Morning classes were creeping along far too slow for Agatha's liking. Due to the almost excessive amount of sleep Sakura and Saber had insisted she get, she was full of anxious energy and wanting to get things done. It was so bad that ever since she stepped onto the school's campus she felt almost nauseous with anticipation. She managed to get over it quickly though, and that just left her to wait out the hours.

Finally lunchtime came around, and she hurried to the roof (with Saber in tow). She felt a little bad when she had to ditch Issei and Gai, she hadn't been spending as much time with them lately. Still, she had more important things to deal with these days.

When she opened the door to the roof, she was relieved to find it empty save for Rin, the dark haired girl turning to look at her as she stepped through the door. Agatha walked forward and said "You know, it's kind of amazing that no one else ever comes up here. Especially on nice days like this."

Rin arched an eyebrow. "I placed a ward on the door that keeps normal people away. It would be inconvenient to have to deal with other students at this point."

"Ah, useful." Agatha remarked. "Alright, so what exactly are we dealing with here?"

Rin gestured for her to follow and started to walk towards one of the vents on the roof. "I am not entirely sure. The bounded field's construction is such that it is supposed to remain hidden until activated, so its purpose is difficult to discern. Made worse by how I have never seen this specific form before. However, it was altering the internal flow of the mana around the school, and with some searching I found this."

Rin pointed at the space between the roof wall and the vent, and Agatha saw a small Formalcraft diagram painted on the wall. It was a circle containing two rotated squares along with another smaller circle, as well as a triangle framing it. Each layer was inscribed with a script that Agatha vaguely recognized. It also looked to be made with blood, or at least some kind of dripping red ink. Agatha swung her backpack off and pulled out a pair of goggles, turning them on as she settled them on her face.

The HUD came alive in her vision and immediately started picking apart what was in front of her. "Let's see… relatively standard geometric arrangement, angle of the squares to each other and the overlaying triangle indicate that this is part of an array, though no set number. And… as I thought. The inscriptions are in ancient Greek."

Rin stood up a little straighter at that. "You can read ancient Greek?"

"Well enough. I wanted to take a look at Pythagoras's musica universalis back when I had this idea about making a sort of solar wind chime. I think I was experimenting to see if horoscopes were nonsense or not, I can't remember." Agatha commented as she pulled another device out of her bag. It was little more than a box of sensors and dials with a handle attached, but it would do for her purposes. She pressed her thumb into the small arcane lattice on the front, and the device lit up as the ambient mana started to flow through it. "Hmm, no elements other than Ether. Prana looks to pulsing every 2.3 seconds. And… there's some other readings I don't really understand. Damn."

The blonde sighed as she pulled the goggles off and go to her feet. "Well, I'm not too sure what it does either. Looks like most of the heavy lifting is done by the script, which describes something to the effect of a 'sacrifice to be offered'. I can tell that this works in tandem with other circles, but it doesn't look like there is a set amount."

Rin gave her ally an odd look before she let out a huff. "Impressive, Emiya. It was much the same conclusion that I came too, though I didn't know about the pulse. That aside, it seems clear to me that this is some kind of ritual meant for harvesting prana. And considering the Greek script, there is little guess as to who is responsible."

"Rider." Agatha said with a frown. "I guess we can add magic to the monster's inexplicable list of skills."

"Perhaps, but don't read too much into it." Rin replied. "It is likely that this ritual is the only one that she knows. On the other hand, this could be her Master's doing, a Greek magus would be the most likely culprit for summoning Medusa."

"Something to consider, I suppose…" Agatha remarked as she rubbed her jaw. She had been meaning to look into any new arrivals into the city, but… well, she didn't really have a good way to do that. She supposed she could ask Taiga's grandpa when she next saw him (the man made it his business to keep track of shady characters in the city), though that wasn't a guarantee.

"But for now..." Rin reached out and put her hand over the diagram, causing it to glow red. After a few seconds the light faded, and when she pulled her hand back the diagram was much more faded than before. "That should weaken the effect."

"Why don't we just destroy it now and be done with it?" Agatha asked.

"I want to find the rest of the diagrams before we do that. We don't know if there are contingencies for the others if one goes is destroyed, or if Rider can tell when that happens. In either case we will want the school to be cleared out beforehand."

