Chapter 0: The Beginning of everything.

THE CHAMBERLAIN FAMILY.

The Chamberlain family. A typical American family, if any normal American family can claim to be as rich and old as the Chamberlain. Not only that, but they are one of, if not the oldest notorious family in America, if records of the colonial times are to be believed. An old family that has manage not only to stood against the test of time, but that has make its mark in history as it is believed to be one of the economic powers behind the american revolution, since there are many legends and whispers telling how it was the Chamberlain family the one who sheltered George Washington during a gruesome winter and paid for the commodities of the soldiers and the war effort; in exchange for the complete autonomy of the land they owned. And even though those are stories, it is the so called "Chamberlain State" the closest the United States of America is going to get to a 51 state, even if by a technicality is under de jurisdiction of the state of New York.

But the geopolitical background of 25 square kilometers of land is not the focal point of this story, but what is happening right now, in the office of the old head of the family, a gentle and nice looking old man is currently reading a stack of papers, reports to be more precisely, from current economic trends to the nice news that a certain man has been elected to congress, and that said man owes a debt to the family which means…..well, one can only imagine right?. The man who is currently sitting in a really nice chair in front of a polished wooden desk is Charles Benedict Chamberlain, a ruthless businessman in the real state world, and a caring and loving husband, father and grandfather to his family, the typical grandfather archetype with a bushy white beard, grey hair and gentle features.

However, if someone were to enter his office right now, they would see a 'very angry' old man, and that is putting it lightly. The reason for that is not a current drop in the stock market (even though in this case it would be better) nor is it another attempt of the government to take away the special status of the "Chamberlain State", or any other mundane nuisance, no this is different, because you see, just like any other self-respected multi-billionaire whose family is as old as his, he has spies and moles in every corner. From government agencies, to rival companies and high profile organizations, to even that one guy that serves you a kid's meal in your local Mc D*nalds. He has spies everywhere, after all knowledge is power, he knows it, his family knows it. And currently it is because of knowledge that he is furious. Because among all the companies and agencies that he has under surveillance, there is also one that not only he needed to succeed but one that almost nobody knows of, and in which he has invested a lot in, from money to knowledge, just so that it had everything it needed. And it is that organization in which he put his faith and resources in, the one that not only has disappointed him, but that also makes him really angry, furious even, because it only proves, that the only mages he can actually trust, belong to his family.

The Chaldea Security Organization, the so called "shield of humanity" an organization that works in collaboration with The Clock Tower, The Atlas Academy, The Wandering Sea, and the United Nations, in an effort to protect and safeguard humanity against supernatural entities. Founded by a magus named Marisbury Animusphere, with the objective of protecting the Human Order, and ensuring humanities future. A noble goal, a goal that good old Charles wanted to see flourish in an effort to ensure that a certain prophecy wouldn't come true. However as it seems all his effort was for nothing, as the current report not only shows the corruption of Chaldea, but also that the Mages Association and the U.N cannot be trusted, with something like this.

A powerful cry of anger leaves Charles mouth as the Chaldea report is turned into small pieces of paper as he rips it apart in a fit of anger. After a few minutes of pure silence and breathing in an effort of trying to calm himself, he just takes a deep breath, stands up and turns on the intercom, a few seconds later he speaks in a calm but serious way.

"Alfred. Bring me my telephone, you know which."

As he turns off the intercom and sits down again, memories of years prior come to life again, in an subconscious effort of trying to see where it all went wrong.

'God damnit, I believed you better than this Marisbury, but I guess you were the same as the rest of the lords….maybe Margaret was right. "an ordinary man, is not always a good man" or something like that.'

Sadness and disappointment could be seen in the face of the old head of the family as he waits, his right hand turn into a fist full of anger as he tries to reconcile with what he just read. And as he does he tries to think what to do now. No, he knows what must be done, a sin like this cannot go unpunished, but, he also doesn´t want to do it, and it is not because of the dreams of that man, nor is it because of Chaldea, or the staff, nor the mission, they can all go to hell for all he cares. No the reason to be so hesitant is because, if Chaldea is destroyed, that would mean that the dreadful prophecy and the destiny of his family will be fulfilled, and he doesn´t mind that either, every member of his family has been preparing for it since ancient times, that's the reason of the planning, money, the hoarding of lost knowledge, and everything they have work problem lies in the person who will actually have to fulfill the mission. His grandson, a mere child that is not even 3 years old, He was the one chosen by the grail, to be the one who would fight against the great evils of humanity. And that is where the problem lies. He doesn´t like the idea that a child, his very own grandson, has to became the champion that the grail promised, he doesn´t want him to be the champion, much less his own parents, who were battling a long time just to have a child, and when they finally got it, it was just so the grail could claim it as its master, its owner, the so called "grand master", it is because of that, that he did everything in his power to ensure the success of Chaldea, not because they were running away from fate, but because nobody would be happy sending a child to the wolf´s mouth, it should have been the work of adults to do so, his son, his daughter in law, his brother, his wife, his cousins, his nephews and nieces, every adult member of the family was more than ready to take up the task by the horns. But for it to be a child, the grail must have some twisted sense of humor…..or as the old generations and everyone before had said, 'the grail will choose the most worthy among us'.

