Imperial Clan Chronicles
Prologue
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, or Fate/Zero
-Wakusei Ariel, Imperial City-
[Insert Theme: Falconer – The Coronation]
Within a large room that held an architectural style that is inhumanly elegant and graceful, a number of figures stood, while another sat on a throne at the top of a set of steps.
In a pair of rows leading to the thrones stood 12 women wearing combat oriented but elaborate white body suits of various collar and skirt colors with tiaras on their heads and knee high battle boots, a lone woman with long dark violet hair and clad like the other 12 stood on the first two steps, a glaive resting comfortably in her left hand. This lone figure was the only survivor of the original eight Sol System Sailor Senshi, Sailor Saturn, while her compatriots were the Senshi for the Ariel System.
The large sitting figure was a massively muscled man with wild scarlet hair that fell to his waist in the back and his bangs reaching his chest in the front while his eyes were the color of polished amber and his skin was a medium tan. Strangely, on his arms his skin was covered by smooth scales the color of scarlet. He wore a sleeveless dark crimson robe over his torso that reached his knees with matching pants that tucked into riding boots while bracers adorned his forearms and golden bands were around his upper arms. He bore a scar on his face reaching from his hair line on the left side to his jawline on the right, crossing over the bridge of his nose while a tail, covered in smooth scales, sat wrapped around his waist like a belt.
This figure is Mathias I of the Arielian Empire, ruler of Ariel and leader of her peoples. As he sat on his throne he was thinking back, in remembrance of the days when he could go galavanting off into the multiverse on a whim in order to challenge the tyrants and the despots, the just and the corrupt, in order to protect the innocent or find a challenge for his fighting skills. But, those days were long gone, the pressures of the crown of the Throne of Ariel kept him where he was, only able to really leave the Imperial city for official duties or to battle his enemies in times of war.
His favored memories of those long ago days, which meant something as he was stuck in a semi-immortal state, were when he lived among the Knights of the Round in camelot, attempting to guide their king along the right path. During those days he'd stumbled upon a secret, the legendary figure known as King Arthur, it was no man, it was a woman, a petite little thing with the heart and soul of a dragon. Her name had been Arturia, and all of Mathias' attempts to help her rule and rule well had all been for naught, that thrice damned sorcerer Merlin had ruined EVERYTHING!
It wasn't a lost cause, however, and Mathias had finally gotten his payback on the Sorcerer after he'd revealed himself as a turncoat, the sorcerer's accomplices didn't escape either, they'd felt the righteous anger and wrath of the Arielian Emperor and their souls knew forever to never test the well of power the massive warrior king possessed.
[End Theme]
[Insert Theme: Falconer – Emotional Skies]
The doors leading to the room opened, pushed open by force of magical will, and in strode a figure very familiar to the ancient man.
It was a a lightly-tanned woman with long, waist length scarlet hair that was somewhat wild and eyes that glowed violet. The clothes she wore consisted of a long-sleeved robe underneath a matching sleeveless, split-tail coat that is unbuttoned, what appears to be an embroidered stole hanging down to her knees, and slightly baggy pants tucked into knee high riding boots. She wore long earrings with jewels on the ends in her ears and a red gem in her forehead. The dominant colors were a deep red with gold trim as a tail, covered in smooth, scarlet colored scales, sat wrapped around her waist like a belt.
This was Aracely Herschel, the Mistress of the Void, a Sorceress of immense power, and Mathias' own ancestor. Aracely had been born over ten millennia ago during what their people consider the 'Golden Age of War' when their people as a whole were MUCH more powerful and skilled than they are now, an age where reaching the fourth and final standard transformed state was commonplace, not relegated to the highest echelons of the Imperial Defense Forces.
Aracely's power was shown in that she'd carried the titles of Court Sorceress and Mistress of the Void for the entirety of the Empire's existence, with no other being able to match her in the arcane arts. Aracely knew more about the secrets of the Arcane, both in the realms of the elements, and other arenas, even the unsavory dark and black magics were at her disposal, though she had swore on her life and honor to never use THOSE.
