Just like ten years ago, the Holy Grail War was beginning. Just like he did ten years ago, Marcus Wilkins drew up the summoning circle. He even wore a tuxedo similar to the one he wore when he summoned Saber ten years ago. But unlike ten years ago, he went to great lengths to obtain a catalyst, a metal tsurugi sword, to summon the Servant that would fight for him in the War. Once the circle was complete and the tsurugi was placed in the center, Marcus stepped away from the circle and held the hand that bore his Command Seals out towards it.
Just like ten years ago, he spoke the words to summon a Servant.
Silver and iron to the origin.
The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.
Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill).
Repeat every five times.
Simply, shatter once filled.
I announce.
Your self is under me, my fate is in your sword.
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.
Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good in the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence,
O keeper of the balance!
There was a brief flash of bright light. This was one of the few times in ten years that Marcus ever felt optimistic about something. But then it died when he realized that he did not get the Servant he was hoping to summon.
The Servant he did summon this time was tall, stoic man with tan skin, white hair, and grey eyes. He donned a suit of black body armor made of special materials that seemed to have been lost to mankind long ago. His shirt was tight and sleeveless with silver accents that outlined his muscles and a metal plate on his collar. His pants had two black straps on his thighs and two black straps on his shins separate from each while his metal plated shoes appeared to be fused to his pants. His coat resembled a type of holy shroud but was in fact two separate sleeves attached by a metal plate on the front and was cut off, showing his upper torso and midriff. Finishing his ensemble was a red open skirt which ended above his shins with the top fashioned and tied with an agemaki knot, covered by a silver metal plate.
"Servant Archer. I answer to your summons," he spoke.
Thus, Marcus had officially entered into a new Holy Grail War on an unusual world.
A world without magi, for they had all disappeared without a trace several decades ago.
A world that believed the Holy Grail War was a central part of an anime, unaware that it was in fact very real.
Fate/new dawn REDUX
Prologue: Beginning of the Second Holy Grail War
Two days later…
Alarm clocks were both a blessing and a curse.
Without them, Ian Clark would wake up until later on and be late for school. But that did not make the buzzing any less irritating to listen to.
His blue eyes slowly opened before he turned his head to look at the alarm clock before reaching out and slamming a hand on top of it to turn the alarm off.
Ian then got up, throwing the bed sheets aside as he did. One of the first things he saw was a poster for the Fate/stay night series. He loved that series more than any other anime he had ever seen. One particular reason was because it was something his uncle Marcus had recommended to him.
He had no idea that it was more than an affectionate gesture.
Ian's mother had died in an accident when he was six-years-old, only a few days after his birthday, while his father had left them while Ian was very young. Ian remembered little about his mother, but that was better than how much he remembered about his father; nothing. Marcus was more of a father to Ian than the boy's own biological father.
Ian started to get ready to go to school. When he went to prepare the shower, he noted that his black hair had suffered an extreme case of bedhead and looked quite amusing to him. When he was finished with the shower, he changed in some casual clothes, consisting of a blue shirt, black hoodie, grey cargo pants, and black shoes, and made his way to the kitchen. When he got there, he found Marcus was starting to head out the door.
"Hey," Ian called out.
Marcus paused and turned back to see Ian.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"You're leaving early," Ian noted.
"Eh. Happens sometimes," Marcus shrugged.
Marcus was incredibly busy. Being the head of a multi-million-dollar company, of course he was. Unfortunately, this meant that the two of them didn't usually have much time to spend together. Ever since Ian started learning more and more to take care of himself, Marcus was able to leave for work earlier. Sometimes, he left a little too early.
"I'll see you later," Ian said. "Love you, Uncle Marcus."
"I love you too, Ian," Marcus said before turning and heading out the door.
Ian then went through his normal routine; make and eat his own breakfast, make his bed, brush his teeth, and pack for school. Ian put a pair of black headphones on and began playing some music before walking out the door.
The sun was setting.
