From the first glance onward, something seemed sinister about the long hall. It was lavishly decorated with red carpets, tapestries, and furniture of dark wood. Towards one end sat a simulated fireplace which burned brightly, casting long shadows all around the otherwise dimly lit room. Directly in the center of the hall was a long, polished table, one that clearly wasn't used for eating. It was reminiscent of buildings that existed in the days of old. Maybe in another world, it would have seemed soft and homely, but in the presence of the dark-suited men who sat at the table, the shadows took on a mysterious and dangerous feel.
Most of the dark-suited men were conversing quietly with one another. Many were discussing the odd estate of the eccentric tycoon, Kieron Wu. In this minimalistic era, such grandeur was usually frowned upon. Even so, the excess was quite intriguing. They were all stirred from their light conversation by the entry of Wu. He was wearing a billowing exotic robe embroidered with gold and he carried himself in a regal fashion. Sitting down at the head of the table, he addressed the men in suits.
"Gentlemen of the Council, I have invited you here today to request funding and assistance for my biggest project yet."
Many of the men in suits grumbled. They clearly had been through this before, but from their earlier surprise, they may have been expecting more. Especially after being invited to Wu's estate.
"Before you dismiss this as another one of my eccentricities, hear me out... I want to reconnect our world to the Eversource."
This surprised his audience. Even they weren't expecting something this far out.
"The ancient texts call it by many names, the Swirl of the Root, the Akashic Records, but they are all clear on one thing. The Eversource is the origin of our world, the origin of magic, and since before the dawn of this great city, we have begun to fall out of its favor."
Wu had always had a remarkable ability to read crowds. He knew that he now had the council's full attention. It had taken him years to get to the point where his idea was even feasible. He couldn't squander his opportunity after coming all this way.
"As you all know, although the knowledge of magic remains, it's essence vanished close to two centuries ago. No evidence of magic has been recorded since. That all changed recently", Wu paused from a moment for dramatic effect, "for you see, I rediscovered an ancient artifact, the holy grail."
Audible gasps could be heard from the men in suits. They, of course, had heard the legends of the artifact, but even people who clung to the dying art of magic generally agreed that the grail was nothing more than a myth.
"Preserved in the grail is a massive reservoir of magical energy. The real kicker, the grail is still connected to the root. It draws its supply of magic directly from the origin. Using the grail as a medium, we can curry the favor of the Eversource. All by performing the ancient ritual, the Holy Grail War."
There were collective murmurs among the suited men. Mages had helped the great city of Ingenti prosper since its inception, but ever since the incident of 534, magecraft disappeared entirely. The city had been in recession ever since. It had quickly become clear; magic wasn't the only thing that was lost. The world had become disconnected from the source. Natural order had been breaking down and the vice grip of chaos had only grown tighter. The wisest of magical philosophers generally agreed the city's days were numbered. Whether decades or merely weeks remained, they couldn't decide, but they all agreed that something needed to be done.
So, two days later on the designated voting day for the council, it was agreed unanimously to follow through with Wu's proposal. The Holy Grail War would soon commence.
A boy with slicked-back, black hair crouched in the middle of a small room drawing on the floor. Despite the fact that the room had very small, there seemed to be a lot in it. Papers and books were strewn across every surface and little gadgets and gizmos dotted the room. The boy had pushed everything that had been on the floor to the edges of the room in order to make room for his drawing.
The basis of the drawing was a large circle. The circle was inscribed with a hypotrochoid, a repeating circular pattern similar to those made by spirographs. The hypotrochoid created a smaller circle in the center that was inscribed with a rotating series of triangles. Complex characters were written on the edges of the lines that crisscrossed the circle. With a final stroke of chalk, the boy completed the drawing.
Bringing himself up to a standing position he drew in several deep breaths and then held out his hands towards the circle. He began chanting an incantation in the ancient language, one that only magical philosophers studied anymore. The magical circle began to glow a bright blue. With two more verses, he completed the incantation, and the circle began to glow even brighter. The look of excitement of the boy's eyes was cut short though. He doubled over in pain and to his surprise, the blue glow started to emit from his own body. It snaked up his body in what seemed to be a predetermined pattern and once the glowing reached his neck, there was a final flash of light.
In the aftermath of the flash, a blue tattoo could be seen on his body. But, perhaps more interesting than the tattoo was the newcomer that appeared standing in the center of the circle.
With a smile bordering on a smirk, the newcomers stated, "I have responded to your summons, master."
The newcomer towered over the boy at six feet tall and his spiked white hair gave him the appearance of being even taller. In contrast to the pale boy, his skin was a darker tanned color. He wore black, tightly fitting body armor that highlighted his slim, muscular build. The outfit was highlighted with silver and his shirt was sleeveless, presumably to allow him to move with as little restriction as possible. The smile on his face was confident, bordering on cocky, but nonetheless furthering his imposing image. To his credit, the young boy stood up and tried to present himself to the intimidating figure.
"My name is Archibald Ivanov. I will be serving as your master for this Holy Grail War."
"Hmm, you don't seem horrible. Especially not for a world disconnected from the root. May I ask how the Holy Grail War is progressing."
