[Records of world: Earth-7731]
[Time: 03-02-1992 to 12-02-1992, according to the native human Christian calendar.]
[Location: Fuyuki City, Japan.]
[Prologue]
[20th of January, 21:48|2 weeks before Point Zero]
Kirei did not have a good day. Scratch that, his entire week was bad and to some extent everything that happened starting 3 years ago was bad.
That was the moment when red marks appeared on his right hand: so-called command seals, which prove that he is a participant in the Holy Grail War: a war whose winner will be allowed to have his wish, his sole desire, granted. The problem of Kirei however is that he lacks a wish, and thus a reason to participate. His father, Kotomine Risei, is a good friend of one of the three founders of this war, and ordered his son to assist that friend in battle so that they could reach the root, the wish (or at least supposed wish) of every magus. And thus Kirei was transferred from the Church to the Magus Association, trained in various magecrafts, and all seemed well… at least, until 2 weeks before the start of the Holy Grail war, when his package with the catalyst, an item associated with a hero of legend, would arrive.
When Kirei and Tokiomi opened the package, they found that their catalyst, the mask of the 19th of the Hassan-Il-Sabbah, was shattered like a porcelain teacup that was dropped from the Big Ben.
Risei entered the room, noticing the looks of displeasure and annoyance on the faces of his son and friend. "Risei," Tokiomi asked with a small hint of anger, "What kind of transport system did you use for delivering the package?"
"I made use of a company named FedEx, why do you ask?" Tokiomi took Risei by the hand and showed him the leftovers of the catalyst, proving once and for all that if you want to be sure that your package is in good hands, you don't let FedEx be those hands.
Taking the remains of the mask, Kirei went to one of the Tohsaka hideouts scattered through Fuyuki. Inside of this hideout was an already-prepared summoning circle, so he only had to speak the spell associated with the summoning. Placing the remains on the altar in front of the circle, he started chanting, hoping that the broken remains would still do their job.
Sadly enough, it wasn't meant to be. When the ritual was over, Kirei did not see a Hassan stranding in the circle. Instead, there was… a clown. A clown… Kirei, somewhat surprised by this new development, wondered how this person in front of him became a heroic spirit. What made it worse was the looks of this 'hero'… if you can call it that: a male of average height and posture, wearing a purple suit with green waistcoat and tie; The thing that really made him stand out was his face: it was painted white, just like his somewhat messy hair is painted green, the area around his eyes was painted black, and his lips were painted red… with the red streak continuing over the cheeks, making it look like he has one big red smile going from cheek to cheek. All in all, this person would be the ultimate assassin… against people with coulrophobia, that is.
"Are you… Assassin?" Kirei asked to the thus far silent man. This man turned to his master, before throwing out a small laughter.
"Assassin? Theoretically, yes; I am here as Assassin, but if you ask me personally? I really think it doesn't fit me. Assassins are all busy playing secret agents, making sure that everything goes to plan. But me? I don't plan. Where would be the fun in that? When I think: 'He should die', then I make sure he dies, and vice versa… though the latter one doesn't happen often… bats not included. If you want to call me by a more fitting alias, I guess you may call me Murderer. Or maybe…" Murderer suddenly took out a card from one of his pockets, and threw it into the wall behind Kirei, missing him by an inch.
Picking up the card that was surprisingly sharp (Kirei could easily slice some true ancestor in 17 pieces with it if he ever met one), he looked at the contents: it was the 53rd card from the deck, also known as the joker… "So, my little friend, seeing that this is clearly not Gotham, how do we get there as fast as possible?"
Kirei thought for a few moments, trying to remember any city with the name Gotham… but he couldn't think of one, and asked where exactly Gotham was located. "Don't you know any geography, master?" He somewhat angrily replied while sarcastically noting their relationship, "It is Gotham! Big American city with millions of people, a lot of crime, although that probably deteriorated after my disappearance… oh yeah, and most importantly, it is home to that Bat…" His face, twisted in an awkward combination of joy, love, anger, hate and compassion as he spoke out that last word, looked at Kirei, hoping to get a good answer this time, or he would kill him… at least, he wanted to, but that stupid Grail had a fail-safe that prevented murdering of one's own master. Bah.
"There is no city in America, nor anywhere else in the world that is named Gotham, nor do I know of any special bats that should live there." As Kirei said this with his usual emotionless expression, he was allowed the privilege to see one of the faces Assassin almost never makes: a combination of shock and horror, which soon turned into rage.
Dashing at his master, Assassin grabbed the collar of said man, shaking him while furiously asking where the hell Batman is.
But Kirei said that he doesn't know Batman. Even after Assassin explained who he was, Kirei gave only one response: "This Batman you talk about does not exist. Maybe he is a hero of the future or of the past, but not one of now. So Assassin, stop shaking me and put me down lest I use a command seal." There was no anger in his voice; no madness, no joy, no anything! The only thing that was found in his answer is just a straight-up answer that Batman, his arch-nemesis, his only thing worth living for, did not exist.
Dropping his master without any caution, he slowly staggered to the exit, mumbling and ranting about the worth of life and the nonexistence of Batman.
Kirei looked at his broken servant, and wondered how high the chance was that he got the strangest servant in the entire Grail war.
[27th of January, 12:59|1 week before Point Zero]
The Tohsaka manor had quite a few secret rooms, passages and other hidden stuff. Among those was a single chamber that was usually filled with absolutely nothing, and was used to either practice magecraft or meditate. At the current moment in time, it was filled with a single chair, and upon this chair sat a single man: he was dressed in an ordinary brown suit, and his brown hair was styled in the most stereotypical '40-years-old parent' way. All in all, he looked quite average.
This person is none other than Assassin. Sitting in the chair like a lifeless doll, he didn't eat, drink, sleep, or even anything! And he's doing it for almost seven days straight! The two masters of the Grail war, Tokiomi and Kirei, were observing this shell:
"So, Kirei, have you noticed any changes in the behavior of Assassin?" Tokiomi asked with slight concern.
"Nothing whatsoever. He has done nothing for seven days straight."
Tokiomi was slightly distressed by this. After all, his original plans for the war became useless. Several starting strategies he created, like faking discord between himself and Kirei or faking Assassin's death became, well, useless. So he had to devise a few new ones.