Agatha nodded in understanding. "Right, and we're probably not going to find all of them during our lunch hour. Alright, so we find as many as we can now, and take care of the rest after school?"

"Yes, and be ready for a fight when we are done."

"Oh, no need to worry about that." Agatha said as she pat her backpack. "In the meantime, how do we track down the rest of the diagrams? I know the key structural points of the school, but I don't know if these diagrams were placed with that in mind."

"Don't worry, I can find them." Rin said with a smug smile as she pulled back her right sleeve, revealing a sort of metal bracer with slots. She put her hand into her opposite sleeve and pulled out an assortment of small gems. "I have a better sense for magecraft than you, and it only takes a little study to know how to build a spell to track this." After a moment's thought she picked four gems and slotted them into the bracer.

Lines on the bracer glowed, and a moment latter a Formalcraft pattern made of light formed above her palm, the diagram building itself out of the air. Rin stared at the glowing white lines form a moment before she slotted a fifth gem in, and an instant later the whole diagram rotated. A narrow red triangle cut through it, pointing downward and to the left.

"Oh, nice." Agatha complimented. "Dynamic Formalcraft construction"

"Each of the gems contains common components of Formalcraft. By chaining them like this together I can make any basic Formalcraft on the fly." The girl said with some pride. "I've made a basic tracking spell with linked with the prana flowing through the inscription."

"That makes it simpler." Agatha said with a nodded. "Come on, let's find as many as we can before we have to get back to class."

The two girls managed to find three more inscriptions before they had to go back to more mundane pursuits, and it was back to waiting for the day to pass. When classes ended, Agatha was tempted to go right back to the search, but she had Judo practice that day. And as Rin had pointed out, she still needed to keep her cover as a perfectly normal high school student, so she ended up going.

A fact which Gai was equally happy and pained about. "So, I'm getting the impression that your dealing with some stuff right now…" The boy groaned as he picked himself off the ground after a particularly viscous throw. The rest of their club mates were already filing out as practice had come to a close, but Gai had challenged Agatha to a final spar. "You wanna talk about it?"

Agatha felt her stomach clench a little. She wasn't used to keeping her friends at arm's length like this. "Err… I'm not sure what you mean …" The girl responded.

Gai frowned. "You've been real distant lately. And not like how you usually are when you go on a tinkering binge, 'cause now you're all... somber. Most of the time you're so exited you can't help but show off your new stuff. Hell, since you've been gone for two whole days, I thought you'd be showing up to school in a mecha!" He paused for a moment before he said "Did you build a mecha? You would tell me, right? Seriously Agatha, I need these things in my life."

Agatha let out a small laugh, though there wasn't much humor in it. "No, I didn't build a mecha."

"See, that's what I'm talking about. Normally you'd start ranting about what you've been making. But ever since she showed up…" Gai trailed off as he pointed towards a spot near the wall, where Saber was kneeling next to the edge of the sparring mat. The Servant was staring at Agatha and Gai intently, but otherwise remained motionless. "She's not… doing something bad, is-"

"No!" Agatha said, this time a bit more forcefully than she meant to. She really didn't want her friend to think that her highly dangerous companion was causing problems in her life. A confrontation would not end well for anyone. But, Saber technically was responsible for everything going on lately. And Gai was already suspicious. After a long moment she sighed. "Look, I know things have been… weird with me lately. And yes, it started with Joan. This is … personal business that has come up. I'm sorry we haven't been hanging out lately, but I have to take care of this first. It will only take a week or two, I promise. And then things can go back to how they were, but until then…"

Gai's face fell, his expression one of confusion. "I don't really get it, but… alright. I mean, well, I guess you know where to find me if you need me." With that Gai turned and walked off the mat, heading for the locker room.

Agatha reached out after him for a moment, but then pulled back her hand with a sigh. She then turned on her heel and walked out of the dojo, not even bothering to switch out of her gi to walk outside and sit on the front stoop of the building. As she glowered at nothing, Agatha felt Saber settle down next to her. "It is for the best. He will be safer this way." Saber said. "We cannot have outsiders involved in the War. You can return to your friendship once we have secured victory."

