[h2]Johanna Faust[/h2]

She didn't know? She didn't [i]know?[/i] Of all the cruelties to inflict on a child, even if the child was a homunculus, this had to be one of the worst. Brought into the world and immediately given a duty without concern for whether it would be suitable, nothing more than a magical doll to be made and thrown away. Yet to leave the child with the delusional hope that if they did what their parents wanted, anything would come of it? Those sort of people were the worst.

The golden flash and the increased strain on her reserves meant one thing and one thing only: Berserker had joined the fighting. Well, so long as he didn't get killed and didn't start deploying Noble Phantasms at an alarming rate, if such a thing was within his abilities, she would be under no pressure and free to keep talking. [i]If you need backup, just say. Rider doesn't possess Saber's magical immunity.[/i]

"You might be the victor, but you would still die regardless of your other actions," the white-haired magus said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a somewhat crumpled packet of cigarettes, "The way the war is constructed leaves you with no other options, unless you can claim to have seen the Vessel of the Grail stored elsewhere."

Lid off, and one bent content pulled out, "Before the Grail can itself be activated and its ritual completed, all of the defeated Heroic Spirits must be stored in some suitable vessel. For the first three of Fuyuki's wars, is was truly just a cup. Yet the Einzbern recognised that such a thing was too fragile, too vulnerable--even an accident could destroy it and freeze the war. Something had to be done to prevent this, so they made a single change for the wars within my lifetime.

"By making one of their homunculi into the Grail, they created one that could heal and keep itself alive, that could use magecraft to support a Servant. Why not rig your chances of winning the war by making your entrant one that none of the other participants can afford to kill?" she said, a brief word lighting the cigarette--a simple spell, even outside one's affinity--and drawing in. Really, of all the habits, that she kept this one after all the fighting... well, maybe she'd not have the scars without it. "For Fuyuki's Fourth and Fifth Grail Wars, their homunculus was also the Grail.

"But a person cannot be a container for Heroic Spirits, not for long. No matter how things turned out, no matter how they performed in the war, there could be only one outcome. By the end of it, they would be reduced to nothing more than a vessel to complete the ritual. To the homunculus, it would be an empty victory. If they won, there would be no chance for them to make a wish. If they lost, they would die even if spared by the other Masters. If they were killed beforehand, the ritual would fail and their entire existence would be worthless." Another cloud of smoke.

"Unless some other homunculus is part of this war, then your family never told you the truth. Without a doubt, you are the Vessel and your victory will earn you nothing but suicide. The Einzbern are unquestionably the greatest at making homunculi, so you might not even be able to hold on all the way to the end of the war as a person. Do you really plan to push on with this attempt, knowing that you cannot achieve anything?

"Better to spend your remaining time more pleasantly, or to fight your pre-ordained fate. If they taught you all that would be needed, there might still be chance to make a substitute."