Golden cup, golden eyes

Deep inside the top floor of the tall japanese castle he sat on the throne-dais, his silver locks flowing forward and around his shoulders, covering his eyes.

His katana, resting sheathed on his lap, shone its black lacquered scabbard under the dim moonlight. His hands clasped to the front and center, and his elbows resting on his legs, he looked like a wooden figure, imperceptively breathing, looking beyond the tatami-covered floor at nothing.

And a few meters in front of him, his Master, the savior of mankind, Chaldeas' last magus laid unconscious with the aftermath of battle evident on the skin.

Why had he not finished his Master, not even he could fathom. Or perhaps it would be more precise to say not even he could admit.
A golden glow finally appeared before Amakusa Shirou Tokisada, the beginning of the Holy Grail's materialization, the instrument to achieve his goal. Mankind's salvation was at hand.

It would all end soon...

"MISTER REINDEER!" A voice Amakusa knew very well yelled from the hall's entrance, accompanied by the light steps of two older women behind it. One of them screamed "SENPAI, NO!" almost immediately while the other walked further inside with determination.

The first intruder walked past the unconscious Master while the second one knelt and checked for a pulse, exhaling a sob of relief once it was found. The smaller girl remained standing between the lilac-haired Shielder and Amakusa, wielding her lance with hesitation.

Once Semiramis was almost in front of him she stopped and placed a foot forward on the first step towards the dais. "I hope you're aware I can't let you get away with this, Shirou." She said and he finally reacted, with a self-satisfied smile. Still looking down, he kept listening to her. "There's still time, and the fact that Master is still alive is proof that you were expecting us to find you before it was too late."

"I wonder." Amakusa curtly replied.

"Shouldn't you be happier for reaching your goal, then?" Semiramis argued.

Silence.

"Teacher, how could you?! I believed in you, I kept hearing how you would eventually betray Mister Reindeer yet I never listened! Why would you do this?!" Between tears and snot-wiping motions Jeanne Lily confronted Amakusa, her heart breaking into pieces.

"You're more innocent than I thought you were, then. You're truly the Maid of Orleans." Amakusa chided her.

"Enough! If you won't back down then prepare yourself! Jeanne, Mashu, get ready!" Semiramis' hands shone in pale green as she stood defiantly before Amakusa.

And as Mashu raised her shield forward, Jeanne Lily walked towards the dais, her lance held feebly, finally letting go of it once she was at Semiramis side, yet still moving towards him.

"Jeanne, what are you doing?!" Semiramis incredously looked on as Jeanne reached the throne and threw her arms around Amakusa.

"Is this your answer?" He said as he felt her warm tears on the nape of his neck.

"I love Mister Reindeer, but you're my family!" She replied between sobs, barely believing what came out of her mouth.

"So be it." Amakusa finally stood from the throne, her small frame being carried by his arm, and his katana held firmly on his other hand. He walked down the dais' steps and stood before Semiramis.

He looked at her firmly and the spell in her hand dispersed into mist as her head fell down in shame.

He then looked back at Mashu's terrified eyes.

"Take Master and come back with strength renewed. The grail will not finish materializing until a couple days have passed." He declared. "Then we'll settle this."

"If you think you'll be forgiven twice..." Mashu started.

"Master knows that I will always seek the grail."

"And I will...always stop you." A strong yet struggling voice retorted, Mashu helped her senpai up with a look of fear from the effort that her beloved person was exerting to speak up. "And then you'll resume helping me save mankind again. Because you're a good guy in the end." A smile formed in Amakusa's Master's lips. "Although this time you're kind of an asshole for making Semiramis and Jeanne Lily go through this."

Amakusa stared his Master down impassively, with neither Jeanne Lily nor Semiramis daring to look back.

And as the two Chaldean heroes left, Amakusa turned around and climbed back to the throne with Jeanne in his arms, and Semiramis slowly following. He placed his katana on the side of the throne's arm and sat down, with Semiramis sitting on the opposite arm of the throne, her arms crossed over her chest and looking outside into the moonlit night.

"You two have chosen needlessly. Master will need you both much more than I will to win this." He finally said in resignation after what seemed like an eternity.

Jeanne finally separated her face from his chest, with tear-stained cheeks and red-puffed eyes. "You're an idiot, teacher! I will never leave your side, even if the world is against you!" She cried, punctuating her words with feeble strikes to his chest. "Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

"I'm only here to take care of Jeanne, you fool..." Semiramis angrily replied with a half truth. "You should abandon this ridiculous quest now that we know of mankind's fate. Even if you succeed, the world you seek would be pruned."

He remained in silence. Then hugging Jeanne both as a means to comfort her and himself, he reflected. "Perhaps this is a test. Perhaps the reason the grail is taking so long to manifest is because it's necessary for Master to emerge victorious once more and attain new strength. Perhaps I'm doomed to yearn for my foolish dream to empower Master."

"Then I shall remain by your side to make such power be earned with even greater glory." She said as she closed her eyes.

And before he could say something back she placed his head on her bossom, a hand behind his head and another on Jeanne's back.

"And then Master came back and kicked our collective behind, which managed to unlock greater strength for my Noble Phantasm, for some reason. I still don't know how that even works." Amakusa told the congregated "Diabolic Masterminds of Chaldeas", as this group was usually called.

An dandy old man spoke up. "It's clearly proof of how the trust between our Master and yourself has increased. As weird as that may sound, you're aware Master knows you best and you were fully expecting for things to go that way."

"Yeah, deep down inside you knew it was necessary for you to better provide your support. Your time here has made you a big softie." A tall man with a single-braid beard rubbed his chin and grinned.

"I have to admit it's healthier for me to concede as much. It makes me wonder if this contract of mine has changed me so much as to redirect my obssession towards a way to give strength to our Master, with trials". Amakusa admitted, crossing his arms and looking up while reclining back on his chair.

"It's inevitable, even if we were not fond of Master as we are, a destroyed mankind wouldn't really bring us joy." The voluptuous woman in a nun's habit provided, her index finger supporting the side of her tilting head.

"Really, you're saying that? Now I've heard it all." The buxom, purple-haired girl in the leotard and black jacket quipped.

"W-well, what's the point if it is not on my terms?" The nun stammered.

"Now now, I think in our current summoning state we have all considerably mellowed out." The black-bearded man tried to defuse.

"The understatement of the century when it comes to you, heh." The purple-haired girl struck back.

"I do believe we have deviated enough." The old dandy said. "And it is rather late now, I have a play date with my darling Fran." He said as he stood up. "Thank you all for coming."

"Same time next week?" Amakusa queried as he stood up as well.

"If I feel like it, sure." The girl said, matter-of-factly.

"You know it, my good man." The tall, black bearded man confirmed.

"Yes, of course. I have the most delectable ohagi to share with all of you." The nun replied as she drank the last of her tea.

The 5 villains went their separate ways, surely planning their next master plan.

Closing notes: This time I decided to write something about an imaginary interlude for Amakusa, the idea suddenly struck me as I wondered how would Jeanne Lily react while conflicted. Did you guys like it? Hopefully it is so!