Chapter 1: Nightmares
My Master. My heart. My soul.
I love her so much. Despite incarnating as an insane Berserker class I somehow know I'll never deserve her affection.
Even her name is flawless. Master Fujimaru Ritsuko!
I lay in the darkness by my master's side as she slumbered in a large bed in an ultramodern white bedchamber, both of us clad in a flimsy tunic and pant combination called 'PJs' by both Master and Kyrielight-san. After many battles she now possessed the legendary prowess of a Master in combat, with the potential to effortlessly control an uncountable number of the deceased Heroic spirits called Servants. Despite her fearsome reputation she still looked like an ordinary teenaged girl, albeit one with hair tinted the fiery orange of Maple leaves in the autumn and honest amber eyes that was incapable of concealing her feelings. On the whole I am glad that deceit is not in her nature. She must have learned her lesson from the grave mistakes of her previous incarnation, Anchin-sama. Lies falling from her lips would be an intolerable situation, and the punishment would once again be merciless!
Despite the bliss of sharing her warmth under the soft covers, sleep still eluded me as uneasy events from the distant past buzzed at the back of my mind. Many centuries ago I can only assume I was an elegant human girl with long black hair and brown eyes, as my memory of my mortal life has become rather hazy save for the details of my former beloved's betrayal. The year a flowering maiden turned fifteen was when that eternally cursed monk Anchin-sama had visited my family's homestead on his way to a nearby Buddhist monastery. We had soon fallen passionately in love; I had known that I was destined to be his bride! However, he eventually claimed that he needed to go on a journey, but he pinky swore with me that he would return to marry me. I believed each and every one of his honeyed words! Months later I struck out on my own journey to find him; fearing that something horrible had happened to him. However, to my eternal shock, I found out he had taken the long way to avoid my family's village. He had lied, lied, lied, lied, lied, lied, lied, lied to me!
Now thoroughly agitated, I sat up and wandered into the nearby washroom to rinse my face. Pale yellow eyes met mine in the reflecting glass; it laid bare my irreversible transformation from human to a demonic dragon. Although half a head shorter than Master Fujimaru, I was better endowed, with a slim physique lost in her oversized pink sleepwear decorated by childish cartoon tiger faces. Long pale green locks cascaded to my thighs, and triple sets of bleached white horns adorned my temples. I clutched the sink edges with slightly sharpened fingernails, as I remembered that I was so enraged at Anchin-sama's betrayal, that I quickly tracked him down. It was a simple enough endeavor given many fellow travelers recalled his stunning beauty. I finally cornered him at the Hidaka river, and he cravenly bribed the boatman to ferry him across leaving me stranded. My rage permanently distorted my form into a great white serpent with glowing yellow eyes. I chased him all the way to the Doujou-ji temple where the monks scattered from my monstrous appearance. I could not see my betrayer anywhere, yet his scent gave him away, as he was hiding under the great temple's iron black bell. With a now shattered mind from being heartlessly scorned, I vindictively rang the bell with my tail and seared the bell with my blue flames. Only after roasting him alive and realizing what I had transformed into I gave into my despair and drowned myself…I guess? The details are so blurry, but I do remember the bloody river waters encasing me, as my life and dreams evaporated into foam.
Just then his..her voice and soft embrace from behind yanked me back into the here and now, "Kiyohime-san, why are you crying?" Her right hand, decorated with a tattoo-like red crest mark gently wiped the dampness off my cheek. Her sweet scent started to addle my mind.
I spat out in emotional turmoil, "W-why did you summon me Master?" I shook my head as I couldn't meet her kindly light orange eyes, "You have Anchin-sama's soul and he died terrified of me as I violently snuffed out his life! Even though you…he betrayed me, you still were willing to have me stand at your side."
"I can't speak for Anchin, as my soul is my own. I have no memories of his life." Her arms wrapped around my shoulders, and I melted into her embrace. "Besides, I was cut off from my family and my entire world overnight. Frankly I'm scared every single day that I'll fail the Professor, Mash-san, my other servants, or you Kiyohime-san. The fate of the world literally rests on my shoulders. Your faith keeps me strong, even when I feel like my knees are about to buckle."
My heart nearly burst. "B-but Master, I'm a wicked fiend! Even though you will never find a more devoted wife in any lifetime, I know I'm a troublesome woman. You show such consideration and affection to very 'Unheroic' spirits like me, a crazed idol singer who bathed in the blood of virgins like you in life, the usurper of Avalon, a Victorian era serial killer, and a weak-willed doctor with a super powered evil side. Why not break your contracts with all of us, and summon England's greatest king, the French saint that recaptured Orleans, or a holy monk instead?"