Niccolo Visalli, a man with dark, skin, hair, and eyes, watched as his nephew, Dario, summoned a Servant.
Niccolo was a member of an organization called Paradisum, a Catholic organization that wanted to use the Holy Grail to reveal the glory of God to the world. They weren't an official part of the Catholic church, though they had managed to secretly gather many Church officials under their banner. Just like how the public was unaware of the fact that the Holy Grail War was a real thing, no one who wasn't a member of Paradisum knew that the organization exists. Not even the Pope knew of them.
Dario and his twin brother Dominico had been placed under Niccolo's care while they were very young. Their mother had died giving birth to them and their father ended up dying of cancer a few years later.
"It is finished, Father," Dario said as he turned towards Niccolo.
The twins had started referring to Niccolo as their father at a young age. They knew that he was really their uncle, but they had already become used to referring to him as their father by the time they learned this. Plus, everyone attending Sunday services would refer to Niccolo as "Father", as was tradition for Catholics. These factors were the reason why they didn't start calling him "Uncle Niccolo".
Niccolo's gaze then focused on the Servant that Dario had summoned. He had a build that the priest had to admit was quite impressive; tall and muscular. His skin was bronze-colored, there wasn't a single hair on his head, and his eyes were black with red irises. His attire was rather unusual in that his torso was covered by something resembling a black leotard of all things, though his black arm braces and open-toed boots were less unusual.
"I am Saber," the man spoke with a deep voice, causing Dario to turn to face him. "Are you the one who summoned me?"
The way that Saber looked at Dario made it obvious that he was sizing the boy up.
"Y-Yes. I am," Dario said, slightly nervous.
"Very well," Saber said.
"Well done, Dario," Niccolo said. "With this, you are now a Master in the Holy Grail War. Fight well."
It had been a little over an hour and a half after Ian had arrived home from school. Homework had been mostly finished and he was currently preparing dinner for himself and his uncle. He heard the alarm let out a chime that indicated it was being disarmed. That also indicated that Marcus had arrived, and the sound of the door opening confirmed that. Marcus then approached the kitchen.
"Hello," Marcus greeted.
"Hey, Uncle Marcus," Ian responded, looking briefly over his shoulder. "Dinner's just about ready."
A small number of minutes later, dinner was served for the both of them. The uncle and nephew sat at the table and prayed before eating the meal. The Wilkins family was a line of fairly devout Christians and Marcus had raised Ian according to such.
"How was school?" Marcus asked a small bit into the meal.
"Good," Ian said.
The two started talking about Ian's school day before Marcus eventually noticed something on Ian's hand; Command Seals.
"What's that on your hand?" Marcus asked with convincingly faked curiosity.
Ian then looked at his hand and saw the Command Seals.
"I don't know! I don't even know how they got here!" Ian said, shocked by the Command Seals on his hand that he seemed to have never noticed until now.
"We need to talk after dinner," Marcus said calmly.
Ian was nervous.
"I have some things to tell you about Ian. Things that I have kept secret from you for a long time," Marcus said.
"Ten years ago, a large event occurred in the deepest shadows of the city," Marcus began. "Those markings on your hand are related to those events."
"They look like Command Seals," Ian said. "Are you going to tell me that Holy Grail Wars are real or something?"
"Yes," Marcus stated. "I'll prove to you. Archer, reveal yourself."
There was a shower of blue particles next to the Master of Archer of Alpha and his Servant was there. Surprise showed on Ian's face at this.
"Woah."
"As I said, yes, Grail Wars are real," Marcus said. "Your mother and I were Masters in the last one."
"Another one has started in this city, Ian. Those Command Seals are proof that-"
"I am a Master," Ian finished.
"Correct," Marcus said. "But this Grail War is slightly abnormal. Have you watched Fate/Apocrypha?"
"Yeah."
"The last Grail War was like the one in Fate/stay night and Fate/Zero. Seven Masters, one Servant each. This one has twice that. I have managed to establish alliances with five other Masters and you'll be the seventh member of the group."
