"Caules...you should be resting." A soothing voice woke the Yggdmillennia magus from his nap. Groggily wiping his eyes, he stood up from his resting spot to address his disturber.

"I'm fine sis." He yawned while stretching his arms. Hearing the satisfying crack in his bones he turned around to see his sister. "I'm resting perfectly here." He motioned to his sleeping spot.

"What I meant was in your room Caules, not here." She motioned to his sleeping spot that was a chair. Not a cushioned chair but just a regular wooden chair.

"... I know but I can't feel like I've failed Berserker as a master." Caules's guilty look shifted over to the other occupant in the room. There lying in bed, surrounded by various magus workshop tools, was Frankenstein. The servant of Black was in a comatose state as the only tell that she was alive was the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"Caules you didn't fail her; you did everything you could as a master." Fiore tried quelling her brother's guilt but she had to stifle a gasp as her brother turned to face her, his eyes swimming with emotion that she had not seen from her little brother in a long time.

"Of course, I could've done more!" He yelled as he could no longer keep his emotions in and let them all out. "I could've provided better orders, maybe use a command seal to get her away from Ornstein." Tears were beginning to fall from the magus's cheeks.

"Caules." Fiore moved closer to her brother that was currently breaking down. Placing a hand on his cheek, Fiore smiled as her brother froze in shock over the action. "You have performed better than any master could've done in your position. Orders? No order would've helped us fight off Ornstein, the odds were stacked against us. A command seal? Do you really think grandfather would've been pleased with you wasting two command seals in one night?"

Her brother was a big softy, unbefitting for a magus to succeed, but for Fiore that didn't matter to her at all.

Ever since she had been born, she had been raised with the expectation of becoming the next head of her family. From Forvedge to Yggdmillennia, she was expected to be the next head that would take the families far, to lift them up higher in power.

She had expected to be ruthless in power, to dominate without hesitation, and she feared that one day that she would lose herself to it. That one day the kind girl on the wheelchair would become something else.

The day when her brother announced that he would be the next heir of the family was a day that she would never forget.

For she found something to tie herself down to in the magus world.

Hearing her explanations, it eased the guilt he felt just a bit. "Yeah your right, thanks sis." He begun wiping his tears before standing up and smiling like he always did.

"Now there's the little brother I know that would never give up." Smiled Fiore as the two siblings shared a laugh. Even in the throes of the craziest Holy Grail War to ever take place, they could still find solace with each other.

"How's is she anyway?" With that happy moment between siblings out of the way, it was time to address the elephant in the room.

"I truthfully don't know; I don't think anyone knows really." Caules looked back to the comatose body of Frankenstein, biting a lip in frustration. They had rushed back as fast as they could to the castle, hoping that they were able to fix whatever the Lancer of Ash had inflicted on their Berserker.

"What did Grandfather have to say about this?"

Caules just shrugged his shoulders in response. Darnic was less then pleased when they arrived back with the non-responsive Berserker and had told them to follow him. After placing here on the bed, he commanded everyone except Caster to leave while he worked in trying to awaken Frankenstein.

"He told me that there's nothing physically wrong with her, any injuries that she had were healed by the time they had come back so..." Caules frustratingly motioned to the sleeping servant.

"She will awaken in time Caules, trust me." Fiore then begun moving her wheelchair out of the room. "Now come Caules, we have to make that Jack and Reika are adjusting comfortably to the castle."

"Do we have to?" He childishly complained as he followed his sister out of the room before sparing one last glance to his servant. "Did you see the death glare that Jack was giving us through the entire ride back."

"Even if I find Celenike's style of recruitment as distasteful, it is our duty as Yggdmillennnia magi to make sure that one of our fellow masters is being treated well."

"Yeah let's do that." Caules closed the door, not knowing what was happening to his servant right now.

"Sis you look like your deep in thought." Asked Caules as they walked down the halls of the castle.

"Sorry its just that I've been on edge ever since Ornstein had said that they were up to something." She confessed as they turned a corner, a patrol bowing to them as they passed by.

"Now now, you have to stop worrying about things that are out of your control." He admonished to his sis just like she had back in Frankenstein's room.

"Hmph you don't get to pull that card since I did it you." The pair laughed a bit before Fiore calmed down. "Still it troubles me." She bit her lip but stopped when a certain master and servant came out of a door in front of them.

"Oh, hello their fellow masters." Greeted Reika as she and Jack walked up to them.

"Greetings to you as well Miss Reika and Jack the Ripper." Fiore greeted back as she and Caules shook hands with the green haired women. "How has the castle been treating you?"