Agatha knew that, but it didn't make her feel any better. Well, she had work to do, so she really shouldn't be wasting time feeling sorry. It would be fine in the end. She just had to push through all the distractions and-

"Emiya! Spare a moment for me?" Agatha's mood immediately soured even more, and she turned her head to see an unfortunately familiar boy with blue hair walking towards her, dressed in archery clothes. "I've got some information for you, seeing as how we're good friends and all."

Shinji was not a good friend of Agatha, but rather Sakura's brother. And a complete creep by Agatha's esteemed estimation. He had tried hitting on her a few time before she made it abundantly clear (via throwing) that she wasn't interested. And yet somehow the boy's sleazy charm was always winning over at least a few of his female classmates. "Actually, I am very busy right now, so if you don't mind-"

"Ah, don't be like that, Emiya-chan!" Shinji replied with dirty smile, before he shot a look at Saber. "After all, you and your friend 'Joan' here shouldn't be doing anything during the day, right? It'd be against the rules."

Agatha paused for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "You have my attention."

A few seconds later the two were secluded behind the equipment shed (with Saber a short distance away), Agatha regarding Shinji with crossed arms. "So, how much do you know and how do you know it?"

Shinji gave a condescending chuckle. "More than you, Emiya. You've stumbled onto something my family had been a part of generations."

Agatha processed that for a moment before she said "The Matous are a mage family," Half as a statement and half as a personal realization. Rin had mentioned that her family had been a part of the Grail War since the beginning, so of course there were others who had been keeping an eye on it as well.

"With a lineage longer than the Tohsakas." The boy said with a smirk before he waved his hand. "Though they did help up in setting up the Grail War in the first place."

"So you're a mage and a Master too." Agatha said before a thought occurred to her. "Wait, what about Sakura? Does this mean she's also a mage?" Agatha wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer. The thought that one of her best friends had been keeping magic secret from her all those years…

Shinji snorted. "Of course not. Our mysteries are only passed down to the eldest male. That dope of a girl would be hopeless at magecraft."

"…Get to the point already." Agatha said coldly.

The boy put up his hands in a placating manner. "Easy, Emyia, I'm trying to help you out here. I can already see that you've been getting chummy with Tohsaka. I bet she made all sorts of promises to get your help in the War, huh? You don't really think you can trust her, can you?"

"Are you're saying I can trust you?"

"Of course!" He said with a smile. "You've always been a friend of the family. And we make sure that our friends are taken care of. Me, I just want to survive this War. I am sad to say that most of my family's magic has dried up. I'll need help to keep my head above water as it were, and together we'd make a good team."

Agatha had a hard time believing anything coming out of Shinji's mouth… but he did have an unfortunate point about Rin, if a minor one. Even if everything went perfectly, Rin would betray her before the War was done. Agatha could be ready for it… but what about Sakura? If she really was (unknowingly) part of a mage family, and her brother was a Master in the War, how far would Rin go? The girl could be a bit ruthless at times.

Still, regardless of anything else, Agatha had to confirm something first. "Who is your Servant?"

Shinji shrugged at that. "Come on, Emiya, I'm already trying to help you here. You can't expect me to tell you something like that before you agree to help me."

"Too bad. I've run into some Servants I have issues with. And if it turns out you were their Master… this conversation is going to take a violent turn."

The boy actually laughed at that. "Seen the reality of the Grail War, have you? Well, you'll just have to grow up, Emiya. In something like this, it's inevitable that a few rubes will stumble on something they're not supposed to see and have to be taken care of. And it's not like they matter compared to Masters like you or I."

That wasn't really a confirmation… but it was all Agatha needed to know for the matter at hand.

Agatha reached out and grabbed Shinji by the collar, the boy letting out an indignant yelp as she pulled him close and said "You are a duplicitous, unfeeling little weasel who will say anything to get his way. And worse, you're not even useful to me. Rin will eventually try to stab me in the back, but at least she can help me before then. You can't even say that much. So take my advice, head to the Church, and hide until this is all over. Because if I find out that you're the one in charge of that soul eating monster, then I have a whole new set experiments I'm been dying to try out on a real mage, failure or no, and you'll be the first test subject."

