Angra Mainyu

Greater Grail of Fuyuki

Angra Mainyu stirred within his vessel, the Holy Grail of Fuyuki. His consciousness awoken by a voice that was faint yet impossible to be ignore.

"Angra Mainyu, I come with an offer."

The voice came like whispered thunder, echoing violently through the aching pathways of his hate-filled mind. It called out to him. To his existence. To the essence of his very being, tugging at the withered husk he had of a soul. It confused as well as intrigued him. He was hidden inside the Holy Grail, untouchable by all. His presence hadn't even been detected by the ones who had built the device, so why was someone calling out for him? How could someone call out to him in the first place? It was impossible. Driven by those questions Angra Mainyu manifested himself into a form where he could better perceive the voice, and hopefully its owner.

Darkness bled into existence all around. Appearing within the emptiness of nothing from seemingly nowhere, a darkness resembling a thick, viscous mud bubbled up and washed over the area. Curses and tortured faces screamed like raving beasts from within the mud, twisting and turning, a primeval soup of vileness that breathed malevolence and hatred beyond what was possible. Any normal human would instantly be struck dead by the aura emanating by the mud, while even a mighty Heroic Spirit would find themselves brought to the brink of madness. The mud spread through the interior of the Grail, filling every last inch of the seemingly infinite expanse within the cursed cup. Every inch except for one small circle barely a meter in diameter.

"Angra Mainyu, I come with a offer. Will you hear me out?" said the figure standing at the center of the circle, their voice calm and steady even as the horrifying scene played out.

The mud stilled and began to congregate. The dark mud slowly rose up, forming into a vicious-looking dark skinned young man with complex tattoos completely covering his body. He wore an odd look on his face as he asked, "Who are you? And how are you here?"

"Ah," the figure exclaimed, smiling. It was apparent that they hadn't expected a response so soon. "So you are willing to hear me out?"

"Answer my questions first."

The figure's smile quivered a bit as they awkwardly avoided the question, waving their hands in front of their face while flustered. "Um. Yeah. Don't worry about that for now. I'll answer you later, okay?"

Angra Mainyu narrowed his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't look at me like that. It makes me feel like you want to kill me, which I know you totally wouldn't but…"The figure stumbled with their words and spat out a few streams of nonsense before catching themselves. "Right. I'm here to give you an offer that I think you'll like a lot! So please hear me out for a moment! Please…" They added at the end, sounding more hopeful than confident.

In response, Avenger surprisingly hesitated. One part of him wanted to rip them apart, flay the skin and flesh from their bones, and let whatever was left sink into the cursed mud to become a part of him. The other, however, actually wanted to give this figure a chance to speak and even felt amused by it. That was inconceivable. He was the manifestation of All The World's Evils. Hatred was his tragic beginning and as well as his awful end. There wasn't-shouldn't be anything else for him. But this figure, this figure with their slightly awkward and clumsy delivery that wasn't convincing in the least was actually making him feel something aside from hatred for what seemed like first time in his life.

"So that's a go, right? Yeah, I think its a go. Can I go ahead with it?"

"Fine!" he snapped, rubbing his head in annoyance. The confusion caused by the situation wasn't going away and he hadn't the faintest clue of how to make it do so. The only solutions he could think of were to either kill the cause or to let them speak in the hopes that what they'd say would give him a clue how to. His normal inclination would definitely be the first option but the insufferable feeling that he couldn't describe kept holding him back from taking action.

"I'll help you grant your wish."

Angra Mainyu stopped rubbing and stared hard at the figure who was still awkwardly smiling as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Pardon?"

"You heard me." They said, producing several glowing somethings from their pocket and presenting them to the puzzled embodiment of evil, "Your wish, Avenger. Do you want it granted or not?"

—

Irisviel

Einzbern Mansion (Germany)

Her husband's catalyst was Avalon, the sheath of the Excalibur, the legendary sword of Britain most famous figure, Arthur, the King of Knights. By summoning him as his Servant, Kiritsugu's victory was assured. The most powerful Heroic Spirit summoned into the strongest Class. It would be impossible for him to lose. Kiritsugu's selfless wish would definitely come true. Of that, Irisviel had no doubt.

"From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power, come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!"

As he finished the summoning the chapel was filled with a bright light along with a wave of force that nearly knocked Irisviel off of her feet.

"What the?" she heard Kiritsugu exclaim from beside her. That got her attention. There were few things in this world that could catch her husband off guard. Had something gone wrong with the summoning? Had the wrong Heroic Spirit been summoned? Or worse, was it a failure? She felt anxiety rise up into her throat at that thought. There was so much at stake. It was more than a simple wish or glory for the Einzberns. Kiritsugu's wish would bring peace to the world. She wouldn't be there to see it, unfortunately, but knowing that her husband would finally find peace and their dear Illya would grow up in such a world made it a dream worth fighting for.