But even they would be horrified knowing that the one chosen was a child. Maybe he is overreacting, but it was either that, or seeing a child marching to battle against HIM. And between that and overreacting, he prefers the latter. Being completely honest, it would be easy to just ignore everything that was listed in the report, he could think of many reasons why, and just write it off as something that 'cannot be helped'. However, if he did that, how would he face his family again? It certainly would be easy, but it would not be right. He prides himselfin raising a good man, a man that his own parents can be proud of, a man that still sees him as a hero, if he were to let this slide, would he like it? No, of course not, he would rather eat needles than let a bunch of retarded mages, run over the human rights, especially children. Even if it affects his own son, he would still do it, and then make sure that his child would be ready for the storm to come, truly a wonderful parent. And if that would be the case, then he would have to act, directly and decisively, Marisbury made a mess, and it is time he pays for it.

'Human experimentation, using children as guinea pigs for a so called "demi-servant project", trying to pry into another dimensions with my knowledge of the second magic none the less? Seriously, there is only so much a man can take you know? Furthermore, how many more persons know about this? '

And that was a logical question, a question that the more he thinks about it, the more he realizes the scope of what he´s dealing with, The Clock Tower would not care, why should it? The existence of magic and/or magical knowledge is not being leak to the common folk, so who cares if random children are being taken away to be experimented on, just because ´they were blessed with magic circuits', the idiots in the Atlas academy are too much preoccupied with their own crap, to even say anything, and the U.N. in its own self-righteousness is too occupied being useless and excusing themselves the same old crap of "The protection of humanity as a whole" to say something.

Each an everyone is full of crap, just fools trying their hardest to be seen as the wiser when they don´t even see they´re the laughing stock of the world, the mages in their foulest attempt to improve magecraft, can´t even concede that there are other ways to do "magic", and every time someone finally makes any substantial progress, it is either ridicule by their peers if they´re lucky, and completely vivisected in the worst case scenario. It is not a surprise that thaumaturgy is slowly disappearing from the world with idiots like that leading the magical world.

The U.N with their bureaucracy, and their weak-minded leaders can´t do anything either, It wouldn´t even be a surprise if some of the higher ups are completely brainwashed by mages, or just bought them.

'Idiots, each and every one of them.'

A few moments after finishing a small rant, Charles hears someone knocking the door.

"Sir? May I come in?"

"Yes, come in Alfred!" the old man, get up of his chair, and as he does, another man steps into the room, an old man, not as old as the previous head of family, but a man that has certainly seen his fair share of things in life. Wearing a clean cut suit black as night, with a tail, black shoes, and black pants, a white inner shirt with a nice red tie, his face completely calm but with a certain edge in it, as if the man is waiting for anything to try to hurt his lord or enter his lord´s home, white skin, a little bit tan certainly from doing task and jobs outside of the house, bald, but with still some hair on the sides and the lower part of the back of the head, brown eyes, and a neatly cut mustache, for any normal person it would be the very image of a what a normal person thinks when they hear the word "butler", that is the very essence of Albert Frederick Schneider, or "Alfred" as the current head of the family and almost everyone in said family like to call him, after a really funny incident that happen when James (the current head) was nothing but a child, he was reading a batman comic, he made a comment of how the man look like a certain character, and that just stick, after that, the recently hired butler name Albert just went by "Alfred" and usually made jokes about even to this day.

"Goodnight, Sir"

Said the butler with calm, as he observes the older Chamberlain.

"It seems that the reports weren´t all good news, Mas I inquired what is wrong Sir? Is it a new stock crisis in Wall Street? Should I call the rest of the staff and make an inventory of the emergency gold stash Sir?" said the man half as a joke, and half as a serious statement.

A smile crosses the face of the older man as he raises his sight. "I wish old friend; in fact, I would be more at ease if the reports were about an imminent economic disaster. No, the reports of Chaldea Security have come, and they are not good, there is a reason I ask for the damn telephone."

"Your beloved wife would be hurt by those words, sir" said the slightly younger man in a sarcastic way.

"The telephone might be trash but at least the woman who gave it to me is the greatest." Said the older Chamberlain, as the butler walks up to him with the red telephone in a silver plate. And it was true, the phone was old as in 1980 line phone old, and it was a gift from his wife as some kind of joke, but since he loves his wife very much, he took it and use it as some kind of ultra-secret phone after he saw an action flick and just went with it. Rich people are weird.

As he starts to enter the number on the telephone, he speaks to the family´s butler. "Thank you, Alfred. I´ll call you up after I finish."