The main advantage in this Grail war is that only he (And Kirei, but he's not an enemy, so he's not a counted factor) knows that Assassin is currently, and as far as it seems continues to be unable to fight. There has to be a way to take advantage of that…
Tokiomi thought of several strategies before he suddenly started to smile: he found a new strategy. Taking Kirei closer to him, he explained his new plans and showed how some other plans were still usable if they adapted them in just the right spots.
As he was done with explaining his strategies, he returned to the study, making some of the final preparations for his own summoning. Since if he could get his hands on Gilgamesh then surely, the Grail should be reached!
Sadly enough for Tokiomi, things tend to go out of hand when it comes to the summoning of Servants. But hey, it is the person who can make the best out of the cards he has been given that will win the Holy Grail, and have his wish granted. So let us see how the next master will use his cards:
[30th of January, 15:05|4 days before Point Zero]
In a snowy mansion in Germany, the man known as the magus killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, was inspecting his equipment once again, making sure he was fully prepared. Instead of the equipment of a usual magus, there was more… practical equipment: Guns instead of wands, grenades instead of magic jewels, C4 instead of books and the list goes on. The only magical item lying around was another gun, the Thompson Contender, a gun which focuses on destroying the magic circuits of a mage, preventing them from using magecraft ever again. It was truly a weapon to be feared…and today, he would gain another weapon: A servant.
For the upcoming Holy Grail War, he would summon a servant 4 days in advance. This would normally be considered early, but it is a necessity: You see, the Einzbern he is working for gave him the legendary noble phantasm Avalon, sheath of Excalibur, belonging to the legendary king Arthur. His contractor hoped that he could summon this king as their servant. But king Arthur is only summonable as a Saber, and since that class is viewed as the most desirable, it is also a class that runs out of stock very early… so Kiritsugu's summoning should happen before everyone's else, and was thus scheduled for today.
Yet Kiristugu couldn't stop having doubts about this servant. While he has absolutely no doubts that king Arthur would be strong, he was more worried about the compatibility.
There are two important factors for every master-servant pair in the Grail War: Strength and compatibility. Strength is simply the strength of the servant: The stronger, the better. Compatibility is how well master and servant get along. While it might be considered less important and a strong servant with low compatibility can still win the Grail War… you should still remember that he will most like have a different master at his side than the one with which he started.
And that was Kiritsugu's problem: He knew that King Arthur was a paragon of chivalry, while Kiritsugu used every single dirty trick in the book to win. In other words, their compatibility would be somewhere between nil, nada and nonexistent. This gave Kiritsugu a second thought, a new possibility to take: Summoning a servant without a catalyst.
If he did that, he would be sure to get a compatible servant, but the power of said servant may vary. And worst of all, his boss, old man Acht, would probably not forgive him if he just summoned something without the carefully selected catalyst that cost the Einzbern thousands of Marks. Therefore he had his assistant create something for him: a fake relic.
It was a copy of Avalon, the sheath of Excalibur, but without its magic properties. If he used this, he was sure to get a compatible servant, probably one who would be more capable to act in the same way he does.
And so, Kiritsugu took the fake Relic with him to the location of summoning: A small chapel somewhere in the Einzbern forest. Placing the fake relic on the Altar, he drew the magic circle using a combination of various liquid metals. While he was doing this his wife, Irisviel von Einzbern, walked in on the preparations, and stayed with him.
As Kiritsugu explained several things about the Holy Grail war to his wife, he continued with creating the circle. When it was finished, he stood up and began the rite.
Chanting the incantation, he watched the circle grow brighter and brighter, until it shone so bright that it temporary blinded his eyes. Before his sight returned, his ears heard the proof that the summoning succeeded.
"Upon your summoning, I have come forth. Now, are you my master?" Kiritsugu was pleased, surprised, and disappointed. While slightly happy that the summoning was successful, he didn't expect his Servant to have a female voice. And when his eyesight returned, he was absolutely sure:
His Servant is female. She was a girl in her teens, with long black hair and red eyes. Her outfit is a black, sleeveless mini dress with a white collar and red tie and belt, and her hands are covered in red gauntlets and black gloves. Around her feet were black shoes and socks, and covering it all was a long black coat.
Kiritsugu, still speechless from this… unexpected servant, did nothing as his servant walked up to him and grabbed his right hand, inspecting it for the command seals. "Well, it seems like you are my master. Let's discuss our plans for the upcoming battle." Grabbing Kiritsugu by the hand, they walked, or in Kiritsugu's case, got dragged out of the holy place.
[31st of January, 10:56|3 days before Point Zero]
In the snowy forests of the Einzbern, Kiritsugu walked with his daughter, Illyasviel von Einzbern. As he enjoyed the walk, he couldn't help but think about his own servant Saber.
She was truly a perfect match: Instead of a noble knight, he summoned a skilled killer, someone who would normally be more fit as an Assassin. She was perfectly willing to use dirty tactics to pursue her goals or betray alliances to take out an opponent. Sure, Acht gave Kiritsugu a big scolding for 'failing the summoning', but in reality he was even more successful. Now wha-
"Daddy, I've found one!" Shifting his attention from his thoughts to his surroundings, he noticed that Illya took the lead in the walnut bud searching contest that was going on between the two of them. Kiritsugu, trying to form at least some competition, searched around until he found one of his own.
"Daddy has found one too, you know?" Illya, surprised by this sudden event, walked over to her dad, seeing the other, slightly different bud that is going to bloom in a few months.
"Eeh, that's not a walnut branch."
"No, Illya." Kiritsugu explained wih a gentle smile on his face, "This is called a wingnut. It's a variety of walnut." Placing a soft hand on Illya's shoulder, he told her that it still counts as one.
Illya turned to Kiritsugu with an angry look on her face. "No fair!" She wildly flung her body around, angry at Kiritsugu for the fact that "You've been cheating the entire time!"
"But daddy can't win otherwise." Kiritsugu admitted. Kiritsugu did have to think how wise it was to use his usual cheating tactics against an eight year old girl, but considering that that is what he did best, he had no regrets. After all, it was pretty much the only path he ever took... his whole life was unlimited pragmatism works.
