Disclaimer: I do not own anything in relation to the ownership of the characters of Fate/Zero or Fate/Stay Night.
He found himself sitting within a strange room.
Looking at his surroundings he found it to be almost like the lair of Merlin during his time in Camelot serving under his king. Knick-knacks and baubles adorned the brick walls. Glass tubes filled with unknown liquids softly bubbling and brewing within their designated containers sat on the massive table to the side. A fireplace, crackling alive with a warm flame in its center sat at the opposite side of the room, it was giving the place a warm feel when viewing it with the terra cotta colored wall.
Looking down towards his hands, he found himself dressed in a simple white tunic with brown leggings and a matching pair of boots, not unlike the clothes he had worn during the time of his lord.
Just… what is happening?
"Our young knight is finally awake I see?"
Twin pairs of footsteps and an aged voice, he looks up and sees two people, their silhouettes becoming visible as they stepped closer and the light from the fire illuminating their frames.
One was an old gentleman in green robes, the lines on his face and gray eyes showed his ancient appearance but twinkle in his red eyes belied his outward appearance. The strength of prana he contained was nothing short of astonishing as well, not even the servant caster as or any of the other servants from what he recalled had the same energy flowing through this man. No doubt, this man was wielder of true magic.
On the side of the man was another, female this time. Her appearance though sparked something from his memory, he remembered seeing her before, always behind and supporting his lord during the war.
"You are… Irisviel." He said in disbelief.
The woman smiled to him and kind. "It is nice to know that you remembered who I am Lancelot-kun."
"Just… what is amiss? Why am I here? This is not the Throne of Heroes…"
"This is not the Throne, just as you have surmised." Lancelot to the old man again. Said man gave a thoughtful look. "Oh, where are my manners, I have not given my name yet. I am Kischur Zeltrech Schweinorg."
Lancelot's eyes widened as information once given to him by the grail came to light; the wielder of the Kaleidoscope, an operator of the magic that gives him the power to move through parallel worlds. Then his eyes narrowed into slits, if anything with his time with Merlin, is that a wielder of magic always had an agenda, be it mischief or not.
"What do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?" The fallen knight asked sardonically.
"An experiment." Zeltrech answered promptly.
"An experiment?" Looking back on experience, it was best to heed to words of mystics and magicians, but that did not mean he would not try and see the bigger picture.
"As you may already know, my magic focuses on the operation of parallel world." Lancelot nodded when Zeltrech looked to silently ask for confirmation, then continued. "This experiment is to see if I can transmigrate your soul from the Throne of Heroes, in essence, I am will be returning you into the cycle of reincarnation."
"Why?" Lancelot kept his eyes on Zeltrech, trying to discern and conceivable deceit, occasionally switching to Irisviel on the occasion.
"Do I need a reason why?" Zeltrech shot back merrily. "I am a still a magus my boy at my core despite the power I wield, and nothing but the pursuit of knowledge whets my appetite more, well not as much as delectable frozen yogurts I dine on occasion." The old sorcerer had a slightly dopey look on his face as he mentioned his favorite frozen delight before it quickly disappeared.
Lancelot felt his eyebrow twitch in minor irritation, Zeltrech's little antics reminding him too much of Merlin's. "And what if I declined your generous offer?" And now he goes after the rub of it all, the catch of every deal.
"There is no consequence for declining." And still the sorcerer was starting to irritate him.
"Basically…" This time it was the homunculus of the Einzbern family that spoke. "If you decline Zeltrech-san's offer, you will be returned to the throne of Heroes, none the wiser, and awaiting the next time you will be summoned, if ever you will be summoned again. "
"It's not so bad you know. A chance to live again, redeem yourself in your own eyes, it's not as if there is really anything else for you right now. It's your own guilt and lack of forgiving yourself that has pushed you to this point in time, despite your legend." Oddly Zeltrech's smile had dampened but a small knowing grin was still on his face.
Lancelot thought carefully. Past actions coming into the forefront of his mind, could he truly allow himself to be forgiven? Could he forgive himself for the actions he had had done? Could he allow himself a chance many would sell their souls for, a second chance?
The betrayal he had caused to his king, Arturia? To his fellow knights? To the woman he had fallen in love with? Could he forgive himself and start anew? He wasn't so sure he could answer those questions.
"If…" Lancelot took a breath, steadying himself. "If I agree to this, what does this bargain entail?"
"Nothing on your part really." Zeltrech began. "With the help of Miss Irisviel here, I will transmigrate your soul from the Throne of Heroes to a suitable host in another world."
Something clicked in the knight's mind.
"Wait, host?" His eyes narrowed at the implication. "Does that mean that someone will have to give up his or her life for mine?" Lancelot stood from his chair outraged. "Fallen knight I may have become, but I have not fallen so far as to sacrifice an innocent for my own personal gain!"
