From Fake Dreams

50

"So. How does it look?"

Caster didn't bother to glance back at Archer. She was too enraptured with trying to stabilize and deconstruct her counterpart's mysteries to bother giving him such a boon. In front of her, Marjatta remained unconscious and static, floating in a solution as if she was some sort of science experiment specimen... or a pickle, if the eerie green glowing was taken into account.

"It will take some time. All of this was made as a supplement to the Grail's system. It is miraculously well done, but is still just an addition for a system that was already complete. Had she made a mistake in its construction, she might have done irreparable damage to the area with or without drawing power from the land."

"Sounds about right." Archer sighed, comfortably leaning against the far wall. "Do you need any help dispersing the gathered Prana? Even if we're Servants, the concentration in this room is near suffocating. I have a few blades that can absorb some of it if needed."

Granted, some of them tended to explode once they hit their limits, but that was neither here nor there.

"Maybe later. As of right now, doing so would cause an imbalance of prana that would destabilize the system and cause the whole thing to collapse, which is what we are trying to avoid." Her answer was clinical and to the point. "Marjatta's condition is unlike the Homonculus' or Rider's Master. The latter two were designed to be parts of the system in their entirety. In contrast, Marjatta is merely a key component for the part that those girls represent. Much like comparing an engine to a completed vehicle. This entire room can be considered just another major component to the project as a whole."

"Hmm. No wonder this setup is different than the others." Archer looked around with a skeptical eye. He could feel that the power in the building was corrupted by Angra Mainyu, saturated by its taint. He doubted that Caster had missed it as well and had taken steps to protect herself from it. Since he was an abnormal Heroic Spirit, he could stand being in the room without such measures for a while, but even he wouldn't push his luck if he felt something was off.

"It may have been built on top of the Grail System proper, but my counterpart still did not possess the customized components to recreate what was done to those other girls. It was only because Marjatta had such a unique disposition that she could be used for such a setup," Caster elaborated.

"Lucky her. Can't say I'm envious though." He inspected the girl with an unreadable gaze. She was unconscious and didn't look like she was going to wake up anytime soon, but that didn't mean that she had spent the entirety of her time in there asleep.

"Doubt anyone would. Then again, the same could pretty much be said for anyone involved in this farce of a war."

"No need to tell me twice." He let out a brief chuckle. There was not a single person involved in this event that had not been screwed over in one way or another because of it. The only person that somewhat came out clean was Saber, but even then her goal was still the Grail itself, and she was still stuck in a limbo of her own design.

"Mmm. Still, it's quite a feat that we were able to get this far in the first place. As much as that boy infuriates me, I can't deny that he was the main reason that we have managed so much."

"Please don't tell me you've fallen for him too like pretty much every other woman here," Archer all but groaned. His memories may have been fragmented, but he definitely knew that he had many women-related issues in his past.

"Another comment like that and you will replace the girl in that container, Archer." Judging from her tone, she was serious.

"Don't blame me that you're an outlier." Secretly, he let out a sigh of relief. "On the subject of women and their impulses, does your Master have any idea what to do with her sister once she is freed? The girl is the only one here that isn't a part of the loop now. She might not take too kindly to the ceasefire and instead do something unfortunate."