Humphing, Illya turned away from Kiritsugu, claiming that "If you keep cheating, I won't play with you, Kiritsugu!"
Putting his hands in front of his face and bowing slightly, he apologized with both words and deeds, promising Illya that he would play fairly… this time. (He didn't add the last part out loud.)
"Very well. Then I will challenge you again. A champion must accept all challenges!"
Kiritsugu said that he was honored and picked up Illya, placing her on his shoulders as they continued to search for walnut branches.
In one of the rooms in the Einzbern castle was Irisviel, who watched all that happened to her husband unfold. "What are you looking at, Irisviel?" The voice was from Saber, who entered the room with the afternoon snack: a cup of tea and cookies for Irisviel and a cup of tea and several meat dishes for Saber.
"Oh, I'm just looking at my family. Tell me Saber, what do you think of them?" Saber looked down, deep in thought for a small moment, before she gave her answer:
"While I have no particular opinion about Illyasviel, I think that Kiritsugu and I are alike in many ways." As Saber said this, she walked to the window, seeing Kiritsugu pointing out another branch. "Although I didn't guess that his cold persona was the same kind of facade as mine."
"He's a kind man at heart, Saber. Please, protect him and his dreams in this war." As Irisviel gave a melancholic smile to Saber, she twirled her spoon in the tea, worried about the upcoming Grail war.
Saber, seeing the melancholic smile, immediately understood the situation. "Yes, I will, Irisviel. But tell me: Is it truly necessary to let yourself die for the sake of this war?"
Irisviel, turning sadder every moment, explained how she was following the same ideal as Kiritsugu, and was ready to give up her life to accomplish that.
"Then I will accept your sacrifice, and make sure it will not be in vain. I will make sure that we will win the Grail war, so that you will be the last one who has to die for true peace!"
Irisviel was relieved to hear this, and she asked if Saber could do one thing. "What do you want me to do?" Saber replied.
"Could you please eat up your meal?" Irisviel pointed to the not so steamy anymore meat, "It's getting cold."
"My meat! NO!"
[1st of February, 22:47|2 days before Point Zero]
Finally, the moment for Tokiomi to summon his own servant has arrived. And Assassin was kind of a failure, so he had to make sure that this summoning will be perfect. None other than Gilgamesh is allowed to be summoned. Taking his catalyst, the fossil of the first shed snakeskin in history, to the basement, he perfectly performed the summoning… but failed. What a surprise.
Yet Tokiomi was not unhappy. While he didn't summon his desired hero, he did summon something powerful: An angel, or at least, something divine, if we take into account that said servant has beautiful white wings on his back. His clothes made his origin clear: a white tunic decorated with red and gold hems, fastened on the shoulder by an equal-colored gem and at the waist by a brown leather belt. He also has brown sandals on his feet, a few golden rings and bronze cuffs on his limbs, and as if they could make it even more obvious, a golden laurel crown on his head. Clearly, this servant is of Greek origin, and the bow in his hand probably makes him an Archer class servant.
However, this servant has one glaring flaw: Tokiomi only needed to glance at him to know his identity. After all, in all of known myth, only one hero fulfills all three qualifications of being an archer, having Greek origin and having wings, and that is the demigod Eros.
"I can clearly see that you're Archer. Are you perhaps known as Eros, the Greek demigod of love?"
Archer denied, claiming that while he was Greek, he wasn't this Eros guy, much to his master's surprise. "Anyways, nice to meet you Mister…"
"The name is Tohsaka. Tohsaka Tokiomi. I'm your master in this Grail war. First we have to bring you up to date about the events that happened recently." He walked toward the door leading out of the basement, asking Archer to follow him, which Archer did. "Let's start with the alliance between us and Assassin's master." Pointing at the other male in the room he explained that that person was their ally, Kotomine Kirei.
"But where's Assassin then? Or did he already start lurking in the shadows?" Tokiomi placed his hand on the nearby wall, which caused said wall to slide downwards, revealing a secret room that contained the other servant. And Archer was stuck with shock when he saw how Assassin was not very… Assassiny.
As the wall slid back up, Tokiomi explained some more facts, before he asked his Servant one of the most important questions: "What is your wish?"
Archer pondered on this question for quite some time, before he came with his answer: "You know how the era of the Greek gods has ended, right?" Tokiomi nodded. "That means that lady Palutena is gone too… but if I win the Grail, then I can make sure that lady Palutena and I will once again guide the people on the path of light!" Tokiomi was pleased with the noble answer of his servant, and guided him a little longer through his mansion before Archer decided to scout the city.
Archer left, and Tokiomi decided to sit down in his favorite chair, trying to make head or tails out of his new-found knowledge of Greek myth.
…
"What in the root is a Palutena?"
[2nd of February, 21:12 |17 hours before Point Zero]
What is considered powerful? What is considered rich? What is considered successful?
If you would ask these questions to any student at the Clock Tower, chances are they would answer Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. Born in a long-standing noble family with heaps of talent, many expected him to become the start of a new breakthrough in magic.
For now, he was busy with a magic ritual known as the Holy Grail war, and to be precise, it started terrible. When he was still doing his work as a teacher, reviewing the essays of his students, he noticed the ridiculousness of one of them, a not-so-great magus going by the name of Waver Velvet. It was based on utter rubbish, some "increase potential of a magus by means other than selective breeding". While normally people would get an F for such a failure, Kayneth upped it a step by openly ridiculing the script in front of the entire class.
And that might have been a bad idea.
Because he ridiculed Waver, said servant took revenge by stealing his catalyst for Alexander the Great. While he can understand that people get angry because they failed something big time (although Kayneth never failed more than "slightly less than perfect"), yet for Waver to go as far as stealing? From him?! That was unforgivable! He would make sure that Waver will be openly humiliated in this Grail war!
Taking his back-up plan, a spear point that supposedly belonged to the legendary Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, the finest spear-man of Fianna, he prepared the necessary rituals for the summoning. Everything was done as greatly as one would expect from a genius… but he somehow still failed.