"Oh, it's simply splendid here, all the people are so nice but the food here isn't really something we eat a lot." Confessed the master. Even if they were technically prisoners, they were still treated like honored guests by Darnic. They were allowed freedom within the castle and to do what they wanted as long it didn't jeopardize the chances of the faction winning the war.

"We were just on our way to the kitchen to cook Jack's favorite meal."

"Yup, mommy makes the best hamburg steak in the whole wide world!" Jack had the biggest smile on her face at the mention of her favorite meal.

Caules and Fiore both grimaced slightly at the sight of the famous serial killer having such a smile on her face. To think that the famous killer was a child capable of showing such an emotion.

"I know why don't you join us for lunch." Reika offered with a smile.

"Oh, I'm not sure that we would want to intrude..." Caules nervously played with his collar on trying to make up an excuse to not join them for lunch but his sister beat him to the punch.

"My brother and I would love to join you." Fiore cut in. One look from her quickly shut the magus up as he resigned himself to his fate.

"Good, why don't we go there now." Reika clapped her hands together as the group made their way to the kitchens.

If Caules and Fiore had stayed in the room that held Frankenstein a second longer, they would've noticed the servant writhing in discomfort.

Frankenstein had no idea where she was. One moment she was in the grasp of the Lancer of Ash and the next she found herself in this dark void. No matter where she looked, all she saw was nothingness.

It wasn't like she was falling in place. She could stand quite fine. Jumping quite high and landing down on the ground proved that the ground was really stable. She contemplated staying there and waiting to see what would happen. That was until she heard the sounds of people talking, one being very similar to what Ornstein had sounded like.

Having her interest piqued she decided to move towards to where the voices were coming from. She couldn't hear what was being said as whatever she heard sounded like mumbling. However, she knew that she was going in the right direction when the mumbling slowly became coherent letters.

Still not enough for her to piece together what the conversation was about.

That all changed when she suddenly found herself in an ornate hallway. There was no transition to this sudden shift, no indication that this is where she would end up in. In a blink of an eye, complete darkness gave way to a bright and lavish hallway.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, Frankenstein decided to keep walking down the hallway's silken red carpet to wherever the hallway ended. Grunting in approval she kept walking, this time the coherent letters soon became full words.

"Traitor."

"Bastard."

"He should be executed."

"How far the royal bloodline has fallen."

They were just a few things of what she heard on her path. Strangely the polished doors that she walked by never opened. Even intersections didn't have a single person walking through them. It was like she entered a ghost town.

That all changed when the hallway seemingly ended with a very lavish door, decorated with the gold that shined like the sun. Such a decorated door signified that the room belonged to a very distinguished figure. Intrigued Frankenstein was about to walk up and open the door to see inside. However, the sound of approaching footsteps had the servant take cover behind a statue depicting a silver knight.

Three women came in from where she had approached from. Dressed in very lavish gowns, the three women walked past the hiding Berserker. The servant wasn't sure that they saw her as they positioned themselves in front of the door.

"To think our esteemed lord's firstborn was associating himself with the everlasting dragons." The lead women, dressed in blood red, mocked as they stared at the golden door.

"But how was he found out?" A woman dressed in blue asked.

"I heard that Lord's Blade Ciaran was ordered to trail him by Lord Gwyn after he saw his son acting strangely in the court." The last woman, dressed in green, answered. "She found him secretly caring for an ailing everlasting dragon who had its scales burned off from the great war." The three gasped at the implication of their lord's firstborn caring for a hated enemy of the kingdom.

"What is his fate now?" Blue asked.

"I heard that he is to pay for his crimes in front of all to see." Green responded.

"E-Executed!?" Blue cried out.

"Goodness no." Red answered back. "I've heard from Lady Gwynevere he is to be wedded off as penance for his act of disobedience." She motioned to the golden door. "And when I comfort him in his time of need then he shall be smitten with me and I will be part of the royal family." Laughed Red as the other girls begun arguing on who would be able to seduce the firstborn.

"And what are you doing here harlots!" A familiar voice yelled as the sound of armor hitting the floor got louder. Turning her head, Frankenstein dropped her mouth in surprise at who was coming.

Ornstein, The Dragon Slayer.

The golden knight marched furiously to the three women standing in front of his lord's door. Spear in hand he demanded to know why they were here. "What are you doing here, no one is permitted to enter his quarters at this time."

Frankenstein was a servant that never did get a grasp on human interaction, she had never been taught the fundamentals of it so all of her interactions were based on pure instinct. From her hiding spot behind the statue of the silver knight she began to notice something special about the Ornstein standing before her.

The one that she fought was more mature, never one to express his emotions so easily.

