alison caught Sakuras eye and raised her eyebrows meaningfully only for Sakura to roll her own,
"Lead on then Rin. I'll be the judge of how good this food is."
~~~~~~~~~~~
"So…. does Kojioka always cook the food?"
Sakura said leaning forward a bit from her spot at the counter to see the man in question busy in front of a stove as he skillfully handled a wok. Leaning back into her seat she looked around the cafeteria taking note of as much as she could before she caught Rin looking at her carefully,
"Not… Normally no. He doesn't often cook the food although not for lack of trying. He helps out a bunch along with the chef we have assigned to the dorm but even then-"
"So are you and him a thing?"
Sakura choked on her drink and stared horrified at Alison who just grinned at her and then looked back at a furiously blushing Rin who seemed to be trying to talk around something in her throat. Instead of responding Rin just glanced at Shirou as he moved to another part of the meal, somehow blushed an even deeper red than her hoodie, and then frantically looked at her eyes wide pleading for help.
"I mean. A man that looks like that who can cook and cook well? I'd make a claim on him before someone else does Rin dearest."
Sakura said smirking as Rin stared her mouth hanging open while the blonde laughed,
"I'm kidding Rin. Don't worry. As nice as your man looks in that apron I've got better things to do than chase after him."
Rin robotically turned towards the counter as Sakura swore she saw steam coming off of her head. Deciding to spare her former sister any further teasing she idly bumped her shoe against the womans shin,
"So why did you think Alison looked like this 'Saber' person anyway? What kind of name is 'Saber' anyway?"
Rin exhaled a shaky breath and glanced at her thankfully for the life ring before she coughed and looked at Shirou for a few seconds,
"So. In 2004 there was a... Fifth Grail War. Both of us fought in it. Originally as enemies, then as allies, and now we're…."
"Dating. Obviously."
Sakura and Rin both gave Alison a withering look as the blonde just smirked around her own drink,
"You could not be more different than Saber, Jesus Christ…."
Rin massaged her temple with the fingers on one hand before she sighed and leaned her head back,
"Alright so. Fifth Grail War in a nutshell: Shirou summoned Saber, I summoned a Lancer who didn't have a name, The Edelfelts summoned an Archer, A Lord from the Clocktower summoned a Caster-they both died or vanished within the first 24 hours, a random Yakuza group summoned Assassin, another person from the school both Shirou and I went to at the time summoned Rider, and some rich kid summoned a Berserker who then proceeded to 1v6 the rest of us."
Rin said tiredly as she ticked off each point on a finger. As she finished Shirou placed bowls of fried rice in front of all of them and the smell took Sakuras breath away. She glanced over at Alison to see her mouth hanging open at the food,
"Thanks for the food Shirou."
He hummed a bit in response and moved to wash his hands,
"I'm curious to see if your appetite is similar as well, Alison. Saber just about ate me out of house and home although it was rewarding seeing someone that enthusiastic about eating my food. To pick up where Rin left off Lancer killed Assassin on the second night, Archer then tried to kill me that same night, only to be fended off by Saber. Archer and Rider both took each other out on the fourth night destroying an entire city block in the process."
He paused to dry his hands before continuing,
"Then through a bunch of other crap Rin and I wound up being allies for the rest of the war. Berserker died to a leftover servant from the Fourth War, then I fought the leftover Servant, survived… somehow, and then the entire war ended when the grail manifested early for some reason and Saber killed Rin's Lancer which left me and Saber as the winners."
Rin grumbled to herself and Sakura clearly heard the words "fucking bullshit" before the woman shook her head and frowned at her food thinking,
"I still don't get why Saber was… Desummoned though."
Sakura paused between mouthfuls of the fried rice and swallowed,
"Desummoned? Did Saber not get their wish granted?"
Rin and Shirou shook their heads as he looked at the wall as he thought about it,
"It was almost as if the Grail System itself desummoned her before she could… but why…"
They fell into silence only for Alison to finish eating and look at them eyes wide,
"Okay Rin. Just to make sure you are dating this man right?"
Rin choked on her food as Shirou smirked and glanced at her smugly,
"I am proud to call Rin Tohsaka my girlfriend yes and I am her boyfriend."
"SHIROU KOJIOKA YOU-"
Rin lunged across the counter at her boyfriend who just laughed and dodged out of the way as both Sakura and Alison started laughing. They settled down as Rin gave Shirou a deathglare only for him to smile in response. She huffed and then stiffened as though remembering something,
"Sakura. How- Okay forget my and the idiots grail war. How the crap did you- I… I thought you were dead this whole time… Why didn't you reach out?"
Sakura looked at her former sister and then at her near empty bowl of food,
"Because I wasn't sure what I could even say to you or if I even should… so I didn't. As for how I wound up being adopted by the Lafaires… That goes back to the fourth war and how I was…. rescued by a Master and Servant pair from the Matous."
She smiled and made a finger gun with her right hand as she remembered Micheal and Jeanne Alter before shaking her head as she let her hand go slack,
"That same Master and Servant then won the Fourth Grail War… and after Amelia Lafaire adopted me into their family Micheal Lafaire became my older brother. But…"
"Okay, this is the first I'm hearing of the Lafaires having a child at all so I'm more than a little shocked to hear that he not only fought in the fourth war but won the thing."
Alison sighed wistfully and rested her arms on the countertop,
"I'm still not completely over him if I'm being honest."
Sakura narrowed her eyes at her friend who just raised her eyebrows,
"What? Rin trust me. Micheal Lafaire is one in a billion."
Sakura snorted a single laugh as Alison glared at her as if asking her to tell her she was wrong. She smiled instead, shaking her head as she stared at her empty bowl,
"Yeah except for the fact that he already had his heart stolen by someone else."
Alison winced at this,
"Right…."
After a few seconds of silence,
"So are either of you going to talk about what this Micheal guy is like or am I going to have to piece it together from between your depressed sighs?"
Sakura looked up at Shirou to see him looking at her clearly interested. She smiled and looked at Alison who just nodded to her that she could start only for Rin to cut them all off,
"No wait! You said he was a Master in the fourth Grail War right? Who was the Servant he summoned? What was his magecraft like? How did he fight?"
Sakura chuckled and looked at Shirou,
"You have anything to help with talking? We're going to be here for a while."
He nodded and moved to get some tea started as Sakura turned to look at Rin who was looking at her expectantly,
"Micheal Lafaire summoned a Servant of Hellfire and Darkness. She was insanely powerful, tragic but she was kind and caring in spite of all of that. Let me tell you how I was rescued from the darkest moment of my life by a Saint… and a beautiful Dragon Witch…."
End of part 2