Because in the middle of the summoning circle was not someone who resembled a 3rd century Irish warrior. Instead, this servant felt more… oriental, and of a later age.
It was a man who could be described in one word: Red. Every single piece of clothing on his body was red. Leg armor? Red. Waist Armor? Red. Jacket that didn't cover his abs at all? Red. Gloves? Red. Headband? Red. Pants?
…
Okay, those are white, but they have red flame patterns on them, so that counts as red too. In his hands were two tridents, with, you guessed it, red shafts. (The spear points were just steel-colored. Some people were disturbed with the lack of red.) His hair is surprisingly brown. It is also short and spiky, except for the longer ponytail at the back of his head.
All in all, this was not Diarmuid, but more likely to be some sort of samurai.
"Who are you?" Kayneth's question was the only thing he could've asked. After all, this was clearly not Diarmuid.
Lancer smirked at this question, before loudly proclaiming who he was: "I am summoned as Lancer in this Holy Grail war! In my life, I have claimed many titles, known as the Tiger of Kai, the Matchless Spear, the Crimson Demon of War and a Hero who may appear once in a hundred years! And now, I am here to serve under you, Oyakata-sama!"
"Lancer…" Kayneth said with slight anger. The anger was mainly self-anger directed at others, because he was angry that even his back-up plan failed.
"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Lancer shouted happier and harder than ever.
"Lancer." Kayneth, having relieved most of his anger, started to rethink his opinion about Lancer. Sure, it's not Diarmuid, but he still looks like a powerful warrior, and if the titles he spoke of are true, than he should still have one of the more powerful servants in the Grail war. Besides, his stats were supr-
"OYAKATA-SAAAMAAAA!" A very happy Lancer wanted to show his affection for his new master, so he did that in the same way he did with his old master: Punching each other in the face.
It's just so sad that Kayneth was not made to receive punches, so that single punch made him fly across the room… and through the window of the flat.
Kayneth's wife, Sola-Ui, had remained silent for the duration of the summoning, but decided that now was the right time to speak her first words: "Lancer, you do know that we are 100 meters above the ground, right?"
Lancer took this new information, processed it, and realized (to his horror) that his master was currently falling down… fast.
"OYAKATA-SAMA!" Jumped out of the broken window, he simply ran down the building, faster and faster, until he caught up with his master. Grabbing him while being only a few meters above the ground, he stabbed one of his spears into the side of the building and spun around it, creating a huge wheel of fire in the process.
After a couple of spins, he pulled his spear out of the building and jumped forward with Kayneth still in his hands, who was still somewhat shocked by all of this… but when he finally stood with both legs on the ground he was also grinning. He was grinning because he just found out that his servant was quite amazing, and certain to become a valuable asset in the upcoming war.
"Well Lancer, I must say I am impressed by your qualities." Kayneth said with a confident smile on his face that quickly turned into a more deadpan one. "Just never punch me again."
Lancer bowed down deeply, with a happy look on his face. "Of course, Oyakata-sama!"
[2nd of February, 23:35|15 hours before Point Zero]
The war for the Holy Grail is a war between magi. However, this man was not a magus, yet he was one of the participants. Magecraft is something this master despises with his entire being, but he returned to it to save another from following this path.
After a year of arduous training which crippled his left leg, blinded him in one eye and decreased his life span to a single month, he was finally ready to summon a servant for the upcoming war.
Because of his own incapability with magecraft, he had his father Zouken perform most of the preparations: Said father prepared the summoning circle, got a catalyst for his son, and was the one who infused the son with countless of worms that slowly devoured the son's body in exchange for the ability to control a servant with magic power.
Truly, the life of Kariya Matou was a short one, yet filled with much hardship.
As Kariya walked to his father inside of their house's basement, he noticed that all the preparations were done, and wanted to start the ritual. He was stopped by his father, who ordered one last thing: He had to add two extra lines to the ritual, to make sure he would get the right type of summoning.
He fully did the summoning as his father wanted, hoping to gain a so-called Berserker who was part of the members of the Round Table.
The servant that appeared after the completion of the summoning was… not exactly what he expected, and he wasn't even sure if he succeeded in summoning what his father wanted or if he failed.
This servant in front of him was fully covered in black, but he wasn't covered in armor like you would expect from a knight. Instead he wore a black cloak, with equally black pants, shoes and gloves. These clothes covered every single part of his body, and neither Kariya nor Zouken could see the servant's face under the cloak.
"Kariya, I doubt that this is a servant of the round table." Zouken spoke with slight concern before dropping that attitude and going with more snide remarks: "Oh well, I never expected anyone but you to fail at the summoning ritual."
Kariya had no rebuttal. Instead, it was his servant that gave one: "I doubt that it was the summoning ritual that failed. I would opt that you go and reexamine if the catalyst you used was not a fake."
Zouken was temporarily at a loss for words. First of all because the servant rebutted him, and second of all was that the servant they thought to be Berserker spoke, which should normally be impossible. After regaining himself, he returned the favor to the servant by claiming that Kariya still failed to summon the intended Berserker. After all, Berserkers don't talk.
"I am Berserker."
Silence. Several seconds passed. One was silent because he expected an answer, and the other two were silent because of shock.
"You liar!" Zouken shouted before composing himself. "Berserkers should not have their sanity remaining! What are you really?"
"Once again, I am Berserker." Snapping his fingers, two more creatures appeared besides him. These were two humanoid creatures, which resembled some sort of Golem.
They have a bronze-colored upper body with thin upper arms, while the lower arms were thick and silver-colored. Its waist and thin upper legs were also silver-colored, while the lower legs were thick, grey and cylinder-shaped, separated from the upper legs by a blue knee brace. Its head was rather small and black, covered by a grey helmet that was decorated with a blue diamond. In its hands was a giant, T-shaped claymore, and they looked ready to attack.
"Perhaps I have been summoned as a Berserker because I control these beings called Berserkers. I also tend to rage and go Berserk if... certain conditions have been met. Now can I discuss the plans for the upcoming Grail war with my master without you asking pointless questions?"
Zouken was silenced by this servant, and had nothing to say, although he did wonder when the Grail started to understand the humor of puns.
It was Kariya instead who asked the final question: "Servant, just who are you?"
