The MoonCell, as Caster explained it, was a super advanced computer build on the center of the original moon of the planet. Their makers were unknown even to her, as it has been there since before humans appeared. It had stood there for millennia, all through the human history, observing and registering everything that happened in the surface. It was so powerful it could even recreate several worlds inside of it. And when humans died, their souls were stored there.
—But then, what about the Lunarians? —I asked—, wouldn't they also be sent to the MoonCell?
—Indeed. It doesn't make sense that they are still here if they were once humans. Maybe they are lying, or maybe the MoonCell is the place where they are supposed to go after they have received prayers. There is just not enough information —Caster said with her hand on her chin—, but what worries me is the vision we had. If those are the human souls inside of the MoonCell... why were they so desperate?
—You don't have any idea?
—A few, actually, but they are all speculations. We can't waste time thinking about it when we have more important things to do right in front of us. But... Phos —she held my hands and looked directly at me—, when we finish this, could you help reach the MoonCell?
—O-of course! —I said.
I wouldn't dare to deny any request she could make after all she had done for us. Even more, if everything went right, we will end up in control of all the moons and we could search for the MoonCell at our leisure. She let a sigh of relief, and after asking me to not disclosure this with anyone else, she dispelled the hex she had placed on that room. We started to eat some muffins that Cinnabar had recently baked. Cinabar himself returned after a few moments carrying Shiro the dog, and fed him a couple of the muffins, making him do a few tricks to get them. I felt a bid bad for eating right in front of whom had baked them with him being unable to taste them, but Cinnabar insisted he wasn't interested on eating; only cooking and maybe a bit into seeing people enjoying eating what he had cooked.
—Phos, I heard you made some sort of truce with the Lunarians. I'm not entirely convinced of their intentions, but that's beyond me —Cinnabar suddenly said—, but what are we supposed to do with those that came with you?
I almost chocked with the muffin I was eating. In my tired and hungry state, I had completely forgotten about them. I rushed upstairs and out of the school, where they were still standing on their vessel, a few meters above the ground. Everyone was still there, and Bort was watching the vessel very intently.
—Hey! What are you doing? Come down here!
—W-we tried, but Bort Diamond-sama keeps glaring and growling at us —Mantis said, as she and other three sundries peaked from the edge of their vessel.
—Bort, could you please relax a bit? They surrendered already.
—I do not like this, and I'm sure neither would Sensei —she said, throwing me daggers with her eyes, but still she retreated a bit.
The Lunarians landed and step on the ground. The vessel collapsed into a small statue inside of a transparent prism, and one of them picked it up. I stood between them and everyone else who had gathered, only Cinnabar and Caster were missing. Assassin said she was going to walk on the beach and left us.
—As I said before, this Lunarians represent a fraction of their tribe that rebelled against Franny because... they needed Sensei, and she broke her promise of not hurting him —I explained to them how many of them were against Franny but were forced to work for her.
Bort was again angry when I told them I had agreed on helping them on their rebellion, almost not letting me explain we would receive our brothers that had been stolen, as well as a cease of fire from them, and we'll have the chance to end the grail war. I also told them that Mantis had sabotaged their vehicles, so the enemies were stuck on the moon and we'll be more or less safe for two weeks.
—We'll have to fight four big enemies, Saber, Berserker, another Assassin, and Franny, as well as several shadow servants. We need to go and get Shirou back.
I then told them I was planning on taking the most dangerous Lunarians with me in case they decided to betray us, and also taking with me the more individually strong of us, namely Cairn, Antarc, Cinnabar and Bort. The latter protested when I said that, as expected. Then Cairn protested when I said we'll be leaving Lancer's spear with Alexi.
—Eh? W-why me?! —Alexi said, looking in another direction as her eyes had been covered for the safety of our guest.
—Yes, why him?! —Cairn said, holding the spear very close to his chest.
—If anything goes bad, he can go crazy and do a lot of damage, the spear fits him perfectly with its long range. The rest of you will have to work together and watch each other back. We'll be back as soon as we can.
