[ Gilgamesh pov ]

"So that is how first battle went huh?"'Am I supposed to ignore the fact that they tried to kill a goddess, without even having an anti-divine weapon? They even went and used those peasant tactics of theirs... sigh, as expected of mongrels, they really need to disappear from my world.'

"Indeed, the blue-haired servant of Rin was still alive when Lancer left, according to him she is most likely alive since he felt something strange going on with her."

"She is alive indeed, but leave her alone from now on, she is useful." 'Does this mongrel really think a goddess can be killed with a mere stick thrown at her? It wasn't even an anti-divine weapon so it can be healed without much trouble. Ughh the worst part is they don't even know she is a goddess.'

"But she is a servant, I fail to see how a servant would help us."

"Are you questioning me Kotomine?!"

"Of course not your grace, I am merely curious."

"Just stay away from her, you will know when the time comes."

"Of course."

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[ Saber pov ]

Speechless, Saber was utterly speechless while watching everything unfold.

To say that Saber was confused would be an understatement. Absolutely nothing that had happened since she was summoned made any sense. How did the blue-haired servant know she participated in the last war? How did she know Kiritsugu was her previous master? And most importantly... why was she so childish and petty?!

Watching her bicker with an actual child only reinforced the idea that there was something wrong with this servant.

There was however something that caught her attention, the little girl master of Berserker, who was currently gritting her teeth while refusing to apologise and demanding answers, was referred to by the blue-haired servant as the daughter of his last master, which means...

"Excuse me, are you the daughter of Irisviel?" asked Saber slightly hesitant. Something inside her told her that she already knew the answer, even though the girl in front her seemed too young for that to be the case.

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[ Illyasviel pov ]

Illyasviel froze for a moment hearing her mother's name. Unlike when the blue-haired annoyance said the name of her father, she could feel a tinge of nostalgia and regret in the voice of Saber.

Moving her eyes towards Saber, she could see both expectation and a tint of regret in the servants expression.

Countless thoughts started running through her mind, should she just apologise to ask her questions? Should she perhaps attack, in an attempt to get back at her father for abandoning her?

No, while annoying, the demands of the blue-haired servant made her wonder how much she actually wanted those answers, how badly did she wish to know more, would she willingly throw her pride aside to get information on the man that left her behind and got a new family?

She looked back at Berserker who was standing behind her, his stoic appearance hinting at how unbothered he was by everything that was going on, yet his hand, clenched around the club as well as his sharp gaze directed towards  the two servants proved he was on guard.

'It doesn't matter, as long as I have Berserker I won't lose to anyone. Still, it would be stupid to stay here much longer since the blue-haired b*tch should be recovering her mana with time. I need to make my decision now.'

"You knew mom and Kiritsugu, tell me why they never returned to me." She asked, looking directly at Saber's green eyes.

"I do not know. I have no knowledge of what happened after the war ended."

"So you really were his servant?"

"I was."

Seeing that this was going nowhere, Illyasviel chose to shift her gaze towards the only person who seemed to actually know about the subject.

"But you do know something right?" she asked, looking in Aqua's direction, only to find her resting on the lap of her master, who for some reason was slightly blushing.

Aqua slowly moved her eyes in Illyasviel direction, before bringing them back towards her master.

"Come on master, you have to pet my head, otherwise this will be nothing more than laying in a comfortable pillow."

"I don't understand how this will help you recover mana faster, but I guess you have earned a reward for your hard work." said her master, though with each word her volume lowered, until the end came out as nothing more than a whisper.

"Are you going to answer her Aqua? She seems quite eager to know and you did bring it up." said her master, regaining a slightly more composed tone while simultaneously making Illyasviel, who was about to start screaming at being ignored so blatantly, calm down a bit.

"Sigh... fine, I guess I could answer some of her questions... with a condition of course." replied Aqua, the last part sounding more greedy than usual, which ended up creating a pretty contrasting image with her posture, which screamed laziness and boredom.

Illyasviel got annoyed once again, a part of her was expecting for the blue-haired servant to continue asking for her to apologise, while the other part expected something even more outrageous.

Hence why she was so surprised when she saw the servant get up from her master's lap and getting a serious expression on her face.

"I want your help. In truth I want an alliance, however alliances are based on trust and I doubt you have any for us. I believe that we could form one at a later time, but for now I would like to ask you for help saving my master's sister, in exchange I shall answer your questions regarding Kiritsugu and Irisviel to the best of my ability."

Everyone was stunned momentarily, the first one to react however was Berserker, who grunted at his master.

Illyasviel knew he was indicating that she held no ill-intent behind her words, which meant that she was most likely telling the truth.

Having confirmation that her servant's instincts were the same as hers, she chose to agree, however she decided not to say it yet since depending on what type of help they require it might or might not be worthy.

"With what exactly do you need help?" asked Illyasviel, her face stoic.

"Annihilating the Matou's" answered Aqua, seriousness still present on her expression.

Illyasviel maintained her stoic expression, however on the inside she was both impressed and annoyed. Impressed that someone would actually go against the Matou's and annoyed that this was what she was asked for with help.

Had it been something else, she might have readily agreed, this however... it would doom her house. Her house... her annoying house where she always felt trapped. Did she really want to uphold that house? But it was hers, when her parents left, her house was all she had...then again, her house was already lost, she was among the last remaining the rest being homunculus.

She looked at Berserker for a moment, wondering how much was worth risking for knowledge about her parents.

Aqua, seeing Illyasviel doubting, knew that she might get rejected, so she chose to go directly to the offer of the alliance.

It was true that alliances for their alliance to work trust between them was necessary, but that didn't mean that it was the only way to make it work, there is after all another thing that can serve as the base of an alliance, benefits.

"I understand that this might be too much simply in exchange for information, so how about I make you the offer of the alliance now? I did say that we needed trust, but we can build it along the way."

"Hmmm." Illyasviel stayed silent for a little longer, wondering what was going through the servant's mind. "Tell me more."

"Well I have an offer for you, I will tell you what I know about Kiritsugu and Irisviel and I will save your life. In exchange I want you to help us in dealing with the Matou's and to give up on winning the war."

"What do you mean 'save my life', are you saying that I will die?" asked Illyasviel annoyed, she felt that the servant in front of her was underestimating her.

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. As the lesser grail, you might know this already, but once the war is over you will die."

"Only if I don't win."

"Even then, even if you were to defeat everyone else, you would still die."

Illyasviel didn't know what to say, her instincts said that she was telling the truth and Berserker hadn't made any more sounds, indicating he also felt the same. This however felt too... strange. Having an enemy telling you that you will die unless you help them...

"Where is your proof of that?" asked Illyasviel.

"You see Irisviel don't you? She constantly tells you that Kiritsugu abandoned you."

Illyeasviel was surprised, if it was just saying that she saw Irisviel it might not have shocked her as much, but to even know what Irisviel said...

"How do you know that?!"

"How do I know that? I know it for the same reason I know you will die. If you want to know more, you will have to agree to form an alliance, but do keep in mind before saying no that your chances of winning this war, even if you manage to defeat us, are 0."