The boy struggled out of her grasp and stumbled away from her. "Y-you bitch!" He snarled. "I should have known you'd still look down on me. Well, you pay for this. You and Tohsaka!" He then turned and stormed off.

While his back was turned, Agatha's briefly considered calling out to Saber, but she sighed and decided against it. As much as she wanted to knock Shinji out and throw him in restraints there were too many reasons not to. For one Saber would likely take umbrage. And for another, there were people ambling about who would see. People like-

Agatha blinked when she saw someone else come into view on the school path. Normally she wouldn't have paid it too much mind, but when she saw who it was she let out a gasp of relief. "Taiga?"

Indeed, it was her friend and questionable guardian, swiftly walking towards in the same direction as Shinji like she hadn't been missing for the past few days. She also didn't seem to notice Agatha calling her name, striding forward purposefully. So, the blonde girl tried again. "Taiga!"

Again, the woman didn't seem to hear her. Taiga's long stride caused her to catch up to Shinji fairly quickly, and she started to reach out a hand towards the boy's back.

Agatha's brow furrowed and she put a little more force into her voice. "Taiga!"

That caused Taiga (as well as Shinji) to jump and spin around, looking at Agatha with wide eyes. "H-huh?! What?! What is it?"

"What do you mean 'what is it?'" Agatha said was she moved towards her. "We haven't seen you in days! Where have you been?"

Taiga blinked owlishly for a few seconds before she waved her hand. "Eh, don't worry about it. I just had some family business to attend to. Guess it slipped my mind to tell you."

Agatha saw Shinji scamper off out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't pay him any mind. "Uh… huh. What were you doing?"

"I… can't really talk about it. It's just some personal, family stuff, never you mind."

I feel like the universe is making fun of me, Agatha thought to herself as face fell flat. Still, as hypocritical as it was, she still wanted to press the issue. Things were dangerous these days, and Agatha needed to be sure there wasn't anything 'extra-normal' going on with her guardian. "So, does that family stuff have anything to do with the Matous? It looked like you wanted to talk to Shinji for a second there."

Taiga looked confused. "No, of course not. I wasn't… that was just…" She trailed off and her eyes unfocused a little before she looked off to the side. "Wait, why was I-"

She never finished her sentence. A sensation of nausea and dread hit both women at the same time, the two gasping for breath a massive, oppressive force settled over them. Taiga fell to her knees, and while she managed to stay up everything in Agatha's vision was turning red. "Wh-what the hell?!"

In a flash Saber was at her side, blue motes of light forming into her armor as she said "Master, steel yourself! We are under attack!"

"Huh? By wh-" Agatha cut herself off as she looked up and saw it. It wasn't her vision turning red, it was the massive blood red dome that had formed around the entire school. The barrier had striations like veins that pulsed in a way that made her feel even more sick than she already was, and the point directly at the apex was forming into a distinct structure. Red peeled back to reveal a massive eye, staring down balefully at the school and all inside it.

Agatha stared at the dome for a moment longer before her face set into one of grim determination, and proceeded to sprint back to the dojo. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was prepared this time. Her bag contained all manner gadgets and weapons, several of which she had specifically made for dealing with the arcane. She was already figuring out what she had to work with and how best to use it by the time she reached her locker-

She froze. The front of her locker was smashed open, and nothing but an empty cavity was inside. Stolen?! Who would-

…Oh, she was going to vivisect that little weasel!

"Well," Agatha said flatly. "At least this can't get much worse."

And then the skeletons started popping out of the ground.

Illya looked up from her pastry, the sensation of powerful magecraft being used drawing her attention. She had gotten into the habit of wandering into the city during the day for lack of a better things to do, hoping that something would draw her notice. But she hadn't been expecting something so blatant and powerful that she could sense it without even being within line of sight.

Not that she was complaining, mind you. "Well, if someone else started it first, I can hardly be blamed for getting caught up in it." The girl said with a smile as she got up off the bench, strolling in the direction of the disturbance. "Berserker! It's finally time to have some fun!"

A/N: This one's shorter than I intended, but I realized the next part should have a full chapter dedicated to the chaos that's about to happen.

Till next time.