The servant walked past his master and the old man, claiming that he was nothing more than a nobody. "Now let's discuss how we will win this war and have our wishes granted."
[2nd of February, 23:57|14 hours before Point Zero]
It was midnight, and most of Fuyuki's citizens were asleep. Most of them, at least… but some were still awake, including a young magus who was making a magic circle. Being halfway done he stopped for a moment to think and take another look at one of the objects he now hated the most:
It was a small box he stole from his teacher, containing the "remains of the cape of the legendary Alexander the Great". Or at least it was supposed to contain them. A small alchemic analysis proved that this "artifact" wasn't even a hundred years old, let alone 2300!
In other words: His teacher had been swindled, and because he stole it, so was he. And because the command seals were already engraved on his body, he had no choice but to summon a servant without a catalyst.
"Ah, I hope I will at least get a decent servant…" The magus sighted, before finishing the rest of the circle. There was not much else he could have done, though. His teacher, a man of wealth, fame, power and experience, probably had a back-up plan in case something like this happened, and even a back-up of his back-up plan. This student, Waver, was from an average family, and he lacked the contacts and the money to have a back-up.
Starting the incantation lines, the circle he made from chickens blood started to glow brighter and brighter. When he finished the incantation, a single person stood in the circle, and that person was clearly not Alexander the Great.
He was a blank man… and that was all that could be said about his appearance, because most of it was covered by clothes. On top of his head was a tricorn head with an especially high crown, and covering his eyes was a white mask, which made Waver think in slight horror that he summoned the weakest of all classes, Assassin.
The clothing covering his body is a grey and dark-brown cloak which was tied with a blue ribbon, and a white boa was wrapped around his neck. While Waver couldn't perfectly see what was underneath the cloak, the small glimpses he did see hinted that his servant is wearing a black suit with black-white shoes.
As the servant calmly observed the situation, he explained that he was Rider, and asked if Waver was his master.
Waver confirmed this, and the servant gave a small nod of satisfaction. Walking to the water shore they were nearby, he observed the city while reviewing multiple strategies in his mind. "Hmm. I think that I have an idea or two I want to use." Returning to his master, he asked him to follow him. "There are a few things we have to prepare for this upcoming fight…"
[3rd of February, 02:19|12 hours before Point Zero]
As most of Fuyuki was quiet… except for those very few spots where magi were summoning their servant, there was one spot where the slight noise of a motorboat could be heard (without any servant summonings nearby).
The motorboat contained two people, who were smuggling several combat tools into the country for personal use like guns, explosives, more guns, army knives, and even more guns. These two were known as Kiritsugu Emiya and his assistant Maiya Hisau.
The boat ended its journey in the Fuyuki docks, where it was pulled on shore by the two passengers and unloaded of its content. They quickly loaded the weapons into a pick-up car they prepared up front and planned to drive away, until Maiya noticed something strange:
"Kiristsugu, the shining building at 11 o'clock; there are no reports about a building like that existing in Fuyuki. Is there a possibility tha-"
"Most likely." Kiristugu interrupted, both knowing each other long enough that they could tell for sure that the thoughts they had were the same: That building is most likely the work of an enemy servant. "I'll stay here somewhat longer and scout that building. You drive this truck to the hotel and place cameras around the Tohsaka and the Matou. I will scout this building and place cameras around the Archibald. We meet back at the hotel at 5 a.m." Taking the orders, Maiya left with the truck.
Kiritsugu, equipped with a set of binoculars and a pistol that was hidden under his cloak, went to the strange building in a light jog. Upon closer inspection he found that it was a house the size of a giant villa, but he had no idea what kind of function it had. Worst of all was that it was build on a small island just outside of the shore, and to enter he had to pass a long, well-lighted driveway which provided no cover. Deeming it too dangerous to enter without his servant, he decided to just leave two cameras nearby, which should keep an eye on any suspicious movement nearby.
Now he just had to go to the nearby Melloi and place some cameras there. He had hoped he could figure out more, but so be it.
[3rd of February, 06:58|7 hours before Point Zero]
After a long night, all the preparations Rider wanted to make had been set up, and they were back at their base, the house of the McKenzies. Waver, his master, was not so happy with some of the preparations.
"Rider! You just openly displayed three of your noble phantasms in front of the enemies! They're easily going to guess your true name now!"
Rider looked at his master, who was angrily flailing his arms around. "Sit." It was not an order, but the power Rider gave off made it feel like one. Waver sat down on his own bed, sighing.
"So what are we going to do now, Rider?" He asked with concern, "What was the point of these preparations?"
Rider sat down next to his master, and started explaining: "The reason I so openly displayed 3 of my noble phantasms is to confuse and distract our opponents. Tell me, what would the opponent think that our base of operations is?"
Waver thought for a moment, and eventually a smile crept upon his face. "Of course, they will think that we are in one of the buildings we placed!" The smile didn't last long, and Waver asked his second question: "But why do we need to show three of your Noble Phantasms? Wasn't one enough?"
"Not really. If we just showed the Opera house, then the others might suspect that it's a trap and would search for locations like these as our hideout. Now they either suspect that two of them are traps and the third is our real hideout, or they think that it was the work of multiple masters, which would suit us just fine." Sitting down on the bed next to Waver, Rider asked one very important question: "Why do you want the Grail?"
"Eh, where did that question come from? And why do you even want to know it?" a pouting Waver asked.
"Because I might be able to use your interpretation of the wish in the upcoming Grail War. I can also tell you things you need to know."
Waver hesitated for a moment, before he decided to spill the beans: "I… I want to be respected by the rest of Clock Tower. I want them to recognize my genius! That's what I want to use the Grail for!"
The servant, instead of respecting Waver's wish, chided him. "That's a pointless wish, master." Waver wanted to object, but he was quickly silenced by Rider. "If you win the Holy Grail war, you will have beaten 6 other magi who are probably all stronger than you, and these include the 3 founding families and your teacher. That should be enough of an accomplishment to be recognized by all of Clock tower."
Waver saw the point Rider made… which left him with no wish. "In that case… I have no wish…" He said; ready to enter a small depression.