"What do you mean? The war hasn't even started. The seven servants have to be summoned before the fighting begins if the ancient texts are correct."
"I would be best for you to lose that rigid way of thinking as soon as possible. Still, I'm surprised I was summoned so early."
"What the hell do you mean by that?", Archibald asked, clearly growing frustrated with the recently summoned servant.
"Nothing much, I just expected to be summoned in a later phase of the war."
"Again, what?! The servants should all be summoned before the war officially starts."
The servant turned towards the boy with a knowing smile.
"Really? I'll reiterate what I said just a minute ago, then. Let go of your precious history. You'll get nowhere mindlessly chasing the lies of your past."
Archibald was caught off guard by this statement. He had to concede that some of what his servant said was correct. Most mage philosophers agreed that some of the essential abilities in magecraft were adaptability and creativity. He was one of the first philosophers that would be able to actually wield magic in almost two centuries. He had to take any advice that would make him a better mage.
He sighed, "Very well. Would you tell me class and true name them?"
Unfortunately, even though he had been chosen to become one of the masters he didn't have the resources to acquire a catalyst for the summoning. Not that anyone except for the highest class of philosophers did anyone. Most artifacts from the era of magic were long gone. Therefore, even if he had tried to optimize the magic circle to summon a caster servant, nothing was guaranteed.
"I am of the Saber class and you may call me Emiya."
Archibald looked very confused at this revelation.
"I've never heard of you before."
"Not surprised, in fact, I'd be worried if you had. Still, it makes me curious. The grail doesn't make mistakes."
"Elaborate, please", Archibald said, flatly. He was beginning to get worried that this was going to become commonplace.
"Hmm, to put it simply, I come from a separate history. I have no existing legacy in this world."
Archibald looked dumbfounded.
"That's impossible, a heroic spirit's strength comes from their legacy. It's what gives your noble phantasm its power, right?"
The servant ignored the young boy's comment in favor of leaning against a table and staring off into space for a moment. After a moment of being completely still the servant named Emiya spoke.
"Ha, the root is ever cruel and ironic. I'll suppose I'll have to work with what I've got. This should be interesting."
He turned to face Archibald with an amused smile on his face.
"I look forward to working with you."
Tobias Jacobs was the youngest member of the governing council of Ingenti. Despite the fact that he had voted in favor of Wu's proposal, it made him nervous. The older members of the council had immediately voted in favor of the proposal, and not wanting to be discredited, he had followed their lead. He was just worried that they were rushing this.
He understood all too well the crisis that the city was in. The fast-approaching claws of chaos scared him just as much as the next guy, but he felt that no one had truly stopped to consider the implication of what they were doing. Which was, in short, letting a magical object that they knew almost nothing about determine the future of over a billion people.
In his mind there had to be a reason that the world had fallen out of the Eversource's favor. As the head of the department of magical philosophy, he knew none of the top researchers were really concerned with the reason the world has lost the protection of the Eversource, but rather how to stop the incoming darkness. Even when research mentioned regaining the Eversource's favor it was always the means to an end.
Even now the council and philosophers alike were only concerned with the Holy Grail War. They were so focused on the war itself, it was almost like they had forgotten what had made it necessary in the first place. He was tasked with searching out potential magi that could fight in the war. Technically speaking, the grail picked the masters itself, but the council wanted to know exactly who was participating. So far, his department had interviewed close to a thousand aspiring masters and as of now, he had only found three of the Grail's chosen. However, the people who were closely monitoring the grail had informed him that the grail had let out a massive discharge of magical energy five times already. That means that five people had already been chosen as masters. He had his whole team working overtime to discover the rest of the chosen few.
And that wasn't even the worst of what was on Tobias's mind though. Of the three masters that he had discovered, one of them was a mere fourteen-year-old child. A prodigy, sure. But a child nonetheless. He had no idea just how prepared the young boy was for the horrors he would soon witness.
Little did Tobias Jacobs know, one of the masters was completely outside his jurisdiction. On the outer edge of the "great" city of Ingenti was the group of people the council had chosen to ignore. The outer rim was packed full of slums and building foundations that had been repurposed to house the less fortunate of Ingenti's citizens.
Here another person was completing another magic circle. The circle seemed to take a much different approach than the first. Instead of inscribing figures, the inside consisted of smaller circles that overlapped each other in some places and were connected with curved lines in others. Even the lettering that was used on this circle was significantly different. The circle was drawn with chalk that broke easily and seemed to draw in less defined and more jagged lines, much like the surroundings it was being drawn in. It seemed to be in a partially caved in alleyway. Faded bricks and bent metal wires surrounded the circle, and it seemed they had only been cleared to make room for the circle.
Even disregarding their surroundings, the person who was drawing it was a far sight different than Archibald. The girl who drew the circle was significantly taller than him and her skin was quite a bit darker, taking on more of a bronze tone as opposed to Archibald's pale skin. She had ratty, black hair that was cut choppily just below the neck and looked almost gray as a result of dirt and grime. One thing about the two that was undeniably similar was their posture and the look of determination on their face.