The one here seemed to act more younger, much more naïve and willing to say what was on his mind.

"Forgive us Lord Ornstein, we just wished to make sure his lordship was well." Red curtseyed as she tried playing dumb in front of the knight of Gwyn. Blue and Green soon followed as their act was able to pacify the golden-clad lancer. His grip on his spear lessened to which the girls smiled at their apparent victory.

"Do you think me for fools!" He hissed as he reached out and grabbed Red's arm and leaning in so they could hear how angry he was. "Only those of the royal family reside here, no one else. I recognize your faces; you are handmaidens of Lady Gwynevere. To think that you would abuse your position of handmaidens to sneak into the royal wings of the castle."

Having their cover blown so easily, Blue and Green begun panicking. "P-Please forgive us Lord Ornstein!" Blue cried out. She was trembling as she bowed in front of him.

"Y-Yes we're deeply sorry for this!" Green soon followed Blue.

"We'll never do this again, we swear!" And finally, Red bowed in apology as the three girls were praying for a miracle that Ornstein wouldn't run them down with his spear there and now.

Some time passed before Ornstein sighed tiredly. He motioned to the end of the hall with his spear. "If I find you here ever again then I promise that I shall not treat you as nicely as I am doing now. Now get out."

The three girls began thanking him profusely before they ran through the hall, trying to put as much distance as they could from the harrowing experience they just had.

Seeing that the girls were no longer present, Ornstein lifted his gaze towards the door of the firstborn. He looked at it with a sense of confusion and longing, hoping that whatever answer he was looking for would be found inside the golden door.

"Please milord...please open the door." Not getting any responses from the occupant within, Ornstein began walking down the hallway with the hope that his next visit would prove more fruitful than the last.

Frankenstein left her hiding spot as she walked back to the center of the hallway, looking back as the Ornstein's red plume disappeared from view. Turning her attention back to the golden door, she decided to see if she could have better luck.

"Oh, it seems that I have a visitor." A voice called out to her from beyond the door. Frankenstein jumped in shock from the unexpected voice.

"Please don't be alarmed." The voice called out soothingly. "It's been a while that I've been surprised from visitors, though this isn't the time to talk as this memory won't be stable for long."

"Take care of yourself, I'll see you in the next memory soon." Was all the voice said as Frankenstein suddenly found herself back in the dark void.

Well the mysterious voice had said to wait, so she would be waiting in this dark void until the next memory presented itself.

After all what else could she do in this bleak void but wait.

"What shall we do about the Sighisoara incident?" Within Darnic's study, Vlad took a sip of his wine as he sat on one of the cushioned seats. He sighed as he and Darnic began planning for what was to come.

"Nothing, there is no point in fixing something so big, we would be wasting our resources trying to do so." The Romanian hero set his glass on the table as he addressed his master, even if their roles seemed to be in reverse with Darnic asking him how to proceed.

"I guess the Clocktower will fabricate some story to cover up the damage done." Mused the Yggdmillennia head as he gazed out of his study's window into the plains of Romania. If there was one thing, he could respect about the Clocktower was their ability to make convincing cover-ups for any magus activity that would appear in the public.

"Then our next problem we must address would be Berserker, what is her condition?" Vlad asked.

"Our Berserker is in perfect health but she just refuses to wake up at all." When he had inspected the comatose servant, there was nothing wrong with her at all. No scars, no bruises, no signs of any sort of lasting damage on her body.

"Then we must watch out for that Lancer, Ornstein was it, in our future encounters."

Darnic scoffed at the mention of the servant of Ash that had flawlessly fought two of their own servants, weak as they were, it still hurt. "The Faction of Ash is made of monster servants." He spat out with malice.

Vlad in response chuckled before reaching down and grabbing his glass of wine. "You think that they are unbeatable?" He took a sip of his glass before looking his master in the eye. "Yes, they may seem strong but they are not unbeatable, it is simply that we have the wrong combination when dealing with them, to which they take advantage of."

Darnic raised his eyebrow at the deduction. "Wrong combination?" He questioned.

"Take Chiron's and Achilles' fight for example. Both servants are powerhouses in terms of strength and skill but lack any magical attacks like that of Karna's or Siegfried's. So how do you counter brute strength? With an indomitable defense." The Romanian King explained as Darnic begun connecting the dots.

"Hence why they used their Berserker." He realized as Vlad nodded at him finally understanding his line of reasoning. Even if his master played the idea of a submissive master, he knew that there was something lurking beneath that mask. But all he could do was play along until a crack revealed itself in his master's mask.