Rider noticed the mood of his master, and tries to cheer him up: "Don't worry about it too much. Winning for the sake of winning is a good goal too. It was the same in the second half of my life."
This was the first time Waver heard of Rider's past. "Could you tell me a bit more about your life, Rider?"
Rider sighed, before he started to explain. "Some years after I was born, my father and mother were kidnapped by an evil organization, which left me and my brother as orphans. We were both adopted by separate foster parents, and I spend most of my youth studying tirelessly to get revenge. Eventually, I got married with a girl I liked, and we had a daughter together. I thought that I could give up on revenge and live a normal life, but they were killed by the organization too."
"That was when I donned this disguise, and started to oppose them full time. I searched for several ancient legacies that were also targeted by this organization. However, my plans were foiled multiple times by none other than my own brother, who didn't recognize me anymore."
"The last time I fought against this enemy was different: The legacies thus far discovered all let to the final gift of the old civilization. This was when my brother learned of our relationship, and we met our father again, who was now the leader of that organization. We managed to stop the organization, and my revenge was finally complete when my father was arrested and had to go to jail."
"Yet when all was done and over, my life felt empty. With nothing else to do, I set out for new adventures, making many discoveries in the field of archaeology. I remarried, got a few children, and eventually died of old age."
Waver was speechless for a moment, not sure what to say. So instead of saying something, he tried to think of a hero that would fit the description Rider gave… but he couldn't think of any servant with that life story and the ability to summon multiple buildings out of nowhere. Just who is this mysterious man?
Standing up from the bed, Rider walked to the window and opened it, which caused a dove to fly inside. "Master, there is something we have to do now. Could you help me?"
[3rd of February, 08:30|6 hours before Point Zero]
When Kayneth woke up, he was thinking about how much of a nice day it was going to be. That all changed when he saw his servant standing next to the window.
That… thing…
It was big…
It was black…
It stood erect in the magnificent morning air…
And it was even bigger than his own…
"What the hell?!" Kayneth shouted as he pointed to the big black castle that stood erect outside of the window that was also bigger than his own castle back in London.
A castle that size that suddenly appeared out of thin air? To Kayneth, there was no other explanation then that it was a Noble Phantasm created by one of the other six servants! But which servant could it have been? What could have been his purpose? And what is the true identity of that servant?
"Oyakata-sama, I might know who the builder of that castle is." Kayneth looked with surprise and suspicion at his servant. Would he truly know, or was he trying to get on a higher standing with him? "The general who only believed in strength, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I fear that he is one of our opponents in this war. But do not worry, Oyakata-sama! I swear on my soul that I will defeat all our enemies!"
Toyotomi Hideyoshi… Kayneth did study several legends in preparation of the war, and his legend was also studied… His servant did have a point: The Sunomata Ichiya Castle, also known as the one-night castle, was one of the main pinnacles of power Hideyoshi Toyotomi displayed.
But even if they knew the name of the opponent, there was something else that bothered Kayneth: "What do you mean with 'I fear that he is one of our opponents in this war'? Are you not capable of defeating this enemy?"
Bowing down deeply, Lancer apologized for making his master worry while also reminding Kayneth that "I may be of equal strength as him on neutral ground, but neither I nor my lord would be as foolish as to fight him in his own castle."
Kayneth put his hand to his forehead, a sign that he was thinking deeply. "In that case, we have to make sure that we lure him out. We will proceed with our plan as usual. You will go through the city at night and lure out the other servants. Make sure you are ready."
"Of course, Oyakata-sama!"
[3rd of February, 09:47|5 hours before Point Zero]
Berserker was walking inside the Matou mansion, randomly going from one place to the other until he arrived in the basement.
It was once again filled with thousands of crest worms, and in the middle of those was a young girl known as Sakura Matou being tortured, molested and raped by them.
Berserker just looked at what unfolded here, but he showed no visible emotion as he saw this happen (The fact that he kept his hood up didn't help).
"I see you found little Sakura, Berserker. What do you think of it?" Standing behind him was old man Zouken. Berserker couldn't help but notice some of the similarities between them, as they were both clearly not human.
"It depends on what your purpose is. What are you doing this for?"
"So quick to get your answers from others? Try to figure it out yourself."
"Those worms give off the same magical feeling as you. I would say that you're trying to fill her with your own essence, turning her into a clone of yourself." Berserkers guess, while close, was wrong.
"I am using her as a vessel indeed, but not for myself. Instead, she will become a second vessel for the Grail. If I cannot win with the Einzbern Grail, than I will make one of my own to have my wish granted. First I break her ego completely until there is nothing but an empty shell left, and then I fill her with the essence of the Grail, like one does with a homunculi." Zouken turned to the servant with a big sadistic grin on his face, "Now, what do you think about this, Berserker?" He asked, hoping to see the servant in despair. "Does this make you rage, or does it make you hate me?"
Berserker didn't rage. He didn't hate him. "To use a girl as a sacrificial puppet just so you can fulfill your wish? No, I don't feel any anger or rage. I would have done the same if I could, and I cannot shake off the feeling that I at least tried to do the same as you did."
Moments of silence passed, before Berserker spoke again: "I think that I fit someone with your personality more than my current master, and you have more prana stored inside you. Can I team up with you instead of him?"
"Oh? How perceptive. But I'm afraid that I'm going to stake everything on the next Grail war. You must do the best with what you currently have, which is… almost nothing." Zouken chuckled, and went out of the basemen-
"Stop." As Berserker said this, a large blue claymore appeared in his hand, resting only a few inches from Zouken's head. "I don't think I made myself clear. We will team up for the upcoming war, and I won't take no for an answer."
Zouken, not impressed in the slightest by Berserker's display of power, simply let out a small laugh, and turned to the servant. "You can kill me if you want. Go ahead! But know that I will kill your master before you kill me, and you will die from prana exhaustion."
"I still have a back-up plan in case that happens, so don't worry about that. Now let me repeat it for the last time: become my master." Berserker tone turned slightly angry, and even Zouken felt that Berserker wanted to cut him as soon as possible.