They were understandably worried, more when another Sunspot appeared in the sky. It was still early so I was sure it wasn't the Prince yet. Mantis told me they were already transporting a few barrels full with dust from the moon, as well as a crystal they told me will help them build their workshop.
—Where might we set it?
—Mmmm, I would rather like it if it was a bit further from here. I think I know the right place, I'll show you —I told her and went to get up on the recently arrived vessel.
—Phos, would you mind if I go too? —Eucci said.
I could see in his smile he wasn't just tagging along for the ride, but I still nodded and helped him get up. Despite not being his primary objective, I could see he was having fun seeing everything from above.
—Phos, what is the real state of our brothers? —Eucci said when we far enough from the school.
—They were turned into a fine dust and used to cover the surface of the moons —I answered, there was no point in hiding it to him—. The moon that is in our control only has 36% of the total, and only 18% is truly ours, the rest is synthetic.
—I see. And why are they moving it to the planet and building here?
—Franny can still throw meteorites against us, not as huge as the one that clouded the sky, but if she were to attack the moon, several fragments might be lost forever. We needed to prioritize getting them here first, where Caster can protect them and us.
Eucci nodded.
—I'm glad you came —I said—, you are smart and can explain this to the others with delicacy.
—A hundred and two years ago I said I would support you, and I still intend to keep my word. I have another question, though. Why do the Lunarians need Sensei for?
I was frozen for a moment. I didn't wanted to tell anyone else about Sensei's nature. I knew he was more than just a machine, but I didn't think I could explain it properly; even I only was able to understand it thanks to the memories of the old world. I could just say that Sensei's prayers were required for the Lunarians to move on, but... they might resent him for not doing his job before and side with the Lunarians. Even I was a bit bitter, all these years he could have solved our problems easily, but he refused to do so. I... wanted to believe he had a good reason, so I had set my mind to wait until he was able to tell it to me. And until then, I choose to not tell the rest about it either.
—S-sensei's past is somewhat connected to the Lunarians, but they didn't told me much —was the best I could come up at the moment.
—Hmmm... —Eucci looked deeply into my eye, and I'm sure he didn't believed me entirely, but she smiled again and dropped the topic.
—We have arrived to the cliff you pointed, Phosphophyllite-sama —Mantis said, and we got off of their vessel.
—This place is... —Eucci said, a bit confused.
Maybe for him that place was unremarkable, but it was where I had waited for days for Shirou and Ghost to come back after they went on their expedition to recover Lancer's spear. I told the Lunarians they might build their workshop over the frozen ocean next to that cliff. Cicada threw the cristal as far as he could, and after it had hit the ice, crystal spires started to sprout in every direction. In just a couple of minutes, something akin to a building had been formed.
—I'm sorry if it looks a bit jagged, please allow us to fix it a bit before you formal visit to it —Mantis apologetically said.
She took us back home, leaving the other vessel and sundries behind to work on the building, as well as the dust they had brought with them. I finally had some free time, and using whatever energies I still had in me, I finished fixing the ship. It stood in front of the school's roofed pool, as I didn't care anymore about it being seen.
—Good job —Antarc said when she saw me almost breathless on the ground.
—Can you... call Caster? And Cinnabar too... I forgot to tell him... I wanted him to come with us.
I fainted for a few moments, but by the time I regained my senses, Antarc had brought them and explained already what I wanted to say to them.
—A-are you sure I have to go? —Cinnabar said— I have... I have never left the island, and I'm not sure about this whole thing about cooperating with the Lunarians.
—That's why I need you with us. If this is a trap they are preparing for us, I'm doing the same.
—Eh? I-it can't be!
—Yes! This is where the cool and calculating personality of Lapis comes to shine —I said with a determinate look on my face and a clenched fist—. If they are planning on betraying us, I'll set a bait by putting some of the most valuable gems they might sought, but at the same time, those who stand a chance to defend themselves so it isn't too obvious. That's me, Bort, Antarc, Cairn, and you.