"They have been one step ahead of us this entire time and it is time that we take the lead for ourselves, and our hidden gift that we got from Sighisoara will provide that for us."

"Jack the Ripper?" Darnic did not know why Vlad thought that their reacquired servant would tip the odds in their favor. Sure, she was formidable but unless she possessed a Noble Phantasm that he didn't know of then...

"No, while our Assassin is remarkable, she does not hold the crucial advantage that we need. But do keep an eye on her and her master. No doubt that they are less than pleased being here." The Lancer warned.

"Yes, Celenike has assured me that Assassin will not act out of line, though it is the master that concerns me."

"Ah yes Jack the Ripper choosing a human over a trained magus. Truly that master must be more than meets than eye." When Vlad looked into the eyes of Reika Rikudou he could see a glimpse of insanity that lurked deep within her, not even he could predict what she might do if pushed too hard.

"What advantage were you speaking of again milord?" Darnic pushed the conversation back into whatever his servant was getting to.

"If you were to look at the entirety of the Sighisoara incident then it would be considered a failure in every sense, nothing salvageable from it." Vlad took one last glance at his glass of wine before sipping the remains of the blood red liquid. "It is the fact that Fiore was able to create a temporary alliance with Kairi Sisigou. Temporary as it was this has opened up a window that could lead to an alliance with the Faction of Red."

"Hmm a temporary alliance with the Faction of Red, not a bad idea considering what we are up against." Darnic could use this opportunity to get an edge on the servants of Red. Anything to win the Holy Grail War.

"Yes, it is not a bad idea, but we should consider all of our options before doing anything." Vlad put down his finished glass as the door opened to reveal of the other servants of Black and their masters, minus Frankenstein.

Gordes smiled victoriously as if his presence alone would be the key to winning. Siegfried said nothing as he followed his master into the room.

Fiore and her brother soon followed; the crippled master pushed by Chiron. While he may not have his servant at the moment, Caules's face was determined to avenge his servant.

Celenike had a perverse grin on her face as she and Astolfo soon walked in. It looked like they had another one of their 'sessions' with the light blush that was on her cheeks. No one knew why the deranged master had such an obsession with the Paladin of Charlemagne but it was clearly one-sided with how bored Astolfo looked.

Jack and Reika looked at everyone with a guarded expression. They hid it well with their smiles and innocent demeanor but they were looking for a way out of their bondage.

Roche had a similar expression on his face as he and Avicebron were the last to enter the room. Caster's expression was unreadable with his mask but it was safe to say that he too shared his master's disdain for attending such a meeting.

"It seems that we have been dealt our first major blow but worry not! The Faction of Black shall take this loss and learn from it. Come let us discuss how we are to emerge victoriously in our next encounters against the Factions of Ash and Red." Vlad stood up as begun his speech.

"We have been experiencing defeat in each encounter we have had with the Faction of Ash but no more! Today we change that." Seeing Vlad begin to inspire his fellow members of Yggdmillennia, Darnic would allow him to take charge in formulating a battle strategy.

"You may have embarrassed us in the beginning Faction of Ash but mark my words, we shall pay you back in return very soon." Promised Darnic before he joined the strategy meeting between masters and servants.

While the masters and servants of Yggdmillennia debated over how to win their next battle.

Deep within the depths of the Yggdmillennia castle.

In the confines of the homunculus workshop that supplied the servants of black with magical energy.

Submerged in a strange green fluid, created to be a tool for his master's ambition.

A homunculus boy opened his eyes for the first time in his short life.

"Oh, this is a surprise for sure." A voice called out to him. In response the boy slowly looked down to see his speaker.

There on the other side of the glass tank, the Knight of Thorns looked up at the submerged boy in intrigue.

"Didn't expect this at all." Kirk admitted as the two stared at each other in the dark laboratory with the green glow of the tanks as the only source of light.

This chapter's done! Things are picking up finally. Yggdmillennia is finally getting serious, Frankenstein finds herself an observer and the past, and Sieg makes his appearance. Not going to lie Sieg is going to be trouble for me because I have something big for him and I have no idea how I'm going to end it. Well the same could be said about this fanfic but we'll get there(hopefully)

I admit that I made the Faction of Ash a bit too powerful, dialed it up to high. I will make them less god-like and more grounded in terms of power compared to the two other factions.

Love the support that this story is getting and hope that this chapter will make you all happy.

Hope you guys are staying safe in these trying times and wear your damm mask when you go out.

Also, if you have any constructive criticism or suggestions for me don't be afraid to review/PM me about it. I will answer most reviews/PMs to the best of my ability. I'm still learning how to create good fanfictions.

That's all for now

PRAISE THE SUN!