When the light faded away and she finally could open her eyes, Irisviel felt so much trepidation that she almost didn't want to open them at all. After a brief struggle, she forced herself to do so in the end. No matter what happened she would face it with Kiritsugu. That was her promise as well as her resolve. They would make the most out of the short time that had left together, and there would absolutely be no regrets waiting for her when it came time for her to go.

She looked at Kiritsugu first. The shock on his face still hadn't left. It was such an odd thing to see on him that for a moment Irisviel wondered if she was staring at a different person instead. The ridiculous thought was quickly banished from her head as the anxiousness inside her stirred to life once more. The instant her eyes focused on his, however, all traces of it were washed away like mud in the rain. There was a spark of life inside his eyes. A rare spark that only came out when he was alone with her or when they were together with Illya. He was standing tall too, as if the faint weight that usually brought his shoulders down, which only she saw, was gone. Whatever his gaze was locked on had given him something close to hope.

Excitedly she turned to face the summoning circle, expecting to see the King of Knights standing in all his glory, sword at his side and bursting with power that could win any Grail War single-handedly. Her expectations were shattered almost immediately. No. Shattered was the wrong word. The right word would be exceeded.

Standing at the ready, swords bared, was not one mighty Servant of the Sword. But two.

This Holy Grail was theirs without a shadow of doubt.

—

Kirei

Somewhere in Fuyuki

Kirei Kotomine had no idea why he was chosen by the Grail. The goal of every Master and Servant was to win the Grail to obtain their wish, was it not? Therefore, why would it pick a man without one such as him? He had certainly desires, but those were best kept locked away for everyone's benefit.

He sometimes wondered if God had made a mistake when He created him. That He, despite His divine perfection, somehow forgot to include a piece or placed the wrong one, making him what he was now. Kirei was human yet at the same time not. A priest of the Church yet not. He understood society's values, the teachings of the Church and the morals that separated men from beasts, yet none were truly a part of him. They were nothing more than words to be read and actions to follow. There was no deeper meaning behind them. Whatever peace or purpose they gave to others was not offered to him.

He had tried. Of course he had tried. To find something to fill himself. Nothing did. His greatest experiment, one which only served as damning proof to his cursed existence, was to build a family. He had wed and sired a child with a woman doomed to death, thinking he could derive meaning from what was touted as one of the most fulfilling decisions a human could make. The result was the same as the others. Neither the birth of his child nor the slow death of his wife, Claudia, brought him any closer to obtaining what he sought. He had told her as such. That he did not love her and couldn't love her no matter how hard he tried. It just wasn't attainable for him. She, however, disagreed and stated that he did love her, going so far as to take her own life in front of him to prove it. Such a pity that the tears he had shed that day were from his regret that he couldn't kill her himself rather than the meaningful sorrow he searched for.

Something broke inside him that day. He had planned on ending his life on the same day but decided not to. Kirei had abandoned that road. The road to peace, the search for his salvation. He had given up his daughter to his wife's relatives and never looked back, throwing himself completely into an existence that was fated to never amount to anything in particular. One thing could not go unstated, however, was that Claudia had stuck by him, loved and never given up on Kirei despite him not reciprocating with anything save for him relishing in the sorrow each failure brought her and each day she suffered. She was caring, kind, and loving beyond what he deserved or thought possible. He didn't love her but Claudia's existence to Kirei was similar to that of a saint. It was a pity that she had not found someone who could love her.

As the summoning circle flashed with light and hummed quietly with power, Kirei pondered more on what the Grail's intentions could be. His father's opinion was that divine intervention played a hand in it. That his role in the Grail War was to support Tokiomi and help ensure his master's victory. Of all the participants in the War, the patriarch of the Tohsaka was the only one with a wish that wasn't likely to plunge the world into chaos. Was it not a fitting role for a man of God to do his best in such a situation? To protect His creation from whatever insanity the heretic magi would birth with their unstable desires? If it was, Kirei didn't know. All he did know was the part he was expected to play. The good son of Risei Kotomine and the devoted apprentice of Tokiomi Tohsaka. The twisted demon inside of him forever doomed to the darkness.

White light filled Kirei's vision, blinding him for a second. When sight returned to him he was immediately blinded against by an almost simultaneous flash from the circle. After mild stun had worn off he was greeted by his Servant. A Servant who was definitely not one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah. The Servant was an older, rough-looking man with a wide, somewhat unsettling grin on his face. The rough-looking man was also dressed similar to Kirei, wearing a grey-white version of the vestments of a priest. Odd to say the least. How could a priest, a man of God, end up summoned as an Assassin, the Servant of Murder?