Aracely reached the steps and released her staff, the long hunk of curled, gnarled wood staying in place almost of it's own will, as Aracely placed her right fist into her left hand at neck height before bowing slightly at the waist.
"Your majesty." she began, her voice, a cool and composed sound, echoing with the power contained within.
"Dowager Empress Aracely. To what honor does my ancestor and a former Empress of the Empire grace me with today?" Mathias asked, his voice a moderately deep bass due to his height and mass.
Aracely merely gave a light giggle to her descendant's question before replying "The Grail War has returned."
"What?!" Mathias growled as his aura, an iridescent glow that surrounded his form, burst to life with an explosion of lightning and power in response to his immediate anger.
The Senshi standing in the room, caught by surprise, were FLOORED by the weight of Mathias' presence as he stood up, the arm rests of his throne exploding as his weight left the throne and he walked down the steps. The only senshi able to deal with the weight and keep their feet were Saturn and Ariel, Saturn being the Senshi of destruction while Ariel was Mathias' only surviving child from his first marriage.
When Mathias reached the bottom step and met his ancestor, it surprised the senshi to see the ancient woman stand firm, not even a bead of sweat staining her brow from the effort required to remain standing. "Mathias, my child. I would ask you to participate in the Heaven's feel."
"I see, you wish to keep civilian casualties to the absolute minimum while preventing the ningen from acquiring such a powerful artifact of the old ways." Mathias answered as his anger cooled off and his power returned to within his body.
"Of course, it would remise of me to turn my back on the ideals that my mother-in-law, Ariel the First, held so dearly to her heart."
Mathias gave a chuckle from deep in his barrel-like chest at that before saying "I understand, honored ancestor." he then pulled the left side of his robe away to reveal a glowing, stylized sword-like mark over his heart. Putting his robe back into place, Mathias gave a fanged grin when he heard the groans of disappointment from a few of the senshi. Those flirtatious women had been using him for visualizations during their 'private' time for centuries, much to his amusement, and thus he felt it right to tease them, to show them what they lusted after but were unable to have without violating their honor.
Aracely had a look on her face like that of a mother's pride for her son, which was exactly what Mathias was in a way, as Aracely's last borne daughter had married the heir of the Maestro Clan, the young man opting to marry into his wife's clan instead of having her marry into his. Mathias had been born Mathias Maestro, and was Aracely's direct descendant through the unbroken Maestro line.
Aracely's smile faded as she said "Yes, I see that the grail's magics have found their way even to our blessed empire. You have been chosen by the grail as a participant. Allow me to give you a catalyst, so that you might have a servant that is truly worthy of you." then she reached into her robes and pulled out a very familiar sheath to Mathias' eyes.
"Avalon." he breathed out in shock as the sheath of Excalibur, an item of the divine said to bestow immortality to combat damage, was revealed to the open light of the Throne Room. He had not seen this mystical artifact in 1300 years, not since a few weeks before the day that Arturia had rode off into battle for the last time, when she was mortally injured by her own offspring.
As Mathias gazed at Avalon in wonder, he felt a massive increase in mana, and looking at his ancestor he saw that she was exerting her power over the arcane, calling, and summoning. A giant magical circle exploded to life and thrummed and beat with power, those in the room could hear what sounded like a heartbeat as the magic powering the circle grew and the sounds quickened.
The magics powering the circle grew too great, lightning shooting from the center of the circle as it's glow and beat reached a crescendo alongside the raw magic blasting up like an inferno.
Mathias felt a life sign from the circle just as an explosion rang out, covering the room in dust and smoke. As the smoke began to clear and the dust settled on the floor, a slim figure could be discerned from within. The life sign within the circle made a tingle run down Mathias' spine as it's origin and feel registered to his senses. He knew this signature, he KNEW it!
"I am servant Saber. I ask of you. Are you my master?" came a feminine voice he hadn't heard in 1300 years.
[End Theme]