Elsewhere: A Crawling Mansion

"Well, of course I would draw the strongest Archer. I'm captain of our Archery Club myself!" A self-absorbed boy crowed, clearly expecting to receive a proper amount of recognition and awe from such a pronouncement. He continued to prattle on about non-existent positive traits, unaware or uncaring about exactly how unimpressed the giant grey figure sitting in the shadows found him to be.

"Let's move on to important matters." A dry, rasping voice cut in. Immediately the blue-haired boy was silenced, his fear palpable. Beside him, the empty-eyed girl that was his true Master didn't stir at all from the fugue she'd settled into long ago. The worm playing at being human shuffled calmly forward, giving his descendant an envelope. "Nothing happens in this city without my knowledge. Here are the Masters and Servants so far. There may be some possibilities for an alliance of convenience. It would seem that its time for you to put that charm of yours to work." The suggestion is mocking, the expectation of failure always dangling overhead. "Of course, if they refuse then there is no reason to allow them to continue forward. It is fortunate indeed that we have a Servant like Archer who can strike a Master down before they know they are under attack. Well, I'll leave the details up to you for now. Try not to disappoint me, Shinji."

"N..no problem." Comes the answer, false bravado fooling nobody. "Archer. Let's go." Stoically, the giant stands and addresses the true Master in the room. "I shouldn't have a problem fighting with this much prana. I have no complaints." His voice is deep and powerful, befitting his stupidly-large frame. Never the less, there is no cruelty in his tone. He blurs and disappears into his Astral form.

Behind them, the shadows writhe for a moment before going still again.