"I'm Assassin. So you're my Master, eh?" He said in thick, almost exaggerated Irish accent. "Would ya mind tellin' me if you happen to be a Protestant by any chance?" the Servant asked with a dangerous glint in his eye.

"No. I am a priest of the Holy Church." Kirei responded succinctly and honestly.

Impossibly, the Servant grin grew even wider as he let out a loud laugh, "Hahahaha! Great! Fuckin' great!" He locked eyes with Kirei and continued once he had calmed down. "Now, since yer a man of the cloth like me, could ya please tell me if there are any heathens or vampires running around? My death left me feelin' quite a bit pissy," He muttered something about a 'fucking butler' and went on. "But don't worry yer pretty little head, Master! It's not a problem that cutting into some heathen flesh won't fix!"

As if to prove his point, Assassin produced what looked to be two oversized bayonets from his coat and excitedly slashed at the air. The display left Kirei confused and made him much more confident in his opinion that the Grail had made a mistake with his selection as a Master. There must be something seriously wrong with the device if it considered such a wild man an Assassin. And there must be something wrong with the Church of the Servant's era if they accepted such a clearly unhinged and violent man into the clergy.

—

Kariya

Matou Household

Kariya stumbled and leaned against the wall. He felt like throwing up again, which would make it the third time this night. It was the worms' doing. Those god-forsaken crest worms writhing and burrowing throughout his body filled him with equal measures of agony and disgust. Every moment he was awake felt like a prolonged torture session. The pain never left; it was always there, simmering in his blood as if his cells were being torn apart and put back together by a cruel psychopath. But those feelings were nothing compared to the revulsion he felt at himself and the whole situation. If he had never ran, then it all could have been avoided. His twisted father would never have gotten his hands on Sakura, Rin would still have her sister and Aoi… Well, it was too late to regret anything. All he could do now was work towards fixing it.

"Hurry up, son. I'm sure the other Masters have already finished summoning their Servants. Let's not keep the Grail waiting any longer." Zouken said, sneering at him from inside the room just a few feet away from him.

Bolts of searing hatred for the wretched worm shot through Kariya's veins, banishing the pain and disgust long enough for him to drag his body across the threshold and stand beside the thing he'd never call his father. He glared fiercely at the corpse-like bastard's face but Zouken shrugged it off without so much as a second of acknowledgement.

"Don't waste time. Quickly, summon your Servant and get me the Grail. And then you'll get Sakura." The much older man's eyes flicked towards his as he scoffed. "Your emotions are not necessary for this. It would be best if you ignored them for the duration of the War lest they cost you the Grail."

Kariya grit his teeth. If it wasn't for Sakura, there was not a chance in hell that he would be aiding Zouken in obtaining the Grail. The cup and everything magic related could burn as far as he cared. The only wish he had was to save Sakura from that hell Zouken threw her in and reunite her with Aoi and Rin. Of course, if he got the chance to get back at that bastard Tokiomi for giving her up to this monster, he would gladly take it. That piece of shit didn't deserve anything of what he had. Giving that pride of his a few good stomps wouldn't be petty revenge but basic principle of karma at work. God knows he deserved worse still, however, and Kariya was looking forward to making sure that Tokiomi got everything that was coming to him.

After taking a moment to gather his breath, the crest worms not helping in the slightest, Kariya raised his hand and began the ritual. The words came to him easily enough, but there was no reverence or respect in his tone. The Servant was just a tool to fulfill his deal with Zouken. He was not a mage, and didn't care at all for the craft. As far as he was concerned all Magecraft and magi had done for him was take away everything he had ever loved bit by bit. If Kariya he had a wish for the Grail that was his own, then it would be to eradicate ever last trace of that accursed craft once and for all.

An oath shall be sworn here.

I shall attain all virtues of all of Heaven;

I shall have dominion over all evils of all of Hell.

Yet you shall serve with your eyes clouded by chaos.

For you would be one caged in madness.

I shall wield your chains

From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power,

come forth from the ring of restraint, protector of the holy balance!

He added the lines required to summon Berserker and finished the ritual with as much flourish a dying, blackmailed, bug-infested man could offer. The summoning circle lit up like the a star had descended into the room and faded so quickly as to make it seem as if it had been an illusion.

Standing the middle of the circle was a handsome, blond haired young man dressed like a doctor from the 19th century. He had an amicable and friendly air around that made Kariya doubt his identity as a Berserker. That disbelief was further enhanced by the Servant giving a light bow and speaking. "Greetings. I ask you, are you my Master?" the Servant of Madness, Berserker, asked without a hint of his titular insanity, shocking both Kariya and the worm.

