—Phos! Wake up, Phos!! —Caster shook me awake just before I was entirely engulfed by the darkness—, are you... are you alright?
—I-I was having a nightmare —I managed to say. I was shivering and crying.
—I think I noticed —she said, pulling me towards her and hugging me.
Her embrace helped me feel a bit less scared about it, but I still had a weird feeling in my chest, something I could only describe as absolute despair and helplessness. To my surprise, four hours have already passed, so I told Caster to take her turn to sleep. I wasn't too interested in closing my eyes anytime soon, and I was hoping she could get better dreams that I had. She slept like a log and snored all night long. That actually helped me stay awake. After a few hours I got pretty bored, as there was not much to do there, so I went out for a walk. Of course, I left a string of gold tied to Caster's little finger. That way, I will know if she woke up or something would have happened to her while I was gone. In any case, I didn't went too far, just to some sort of public plaza right outside of the "building" we were staying.
The ceiling was made of glass, and according to retracing in my mind the way we had walked to that place, we should be in the middle of the crater we had seen before. I could see another moon right above me. In the middle of the plaza there was a fountain, and around the place there were some "statues" that resembled trees. They all look too artificial, both in shape and consistency, but I think that was the point. Post modern art was something I had a notion from Shirou's inherited memories. Weirdly enough, there were still a few Lunarians walking around or in the shops surrounding the plaza, despite the late hour. One of them was walking with a bunch of small sized Admirabilis, each held by a leash. She had her ears covered by something resembling earphones, with the music so loud I could hear it from several meters away. As she and her "pets" got closer, they started to get wild and ran towards me. Specifically, they ran towards my legs. Their "owner" got dragged through the ground.
—King!! —One of them said, and the others started echoing it when it reached me.
—King!! King!! King!!
—That hurt, what got into you so suddenly? —the Lunarian said as she started to get up—, I'm very sorry, they are usually good kids and...
She froze when she look up and saw me. It might had been something in my expression, but she gave a few steps back and bowed.
—M-miss Lustrous! I-I'm sorry! I heard that we will have to return them to the ocean, and I wanted to walk a last time with them! P-please don't tell the Prince!
I picked one of the Admirabilis and looked at him on what I thought were his eyes.
—I'm not Ruler, but I'll take you with her soon enough.
—Not King! Kind Person! —He said, raising his appendages.
—Kind Person! Kind Person! —the rest repeated.
I put him back on the ground and told him and the rest to go back with the Lunarian, who was still standing very still and nervous. I sighed.
—Don't worry, I won't tell him. I will suppose you have taken good care of them, but this is not their place. Maybe when they go back to their normal selves, you can be friends with each other...
—I-I'll try! Thank you, Miss Lustrous! —she said, before practically running away.
I stayed there a bit more, walked around, and watched the shops through its windows. Some Lunarians offered me a free service in a massage or a free meal, but I politely declined and keep just loitering around. When morning finally arrived I gave up and return to the room. I was a bit more than grumpy though. Not only I had not rested at all, I also hadn't eaten in almost 48 hours. I also think something about the moon's low gravity was messing up how my shards interacted with the gold alloy, and it felt weird. However, I tried to not show it when a huge and bulky Sundry came to pick us up.
—My name is Cicada —the big burly being said, with a way too innocent smile—, Mantis asked me to take you to the port.
We followed him and returned to the surface. Or at least we attempted to do so, because we ended up lost following that giant. He keep meekly apologizing, but insisting on being the one guiding us. I was sure I could have found my way out several times. We ended up finding the exit just by chance, and by the time we got to the port, Mantis, the Prince, all the other Sundries and the shadow servants were already waiting. Assassin got there just after us, still half asleep.
—Phosphophyllite-sama —Mantis said stepping close to us. There were bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't sleep all night—, I calculated the time that will take us to move all of the shards from this moon to the planet.
According to her report, in that moon there was only 36% of all the gem dust they had in existence and only 18% of that was from our brothers. It was an insignificant amount, but we couldn't risk losing it. Separating it from the synthetic dust required specialized installations and a lots of time, but with the constant threat of Franny blowing up the moon, we agreed on taking all the dust to the planet and allow them to built a workshop there. I was sure Bort and some of the others wouldn't be too happy with that, but it will work on the long run if we took control of the other moons. Mantis told us she had convinced the guilt to add two hours of work, which didn't sounded too impressive, but the emphasis on her words made me think it was indeed a big deal for the Lunarians.
—If we use two of the tree vessels we have at our disposal, it will take us five days to complete the transfer. Building the workshop will take us another day. About the Admirabilis, the ones in the planet moved their kingdom and we haven't been able to pinpoint its exact location for around 50 years, but if we have to move them to the surface for the time being, it will take us another day to move them as well.
—You are very diligent, thank you very much —I said with a smile, but there was something that was bothering—, why would you be using only two of the three vessels?
She looked back at her Prince, who walked ahead and covered her with his body.
—We want to use the third vessel to help you recuperate Shirou Emiya.
—Hmm, so you knew about it —I said with a cold voice, and the Prince even step back a bit.
—Aren't you going to slice me?
—It will lose its meaning if I do it all the time. Besides, I might hurt Mantis and everyone behind you by accident. So, start explaining.
—W-we have machines that are able to detect when and where a noble phantasm is used —Mantis said, peeking from behind his prince—, we saw Rider's gun being used a lot recently.