Zouken, instead of being terrified let out a small hum, and looked sideways to the girl surrounded by the worms. "I see now. You're planning to use that girl as your master. Too bad for you that I control the worms around her too, and with both her and Kariya dead, there isn't any free magus around for miles. But if you cease your violent actions now and act like a good dog I might be as generous as to give Kariya some extra prana output."
"Tsk." The still angry Berserker let his sword go, which then disappeared into nothingness, before he went out of the basement, leaving behind a laughing Zouken.
[3rd of February, 11:31|3 hours before Point Zero]
"I have some news in from one of the enemy pairs, Tokiomi." The mediator of the war said through a communications gramophone to his allies, the masters of Archer and Assassin. "It seems that the castle, villa and the airship all belong to servant Rider. He also warned me that he might bring in several weapons that are more than a hundred feet tall, so he wanted me to hypnotize or possibly evacuate the entirety of Fuyuki in case he needs to summon it."
It was silent on the other side of the gramophone, as both masters were deep in thought, processing the new information.
"So we have a servant that can summon a castle, an airship, a villa and a gigantic weapon… and why can't I think of any servant that would fit that description?" Tokiomi, struggling with this information, asked his servant for advice.
"hmm… I can't find any servant that fits the description on divinipedia… but I would say that we keep him alive until the final." Tokiomi looked at his servant, asking why he thinks that. "Well, my ultimate noble phantasm would be the perfect counter for his gigantic weapon, but activating it seals all my other noble phantasms… and Dyntos didn't give it a high level of endurance, so it breaks quite quickly. Very quickly. Very, very, very quickly. It didn't even last a single mission!" The servant looks a bit saddened and angered as he remembered this event, but he quickly turned back into his usual chipper self. "By the way, I'm calling Pizza Hut right now. What do you guys want for lunch?"
The masters gave some funny looks at the servant, wondering why he brought up that subject, of all things…
*grumble*
Tokiomi's stomach however made clear that he was quite hungry, and so the masters and servant ordered some food before returning to the Grail.
"Archer, I want you to scout the city now, and check all three buildings." See what their purpose is, but try not to get seen and don't enter a fight with anyone, and come back before lunch, which is in… around 20 minutes. Can you do that?"
"Of course! I used to do such stuff in just five, let alone twenty!" Activating one of his 4 noble phantasms, he ran to the closest window and jumped out, flying away to the rest of the city.
Tokiomi closed the window, and returned to the Kotomines. "So, what do you think about your servant, Tokiomi?" Risei asked through the phone.
"He's powerful, has several good noble phantasms, and most of all, he's loyal. He might not be a Gilgamesh, but I think that I can still win the war with this servant." Taking a sip of his wine, he sat down next to Kirei, continuing to talk with him and his father about this war. After 20 minutes both Archer and the pizza arrived, and the masters closed the connection with Risei as they sat down for lunch.
The priest used one of church sacraments to improve the rank of the food by one (this process is known in layman's terms as praying), and all three happily started eating.
Tokiomi, Kirei, Archer… enjoy your meal!
[3rd of February, 12:03|2 hours before Point Zero]
It was on Osaka airport that two people stepped out of a big passenger plane (and were actually of importance to the story. There were many others, but we only care about these two). They were known as Saber and Irisviel.
"So, this is where Kiritsugu was born?" Irisviel asked to no one in particular as she tightly held onto her hat that was trying to ride the strong winds. She turned to Saber, who was wearing a white tuxedo, and had her long black hair tied up in a ponytail. "And you Saber? How did you enjoy your journey through the sky?"
Saber didn't answer for a while, as she just stared at the surroundings. "It was quite dull. At least the food was decent."
"So heroes don't care about something as simple as flying?" Irisviel asked, slightly disappointed because of Sabers lack of joy.
"When I was still alive, the ability to fly was of an equal level of special ability as my noble phantasm, so I would have liked it very much. But as a servant, I receive knowledge of the modern world, and that includes flying. I could even fly a plane like this one."
"You can fly an aircraft?" Irisviel asked in surprise.
"All Sabers have some skill at riding, and I am no different. However, because I am not Rider, I cannot ride divine or fantastic beasts. But for anything other than that, I just need to put the saddle between my legs and take the reins, and I'm ready to go."
"Put the saddle between my legs and take the reins?" Irisviel looked with slight shock at Saber, before she burst out in a polite laughter.
"Did I say something funny?" Saber asked with a stoic expression, "I just meant to say that I can ride everything, be it big or small."
Irisviel polite laughter turned into less polite laughter, and Saber kept wondering what was so funny.
[3rd of February, 14:22|a few minutes before Point Zero]
"Fill, fill, fill 'er up, fill…"
In one of the houses of Fuyuki, a man named Uryu Ryuunosuke was busy with something really cool! He was trying to summon a real demon. A real one! Drawing the demonic circle with his toes while using his hands for holding the tome with the evil incantation, he was doing his best at summoning that totally awesome being.
"Repeat… four times… Or was it five?" It was a slight pity that he wasn't really doing a good job at it. The circle was crude and imperfect, and he couldn't even remember the lines. "Um, break it up when it's full… Right?" Looking once more at the script, he noticed that his earlier incantation was slightly wrong. He had to admit that his ancestors were pretty awesome, considering they made this demon-summoning. But couldn't they make the incantation something along the lines of "And now I summon you from hell" and the summoning circle a simple pentagram? That would've been a lot easier!
Repeating 'fill' 5 times, counting each fill with his fingers so he has exactly enough fill, he happily shouts that he completed another part of the incantation. He wanted to continue, but he heard that people were talking about him on the television.
"…at all three murder scenes, a mysterious pentagram was found, drawn in the victim's blood." Uryu had to admit that he might have gone a bit too far. Maybe he should have stuck to the rule of third time's the charm and stopped with this ritual the last time, but come on, killing people and using their blood for summoning a demon? Even if the ritual doesn't work, it's still a damn cool death! He could keep doing this for 6 times without getting bored! Maybe he could even do it seven times, although Uryu wasn't too sure about that.
"The symbol's purpose remains unclear. Today, we've invited a professor who specializes in criminal psycholog-" Turning off the TV, he moved to the only survivor of the family he just killed for "greater demonic purposes". It was a young boy, with no noticeable features. We don't know his name, and we don't need to, because he's most likely going to die as the sacrifice of whatever type of demon Uryu will summon.