I felt her warm body pressed into my back, which always made my chilled reptilian blood surge with heat straight to my cheeks. "Ah. You mean why didn't I summon a Pendragon instead of a beautiful real dragon like you?"
"Yes Master. I would like to know."
"Follow me. I'll show you why."
…
Moments later we were sitting on the bed face to face and she gently placed her left hand on her chest, and her right hand on my sternum; as if we about to transfer mana. I flushed in giddiness to her touch. "That tickles, Master!"
She gave a genuine, but embarrassed smile as her Command seal lit up with a brilliant crimson light that faintly illuminated the bedroom, "Sieh meine Erinnerungen. Sieh meine Träume. Von meinem Herzen zu deinem Herzen, Durch Sterne und Raum. Siehst du?" I closed my eyes as she opened up her memories to me.
After a flash of darkness I saw a traditional Japanese ceiling, as my body got up from a futon and wandered down several long hallways with white walls, sliding paper walls and dark oaken floors. The low perspective indicated that Master was apparently a child in this vision. She threw on her flip flops and ran across a courtyard to pester two members of her family. An athletic young man with a thin mustache and goatee dressed in only his blue jeans and covered in grease laboriously worked to reassemble a silver BMW motorcycle. To my mild surprise I saw his unruly hair and eye color matched my Master's shade exactly. Handing him tools was an impish green-eyed boy of about 10 with spiky black hair.
I heard a high pitched girl's voice, "Hi daddy! I'm hungry! When's dinner?"
Her brother laughed, "Both mom and dad have the skills of gourmet chefs and you didn't inherit enough talent to make something yourself?"
"Hey! Stop bullying me, Ristuka-niisan!" The pout in the voice was unmistakable, "Fine fine! But I want something yummy tonight!"
Her father beamed and patted her head affectionately, "Absolutely! When your mother was my kouhai, she tried her all to best me in domestic skills. I'm sure she'll whip up an onigiri for you in a flash!"
"Thanks daddy! And Niisan, you suck!"
"Hey!"
I giggled to myself as the younger version of Master raced back into the house, kicked off her sandals and ran into her kitchen. A slim, busty woman was laboring at the countertop, deboning fresh mackerels. She had highly striking waist-length violet hair tied into a braided ponytail and matching eyes tainted by cursed magic that obscured her pupils. Her eyes lit up at the sight of her child, "Hi Ristsuko-chan! You're starving, right?"
"Sure thing, mommy!"
"Take that plate on the counter with the onigiri and hot tea on it to the dining table. Be careful not to spill it, my dear."
"Thanks!" Master knelt at the low table and stuffed her face in a most unlady-like fashion. It was so precious! She spoke with her mouth full, "Mhe-hey mommy, when am I going to be as amazing as you, daddy, Auntie Rin and Auntie Rider?"
"Hee, hee. Such a silly question. You're an amazing girl already."
"Daddy was your senpai in school, right?"
Her mother smiled in a wistful manner, "My dear, father will eternally be my senpai. He sacrificed everything to save me."
I heard the wonderment in the child's voice, "Wow! So he was a noble prince that rescued a pure-hearted princess in distress?"
Her mother stopped using her knife and her expression fell.
"What's wrong mommy?"
She put on a pained smile as she washed her hands, knelt at the table and tearfully embraced her daughter, "I wished with all my might that it could have been like that…but it wasn't. I was burdened by a terrible curse that resulted in untold chaos. I was a creature of pure darkness and despair."
"Mommy, please don't cry! You're a good person, I know it!"
Her mother's face displayed humble gratitude as she dabbed her tears away, "Despite my unworthiness, I will be forever in your father's and neesama's debt for being a shining beacon of light that shattered my black cage to shards."
"O-okay. So you and daddy are the darkness and light combined in a Yin and Yang circle?"
Her violet eyes looked at her child with unabashed love, "Yes dear, exactly like that. You posses not only father's eyes and hair, you own a spirit of heroism and honesty that I treasure. Nurture that spirit within; be a blinding beam that illuminates the darkness in other's lives. I truly believe that is you and your brother's destiny."
The magical connection was abruptly severed and I was back on Master's bed. I gaped as I saw tears in her eyes, "Mom was right! More than even she knew. Whenever I see a person like you, Jack, or Mordred sinking into an abyss of despair I see my mother's tears of pain from that day. I have to try to reach out to them, just as my father supported my mother in her darkest hour of need. I just can't reject them, or turn away from them. If I can't forgive your sins from your mortal lives, then why should I forgive what my mother was?"
"Oh, my Master!" I gave her a crushing embrace. I knew from that moment on that I would never again question her intentions or resolve!