"Anyway…" Marcus said as he stood from his seat. "You need to summon your Servant."
"I have a question." Ian said before looking at Archer of Alpha. "Are you surprised by the fact that you're a fictional character in this world?"
"A little bit," Archer said, his stoic demeanor still holding.
"That's all," Ian stood up and followed his uncle and Archer.
A short few minutes later, Marcus had taken Zachary to a secret part of the basement. Extensive security measures had been installed to keep that part a secret. In the center of the secret room was a summoning circle for the Grail War. Zachary stretched out his hand with the Command Seals on it.
Silver and iron to the origin.
The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate.
Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill).
Repeat every five times.
Simply, shatter once filled.
I announce.
Your self is under me, my fate is in your sword.
In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer.
Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good in the world of the dead, I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead.
You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence,
O keeper of the balance!
There was a flash of bright, blinding light once Zachary had finished speaking. The summoning was successful, as some was now kneeling in the middle of the summoning circle.
The Servant summoned had the appearance of a cute little girl with pale skin, neck-length white hair, and icy blue eyes. She was small and slim. There were two scars on her face, one over her eye and one on her right cheek. Her clothing…was not something befitting of a little girl. First was a modified, backless waist coat bordered in white here and there and held in place by a belt around her collarbone and another belt wrapped just under her chest. The bottom half was open, exposing a little bit of her stomach. Her hands and forearms were wrapped in bandages with two belts on each of her arms, seemingly for decoration. One black glove was worn on her right hand and there was a reddish-purple ovular tattoo on each of her shoulders. On her legs were black thigh-high boots and black, white-bordered ovular plates covered her outer thighs and hips. The most glaring thing about her attire was that she was wearing black bikini underwear, of all things, with six holsters that held knives attached to the back.
"Are you our daddy?" the girl asked.
"Yes. I'll be your father," Ian responded.
"Daddy," the girl said before adopting a more cheerful expression. "We are Assassin. Please take care of us, Daddy."
Assassin then looked at Marcus and Archer. In less than a second, her cheerful demeanor dropped, and a cold expression replaced it. She then reached behind her and unsheathed two of her knives, holding them in reverse grip.
"Wait," Ian said sternly. "He's my uncle."
"But Daddy-"
"We are not going to hurt my uncle," Ian commanded.
Assassin then placed the knives back. "Okay, Daddy."
Ian sighed in relief, but he then started to feel exhausted.
"Hey, Uncle Marcus, is it normal to feel exhausted after summoning a Servant?" he asked.
"Yeah, I felt that way too," Marcus responded.
"I'm gonna go to bed," Ian said. "Assassin, don't hurt either of them."
"Okay, Daddy," Assassin nodded.
Fate/new dawn was my best work, but it could have been better. I felt that some of the characters didn't receive great characterization and I didn't have a solid plan for the plot, so some of the details ended up coming out of nowhere. I know that some of you think that it was fine as it is, but I personally think that it was something of a train-wreck.
So, what I'm hoping to get out of this is a better characterization and a somewhat better progression of the plot. The average Fate series (excluding Grand Order) takes about two weeks in-universe before the plot is resolved. Fate/new dawn's plot took over a month in-universe. It was just too slow. I will be alternating between updating this and Fate/Dusk, the prequel to Fate/new dawn. I have Fate/Dusk's prologue worked out, the roster is locked in, and I have a good idea of how the plot will progress, but I haven't decided on an age rating because some details of a character's backstory are causing complications with that.
But allow me to be blunt; everyone who has read the original story in its entirety should know what the ultimate end result of this version's plot is going to be. However, some characters that survived in the original version will die in this one while some who died in the original might survive this one.
Again, I know that this might not seem like the best decision, but I write fanfiction primarily because I enjoy doing so. Fate/new dawn was my best work, but I feel that it could have been better, so I am trying to make it better. I hope that you guys do understand and will give Fate/new dawn REDUX a chance.
That is all I ask.
Thank you.
-Eeveefan13