"Hey kiddo, do you believe in demons?" Fear was evident all over the boy, who wanted to scream, to cry in frustration and most of all, to escape and live. But he couldn't, because… well… bindings and stuff. "All the papers and magazines call me a demon, but what if demons really exist? Wouldn't that be rude to them? You've gotta be clear about those things." Suddenly kneeling before the bounded kid, he introduced himself as none other than Uryu Ryuunosuke, a super cool demon! In case demons do exist, Uryu noted, he would change his name to Uryu Ryuunosuke, a super cool killer… just in case.
The kid started crying, scared of his fate, as Uryu showed the old tome he found in his own home, and explained that it could summon demons! And because demons are, well, demons, he asked the kid if he wanted to be the necessary sacrifice in case a demon shows up.
The kid screamed and tried his best to escape (it didn't work, of course). Uryu laughed, thinking of how awesome it would be to be killed by a demon, considering that almost nobody gets to find out.
Uryu suddenly let out a small yelp, as he noticed some weird symbols being burned/painted/created (he honestly didn't know how) on his right hand, and the circle started to glow and crackle with electricity.
Uryu knew that this was going to be cool!
A small breeze came out of the circle, and mist blocked most of Uryu's sight. When his sight returned, he didn't know if he failed or succeeded.
For the most part, his servant looked like a little girl. It was the type of girl he really loves to kill: around 10 years old, with short blond hair, except for the single long tail at her side. On top of her hair was pink mob cap with a red ribbon attached to it. The body was covered by a red vest and skirt, with a yellow neckerchief and pink shirt underneath. All in all, this part made her look like a normal girl with a terrible fashion sense. (This is only Uryu's opinion. The author does not share this opinion, not in the least because the author is scared of going Kyuu!)
What really made her special were her blood red eyes, her fangs, and most of all her wings… if one can call those that. They look more like iron rods with crystals attached to them. Uryu had the hopeful feeling that he had summoned a real vampire!... although it was a young and female one. He personally hoped for something in the Dracula or Alucard direction, but this would do too.
"Hello! Are you the one who summoned me?" This… thing asked to Uryu in a tone that was still childish, yet didn't feel like it would belong to a 10-year old.
"Ah, that would be me." Uryu walked to her, ignoring the muffled screams of the kid behind him, and looked at the wings. "Are those real?"
"Yep! Please don't touch them, they're quite ticklish." Retracting his hand, Uryu asked with whom he had the pleasure of meeting. "I'm F- oh wait, we were not allowed to tell our true names. I have been summoned here as Caster, so you can call me that. And who are you?"
"Uhm… I'm Uryu Ryuunosuke, currently unemployed. My hobbies are killing and stabbing people, especially young children."
"Well, that settles the contract. Now we have to gain the Holy Grail to get our wishes fulfilled! "
Uryu didn't quite know what she was talking about, this… gray… something. So he did what he would normally do around monsters: offering the kid as a sacrifice.
She walked over to the kid, and inspected him. She pricked the kid in the arm, caused a small droplet of blood to flow down. Dipping her finger in the blood, she tasted the quality, and found it surprisingly good. "Uryu, this is really tasty blood! Want some?"
Uryu was too much of a gentleman to say no to a lady (and because he wanted to taste it himself), and did the same as Caster. He found the taste quite bloody, and not so tasty. He kind of expected this difference between humans and vampires.
"Uryu, I bet you can make some really great wine from this blood!" Uryu looked surprised, never considering this approach. He asked, surprised, if they really made wine from blood. "Of course we do! Me and sis aren't like those lower class vampires who eat their humans raw. We cook them! Or at least, our chief maid did. I… never learned how to cook."
"And I don't know how to cook human either… now what?" Both servant and master were thinking, ignoring the screams of the food. It was Uryu who came with a great idea: "Hey, maybe they have books in the nearby library that show how to create blood wine!"
Caster looked at Uryu with a happy face, claiming that if they went to a library like Voile Library, they were sure to find one!
The two turned to the thus far ignored food, wondering if they should put it in the fridge. "Well, we did start to eat from it, so it's only logical that we place it in the fridge. We don't want him to spoil, right?" Uryu agreed with the idea. Stuffing the kid in the fridge, the duo went to the door. Caster noticed the sunlight, and grabbed one of the umbrellas for the use of a make-shift parasol.
And this is the start of the magical adventures of Uryu and Caster-chan! Please wait warmly for the next episode: "Uryu and Caster-chan at the library!"
[3rd of February, 14:24|Point Zero]
And now, all servants have been summoned, and the Holy Grail has dawned upon this world. Masters! Servants! Fight and overcome each other, and win the Holy Grail. You are ordered to slay, to kill, and to destroy, all to gain your wish! Step out, battle and win!
Hello everyone, this is the author here. I'm sure you have a few questions about this story, and I'm here to answer a few that will probably be asked one way or another:
First of all, how much does this story follow the stations?
Well… as you can see, not so much. The Archer vs. Assassin did not fit in, not in the least because of the latter's BSOD, and other elements were changed too. However, the very, very few elements that do fit in and make sense at that time (Like the upcoming docks battle) will happen, albeit somewhat different. Kiri will be more aware of possible Assassins, some servants may not show up at the scene, the outcome might be different… As you can see, what makes sense happens, and what doesn't make sense doesn't.
Where do we have to look for the identity of each servant?
Saber: Anime
Lancer: Anime/Games, both are equally awesome
Archer: Games
Rider: Games
Caster: Games
Assassin: Comics
Berserker: Games
Who is your favorite servant of these newly summoned?
I am not really supposed to say this, but I guess you can say I like Lancer's hot-blooded personality.
Are we still allowed to guess who each servant is?
Well, you guys do seem to enjoy it, so why not? Just leave some space for the other question I'm going to ask.
What is this last question you're talking about?
Well, I mainly want to ask you if you could also say if you have special duels you want to see between some of the servants/masters, Like Tokiomi vs Kayneth or Saber vs Assassin. Please leave any suggestions you have in the review box, and I wish you a good day.
Thank you very much,
Flagarach.