"As you wish, Sir" after a simple bow he left the room. And seconds later the phone started to dial.

From the other side of the line a really masculine voice responded the call, his accent clearly Russian, with a certain animosity to it.

"дядя?" Ask the other man on the line.

"Hello Sergey, how have you been?" said the old man with a grin on his face.

"HAHAHA. So its rreally you uncle Charrles! My wife has wanted to call you for ages to ask about the small one of the family, but you know how it is rright? Lately business has been taking a lot out of us" said the other man with a very accentuated English, and with a very cheerful attitude. "How about you uncle, how have you been?"

"I have seen better days, and it is one of the reasons why I am calling you." Said Charles with a very simple, and serious tone.

"I could imagine it…..Who fucked up this time? Was it the shitty cult in Britain? The one that worships Arrthurr as a god or some retarded shit like that?" said the Russian man a little amuse.

"Even though I would like to teach them a lesson, as of right now, I have more important things to do, which brings me to the reason I called you, Chaldea. I want you to destroy it…burn it to the ground."

The man on the other line of the phone, went silent for a few seconds.

"…"

"Are you sure about that uncle? Without them…..little Sean will have to…."

"I know….and I am going to make sure he is ready. But this cannot be avoided, after this call I´m going to send you the reports of Chaldea, my moles have been doing some digging and have found some nasty shit." Said the old man, as if it is the word of god, and in this moment it might not be an overstatement.

"Uncle, please think about it" said the man, a little bit more preoccupied. "Chaldea is supposed to be your chance, our only chance to not send a child to a war zone. Even if we don´t know when it will happen you are taking a big bet here, as far as we know the end of the world could be tomorrow or in 50 years, we can just play it safe, at least until the kid is eighteen years old and-…."

"Sergey….They are using children in human experiments" the old Chamberlain had to utter just a single sentence to silence the man on the phone. For many the sentence, even if it carried weight, could be pass of in the name of the greater good, "better them than me" as some would say, but to Sergey Vólkov that sole sentence means everything, for he and his wife have been trying to have a child for ages, it is one the reasons he is protective of his newborn nephew, and why he always ensures that his local orphanage is taken care of. And to hear that this organization is out right killing and using children as if they were nothing but animals, or toys to play with, fills him with rage. How many times have he and his wife tried to no avail attempted to have a son or a daughter, how many times have they go to a doctor or use magecraft in an attempt to have what they cannot have, and to hear that there are people that hurt something as innocent as a child, it makes him angry, furious, and wanting to take action, to make them pay.

"Can I kill everyone?" said the Russian man in a very cold and serious tone.

"Yes, however, I would like you also to retrieve information, steal everything you can about Chaldea, data, papers, I will send a you a portfolio with V. that I want you to get out, as well as any surviving children. Aside from that, you can burn everything to the ground, especially the oil rig, you will understand once you see the reports."

"Consider it done."

"Do you have enough men? Or do you want me to send some of my best to help you out?"

"We can manage, don´t worry. I believe Ivonne will single handedly burrn a nice parrt of it, afterr I tell herr and show herr those paperrs…It´s going to happen isn´t it?" Sergey said those last words a little sad, as he had just heard horrible news, and maybe they are horrible news not only because of the kids, but also for what is to come.

"It looks like it. I can only pray to God, that if it's going to happen that it happens when he is an adult, the only thing we can do now, is try or best, and hope for the best. Thank you Sergey, I´m going to make sure, that your paycheck has 3 more zeroes than usual."

"A little bit of extra-cash is never a bad thing." Said the russian, trying to light the mood.

"Well said….I´m going to hang up, good luck Sergey, May God protects you, and make a mess out of those idiots."

"It will be done Uncle, don´t worry. I will start the preparations then."

"Then so be it. Goodnight Sergey, I will send you more information in the coming days so you can prepare your men." On the other side of the phone the man said his goodbyes, and ended the call. Charles put down the phone back in place, and releases a loud sigh. A few moments later, he just speaks out loud to nobody.

"Bad luck old fried, I told you, that you shouldn´t try anything stupid."

The man stand up from his chair, walks up to the window and sees the beautiful night sky, thinking of what is to come.

In the following weeks important news shock the magical and some parts of the non-magical world, when in the year 2004 Chaldea is destroyed.

Well that's it. First of all, this story of more of a hobby. A way to improve my grammar since English is not my first language and I want to get better at it. Second don´t take anything here to seriously it´s just the prologue, there will be some bs but I will try my best so it makes kind of sense, this story despite the grim start will be more focus in the journey and some comedy, so expect some more bs in a funny way I hope, the majority of servants will be taken from my account as a start and because I know of them, so it will take a time before people like Ivan will make its appearance. Third grammar checks or tips will be highly appreciated so thank you in advance, I don´t know when the next chapter will come out, but I will be working on it. Without nothing more, see you soon. And I hope you like this.