The summoning itself went down in an almost identical manner, with one notable difference. While Archibald had collapsed, the girl stood just as straight with nothing but the grimace on her face betraying the immense pain that came with the summoning ritual. Similar tattoos of light began to twist their way around her body. They were formed in more jagged, thicker lines and even coalesced into solid circles. The summoning was completed in a final flash of light.
Standing in the center of the circle was a boy with nearly golden hair. He appeared to be in his late teens to early twenties but nonetheless, he stood a half a head shorter than his summoner. His body was completely covered by a loose black trench coat. Perhaps the most unnerving thing about him was his mismatched eyes. One was a shocking electric blue while the other was nearly pitch black. In fact, everything about his appearance was at odds with each other. His golden hair and young, almost babyish face, contrasted sharply with the mysterious aura the trenchcoat seemed to radiate.
"You called and I have answered", the boy said in a smooth voice that sounded mature beyond his appearance.
The girl seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, glad the summoning ritual wasn't a complete bust. I've been lied to enough in my days to be suspicious."
"You say that like you've been around a while", the boy commented while laughing. "Seriously, though you can't be older than seventeen or eighteen."
"Fifteen, actually, I've often been told I look old for my age."
"Makes sense considering the shit hole your living in."
"You can say that again", the girl replied chuckling. "I'm Ming, by the way, I'll be looking forward to working with you."
"Ioan Pearce, you're Assassin-class servant", the boy replied taking her had.
The girl seemed to freeze.
"Ioan Pearce? The Ioan Pearce?"
"I suppose my reputation precedes me. I didn't expect I'd made such an impact on Ingenti."
Ming snorted before responding.
"Yeah, you use the entirety of the magical residue in the city to kill over 6 million people and you think people just wouldn't notice. We call it the incident of 534."
"You don't seem to be fazed standing in the presence of an actual mass murderer."
Ming snorts.
"I couldn't care less about anyone in this city. If you're able to get away with killing that many people before you got taken in, you're going to be pretty helpful."
"That's one way to look at it I suppose."
The two proceed to leave the alleyway. Ioan looks around.
"Wow, the grail wasn't kidding", he mumbles.
"What was that", Ming asks.
"Oh, just remarking about how this place is even more in shambles than I remember it."
"Not surprised. A decent bit has changed since you were alive. Somehow the council cares less about the citizens than it did when you started your revolution."
"Those uptight fucks. I was hoping that would teach them something."
Ioan looks out across the great empty expanse of cracked earth that surrounds the ghettos. On the horizon, a massive wall of swirling matter looms. The wall can't seem to decide on any color or internal consistency and thus fluctuates between a seemingly endless variety of forms.
Ioan turns back to Ming, "Well, now that I've been given a second chance, why don't we go teach all of those fools a lesson."
Ming smiles back, "My thoughts exactly."
The seventh master wasn't taking anywhere near as many precautions with their summoning. In fact, their summoning circle was so large it was a wonder that no one had noticed it. That was until you considered exactly where the circle was being drawn. Surrounded by skyscrapers was a paradise. Enclosed in a dome of hexagons, massive varieties of exotic life were separated from the light pollution and technological marvels.
Standing on top of the dome was a cloaked figure. Using some sort of black marker they were drawing thin clean, barely noticeable lines onto the glass surface of the dome. Even if someone were to view the greenhouse from the top they probably wouldn't notice the magic circle. The circle was inscribed with shape and after shape, slowly twisting down into the center. What must have been thousands of characters of text, outlined each successive figure. The figure marked in a final character, which looked like a strange combination of dots and pulled back to admire their work. They walked to the very center of the circle and begin their own chant.
From the center, deep red light snaked its way around the magic circle, eventually lighting up the surrounding area like a beacon. With a final phrase, the incantation was complete. From underneath the dome, magical energy began to spill into the air. The trees and animals in the greenhouse began to wither and die. Their life force all flowed into the cloaked figure and the apparent force of such concentrated energy blew away the cloak.
The person underneath appeared to be a woman. While she might have once been beautiful, with thick bright red hair and deep almond eyes, the entire right half of her face was scarred beyond repair. The scallop was bare and the tissue looked burned and cut up. There was nothing where her eye socket should have resided; instead, it was covered by mutilated skin. The woman cackled as the energy flowed into her and deep red swirling tattoos wound their way around her body. In contrast to Ming and Archibald, the tattoos didn't stop at the neck, instead finishing by snaking across the wounded half of her face. In a final flash of light, the summoning was complete. There was an intangible change to the woman after the ritual. Her body seemed to have an overwhelming presence about her. Strangely enough, no servant could be seen, but it quickly became clear why. A voice resonated from her body that didn't come from her lips.
"You're a daring one human. Trying to contain someone like me. I can't complain so much though, your body will make a fine vessel."
The voice sounded like a thousand voices at once, none of them in sync with each other.
"I am Zinallueth, a Berserker-class Servant. I'm sure our partnership will be...quite enjoyable."
The woman, still breathing heavily straightens herself up.
In a scratchy, thin voice, she replies, "I'm sure it will."