"Yet you had slaughtered the men that called you a brother in the defense of the woman you love. How is that not hypocrisy?" Irisviel shot at the knight.
Lancelot took a step back as if struck, more powerful than any blow he had sustained from the war.
"What we are offering will not take a life." Irisviel continued her stern face from her previous barb turned solemn. "The magic of the Kaleidoscope is vast. Worlds as radically different or as subtlety the same as the world we originate from. We searched these worlds and found the most suitable way of inserting you in them. We will use the body of a someone who's time had ran out in one world, but not in another, just after their soul leaves their body to be reincarnated we insert yours into their body."
Zeltrech took over. "Afterwards, it is about molding the body that will house your spirit and give it the right qualities to contain your prowess; as well as making the necessary change to the timeline to reflect the changes we will be doing."
"You are not taking a life Lancelot." Irisviel said. "This life had already run its course. You are just going to make use what is leftover."
"So I will be living my life as a lie?" Lancelot asked bitterly.
Zeltrech shook his head. "No, not in the least, we will be making the necessary changes to reflect your existence."
Lancelot sat back down on the chair, thoughts whirling. The moment of silence was long, but both wizard marshal and homunculus took it patiently.
Slowly, Lancelot focused his eyes on them and nodded. "Alright, I accept your bargain sorcerer."
Zeltrech clapped his hands. "Wonderful, I knew you would agree eventually. Now, you don't have to do anything, we will take everything shortly, but I will need to tell a few things." His face took a serious image but his tone of voice was nonetheless the same jovial tone he was using.
"First, we do not know which world you will land in. I won't bore you with details but suffice it to say, because of the large scope of this experiment, I will leave the magic to choose the most suitable world and host for you to inhabit, this will be all a game of chance. Second, you're physical body will reflect the age of the host you will inhabit so please do not be shock if you find yourself in a body of a baby, that and gender."
Lancelot's previous ire started to return, and this time, two brows were twitching.
"Third, as with the grail war you will receive the necessary knowledge to survive in that world. Fourth, now as an added bonus we will be able to tweak your physical body in order for you transform yourself into your servant self, meaning to say, until you do take up the mantle of The Black Knight you will not have access to your Noble Phantasms, but your physical prowess should not be hindered (too much)."
Lancelot caught the slight whisper Zeltrech covered with an exaggerated cough.
"In your case Lancelot…" Irisvield took over. "Your two conceptual phantasms, should be reduced, and your sword and armor sealed until you chose to switch your body to that of a servant. Though your personal skills should still be unaffected by this."
A bright light in the form of a gigantic runic circle started to illuminate beneath them. Zeltech smiled largely. "Okay you, sit back, relax, and enjoy your new life."
Soon the light started to grow brighter and brighter, until it was the only thing that filled his vision, and soon, everything went black and he knew no more.
A/N:
Hey everyone I'm back, things have been hectic at home but don't worry, I'm slowly making my way through. As for the status of my other stories, I'm slowly working my through The Custodian's fifth chapter so it's getting there.
Magister Magi Berserker unfortunately got a hit due to losing the chapter template (again) so I am once again putting this on back burner, anyway, after going through it my head from what I could piece together, I was going to scrap it anyway so this story will be on hiatus until I can work something out (again).
For this little number it will be more of a snippet thing…maybe, but after watching Fate/Zero and Lancelot's dogfight with Gilgamesh, gave me enough juice to start working on The Custodian again as well as make something new.
So here is my newest work and what can I tell you Zeltrech and with a little help of the vessel of the grail sends our favorite black knight into the universe unknown and this will range a lot of universes (if and when I get to them). So far I have one in mind and will make use of his ability of using weapons.
As a treat to those still following on my other story here is a little sample of what I have in mind for out favorite black knight.
Enjoy….
He couldn't believe the destruction that was being wrought in the colony. This was supposed to be a place of peace, a place far away from the war that had been happening in this new world for months.
"No…" The despair began to well up in his heart. Innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire, their screams reached the very core of his self. Their homes, their loved ones, everything and everyone they held dear was slowly being taken from them, their world being shattered into nothing.
"No…No….No!" The despair began to change to boiling rage. His form began to change, black flames began to engulf him as his armor started to materialize over his human shell making him into the force of nature he was once before. The near unstoppable juggernaut of the fourth Holy Grail War, the Berserker, the Black Knight; this time though was different, he would not activate his Mad Enhancement, no, this world's warfare was different and so he needed to change tactics to suit the world effectively. But there was no doubt he would exact justice for the people, and the red light of his visor focused on the enemies in front of him, clad in the world's weapons of destruction, these mobile suits.
The Black Night would be unleashed, and woe to those who think to stand before this man turned monster.