"A sane Berserker. As expected from a failure like you, Kariya." said Zouken as he turned to leave the room.

Kariya stared at his Servant, ignoring the confusion in the Heroic Spirit's eyes. His nails dug into the palms of is hands, drawing blood. How the hell was he supposed to save Sakura now!?

—

Tokiomi

Tohsaka Mansion

Tokiomi had done it. Despite the…odd circumstances, he had indeed summoned Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. Defeating the other Master's was merely a formality at this point; nothing they could summon could possibly match up to the god-king of Uruk. The path to the Root was his for the taking, he could already see it.

Smiling, he uncorked a bottle of wine from his collection and poured himself a glass as he leaned back against a comfortable chair in study. Being a magus, he didn't normally have much free time on his hands. Wether it was his family, planning for the War, teaching his apprentice or furthering his studies in Magecraft, most of Tokiomi's time awake was spent in motion. He didn't see anything wrong with nor did he have any problem with it. Those duties were fitting for the head of one of the Three Great Families of magi. Even if he did have the time to lay about, he would normally still decide to spend it on one of those activities. Lethargy wasn't a trait that any self-respecting magi would allow to fester within themselves. That was a lesson he had thoroughly taught his apprentice, Kirei, and was looking forward to teaching his daughter, Rin.

Tokiomi took sip from his glass and looked pensive for a moment. In these rare moments of silence that he allowed himself, the stern veneer that he wrapped around himself slipped of slightly. Unbecoming emotions such as worry or doubt would sometimes worm themselves to the forefront of his usually busy mind. A lesser man would ignore them, but Tokiomi was definitely not one. Every negative thought carried with them a weight. If left unchecked, they would build up and become a burden to him, with or without his knowledge. Tackling the dregs while they were still in their infancy was the optimal choice as well as an avenue for future growth. Self-confidence couldn't be built from nothing, after all.

He thought about his other daughter, Sakura, for the most part: on whether or not her study at the Matou's was going well. The might have declined in the recent years, but they were one of the parties that had constructed the entire system of the Grail War. Surely they could provide Sakura with the resources and guidance she needed to become an exceptional magus. That alternative was much more appealing than raising both her and Rin in the art. Barring the dubious one possessed by the Edelfelts, Magic Crests could only be passed down to one member of the bloodline. Both his daughters had exceptional talent, but only one could truly become the successor of the Tohsaka. He would rather not see his daughters ruin their relationship and futures with competition and bad blood like he had seen happen to other bloodlines.

"Papa!" shouted Rin as she burst into his study, surprising Tokiomi.

He shot to his feet, carefully making sure not to spill any wine on the carpet, and prepared to admonish Rin for barging into his study. Such rudeness was hardly appropriate for a Tohsaka. It was also quite dangerous for her to be entering rooms unannounced in the house of a mage. He had made sure that the wards wouldn't harm any of his blood, but a few of them still posed a danger to a reckless children. In addition to that, no mage could afford to be reckless regardless of the circumstances; this was a good opportunity to teach that lesson to Rim.

"Rin—" he started.

"Papa! There's light coming from your workshop!"

"What!?"

He shot out of his chair, carefully pushing past Rin as he rushed towards his workshop. He burst through the door and stood shocked at the magic circle visibly flickering with a dense magical aura. Impossible. Archer has already been summoned. What could possibly be causing this reaction? Before he could give it more thought, the room was enveloped in a flash of light and the next thing he knew, there was figure standing in the middle of the summoning circle.

"So you're my Master, huh? You look a bit boring but, well, I guess it could be worse." said the Servant, brushing away a lock of hair from his eyes as a red coat ruffled behind him.

—

Greetings! I welcome you all to the first chapter of Fate/Zero Order!

This is a little something that came from a bored guy sitting around, thinking of how epic the Fate Series and Universe is, and after reading some of the amazingly awesome Grail Wars on this site felt like trying his hand at it.

My favorite Fate story is Strange/Fake and my fave Fate fiction is Zero Sanity.

I have a rough plan of what I want to do, fingers crossed it all goes accordingly.

Finally, be ready for the most chaotic Grail War ever! Fuyuki will be lucky to not be in ruins after all the Servants I have planned are out!

Oh, and here's a hint! I'm not stopping at fourteen!

Please tell me what you guys think in the reviews, and go and try to guess who the planned Servants are. The reveals of the Servants are something I'm planning to make real 'OMG HIM!?' moments out of. And PLEASE tell me how I'm doing with the characters, since I've only watched the anime and religiously devoured the wiki, I'm 100% sure I've got them right.

As of now we have an Assassin out and Berserker as well as a hint to who Archer is. I don't believe they'll be hard to identify, right?