—M-me? They never even attempted to capture me...
—Well, you always worked on the night, and they have this weird schedule and hate to work on after hours. After that, when you became Caster apprentice you stopped going outside altogether, didn't you?
—Yeah... —she admitted a bit embarrassed.
—The Lunarians surely will be tempted if you are with us, and if they are really planning to betray us, they will surely fall for it. And we, together, will be able to beat them up!
Cinnabar looked back at Caster.
—Will you be able to protect everyone while I'm gone? —he asked, looking up to the window of the room where Sensei laid—, including him?
—Leave it to me, making barriers have become my specialty.
—T-then —she said, turning to where I was, but looking at the floor—, I'll be on your care.
Having that concluded, Caster proceeded to use her noble phantasm to upgrade the ship, bringing forth the development of human's civilization to turn it into what is known as an Ice Breaker.
—Impressive, isn't it? —Caster haughtily said—, it is sturdy enough to navigate through the frozen ocean, and unless someone forcibly imposes its previous design, it should remain this way even if you make it de-materialize.
She admitted it would be a bit of a burden to have it materialized for days, but a lot less than what I had wasted trying to fix it.
—As long as you eat properly, it should be fine, so we'll be packing some food with you. Goshe and Morga are already picking it up from the greenhouse —she said.
Her words killed every hope I had from our rations being cupcakes and muffins. Veggies and fruits were still good, though. Caster then proceeded to show me something she had been holding behind her back, a small rectangle with some sort of antenna.
—Are these... radios? —I said.
—Yes, with these we'll be able to stay in contact —she said with pride.
I congratulated her good thinking, as with these, the Lunarians will not be able to truly separate us.
—Ah, but don't these have limited coverage?
—Normally yes, but these were made by me. Don't look down on my inventions, you'll need to travel a month in a straight line before you lose reception —she said before laughing haughtily, but after a couple of seconds she stopped suddenly and her expression turned to a more somber one—. J-just remember I made them in a hurry, so they are a bit sensible. Avoid hitting them.
—I'll take good care of it.
The preparations continued, and by the noon, we had moved the ship and everything we might need to the beach next to where the "Shirou' compass" pointed. I keep that and the radio hidden inside of the ship, as they will help us discern the true intentions of the Lunarians. Finally, the third sunspot appeared, with the Prince on it. He was wearing an "oni-mask" that had been modified and resembled somewhat of Mantis' own mask. This apparently allowed him to speak. As he stepped towards me, I noticed he was carrying a huge sword. Bort and Cairn had already their hands on the handle of their weapons, the latter wanting to use the spear one last time, but I stopped both of them. The Prince stood in front of me, and took a knee to the ground, presenting his sword to me.
—Please accept this as a symbol of our alliance —he said.
I had started to become accustomed to fight without a weapon, but I understood the meaning of it, plus it could turn out useful, so I accepted it and told him to stand. I started to think my warning from earlier might have made him rethink his way, but I couldn't trust him yet.
—Due to the importance of this mission, I managed to convince the guild to allow us to travel for as many days as we require. All of my brethren and the shadow servants are at your disposal.
I thanked him, and informed him of my choices. Aside from himself, I asked Cicada and some of the regular Sundries to go with us. As it would be too dangerous to be left on the island even if the Lunarians didn't betrayed us, I included Faust' Buffoon too. Assassin was a given, as I didn't know her powers and didn't trust leaving her behind. I asked Kiyohime to also join us too, even if I felt a bit uncomfortable with her around. She would have insisted to come with us anyway, and I expected her "crush" on me would make her stand with us in case a battle erupted. I had to explain to her that the rest of the gems where my brothers, as Caster had suggested me, and that calmed her down. Mantis wanted to go, but accepted to stay behind to supervise everything.
—I won't disappoint you, Phosphophyllite-sama —she said.
With everything ready, we set our sight on the horizon and departed from the island into the frozen sea.