—One of our earlier attempts to go against Franny involved capturing Shirou Emiya and convincing only him to help us, but he evaded us and eventually disappeared entirely from your island —the Prince added—, we think we know we know where he is, but we have been unable to reach that place due to the very peculiar circumstances of that region. Traveling to that place with Rider's noble phantasm, even with Caster's blessing, might take you at least a week, not accounting for your people's lack of experience traveling on ships. If we take you there on one of our vessels, the travel will be reduced to only three days.
—I see. I thank you for being so considered —I said—, but I refuse.
—P-Phos, are you sure about that? —Caster asked.
—I know I'm being irrational. I'm sorry for that —I said—, but I can let them control all of our actions.
—I... understand, and I apologize —the prince said.
I caught a glimpse of both Caster and Mantis' worried expressions, and after some thought on the matter, I decided to give a small concession.
—We'll work together, as you said we don't have experience in sea faring, and your vessels might be able to pull the ship so we'll get there a bit faster. That way we can have you coming with us, Prince. I want to keep an eye on you.
He didn't rose any objection, simply telling us that they'll get every ready for both the transport of the shards and our voyage. We would meet again in the island in a few hours.
—One more thing, Prince —I said while getting on the vessel—, it seems like it's your nature to be always scheming to be in control. I won't go as far as to tell you to go against your instincts, but if you betray us, I'll keep you pinned down in agony for a thousand years for everyone who ends up being hurt. We won't get old, and I might be able to get creative if I have enough time. Instead, get on my good side, and I'll do whatever is in my reach to make all of you reach your nirvana, got it?
He has stunned for a moment, and then bowed towards me.
—I understand. We will be on your service.
The sunspot closed and we started to get away. Around ten sundries were tagging along to get everything ready for when the fragments arrived, Cicada and Mantis among them. I was using the former's lap as a seat. Assassin also had followed us, saying that she got really bored on the moon.
—Phos, don't you think you are getting a bit crazy with power?
—Hehe, maybe a bit. I will be lying if I said I'm not trying to get some form of revenge by pushing the Lunarians around, specially that Prince. I... I'll try to not let it get on my head.
—Your words will be more convincing if you weren't sitting on one of them —Assassin chimed in.
—He doesn't mind, right? —I said, turning around to look at Cicada, but I immediately jumped away in surprise, as his face and body has turned to that of the giants we had fought before.
—D-don't worry, Phosphophyllite-sama! —Mantis said, trying to calm me down—, we are entering the planet's atmosphere, so everyone has changed their appearance to avoid breathing the air.
—Right, right —I said, remembering what they had told me.
It was only then that I noticed the other Sundries had returned to the forms we were more familiar. Even Mantis' clothes had changed, but she kept her face as it was. She still was covering it with some sort of gas mask that brought me memories of the "plague doctors", but its visor was big and transparent enough to see her adorable face through it. She hesitantly admitted it was not a design made by her; she just copied one of Shirou's old scuba equipment that they had gotten their hands on. When we arrived back at home, the sunspot manifested again in front of the school, and everyone was already waiting there or quickly rushing to get there. Bort, Antarc and Cairn were in the very front, with their hands over the hilts of their weapons. As the vessel opened, I struck a pose, trying to cause a big impression. They didn't react at all.
—Hey, Caster, did they messed up with his mind? —Bort bluntly asked.
—No, though I can see why you ask.
—What is that supposed to mean?! —I angrily asked, before Morga and Goshe jumped against me, followed by Dia, whose weight finally made me fall to the ground.
The vessel was still around a meter or so from the ground, so I only managed to avoid everyone shattering by cushioning our fall with my alloy. It had become something I was able to do even without thinking.
—We were so worried when you didn't return! —Goshe claimed.
—At least you could send some sort of message! —Morga recriminated.
Dia was just tagging along for the hugs.
—Ahahaha... I'm sorry... —Was the only response I could give to my juniors.
Jade and Euci approached us, the later pushing the former's wheelchair through the snow. Behind them, Antarc and Cairn followed.
—W-what happened? —Jade asked.
—They are only a fraction of the Lunarians who choose to rebel against Franny, but we got them to surrender unconditionally. They will return us the... shards they stole from us, but they'll have to build a workshop on the planet.
—What?! —Of course Bort raised his voice, calling me a fool.
—Everything has a reason, and I'll explain it, but right now I'm really, REALLY, hungry. Give me half an hour and I'll be able to explain everything better.
With diverse reactions, they all agreed, and Caster asked me to follow her to her laboratory, where there had to be something to eat. When we got there, after greeting Cinnabar, Caster asked him to leave us alone for a moment. She proceeded to cast a spell on the room to make it sound-proof.
—W-what is this all about?
—Excuse me, but I really don't want anyone to hear what we are going to talk about. That's also why I didn't ask you while we were on the moon. In your nightmare, you saw pitch black darkness, and "people" trying to drag you into it, didn't you?
—Eh? Yeah, but how could you know?
—I had a similar dream, but it didn't scared me as much because I had seen it before. Even here on the planet I can sometimes see it if its orbit is too close to us.
—W-what is it? —I said, but the image was already forming on the back of my mind, a giant black cube floating in space.
—The place from where we servants were called, the origin of the grail war —Caster said, trying to be dramatic—, the MoonCell.