Chapter One: Bring Me To Life
"Without a soul, my spirit sleeping somewhere cold. Until you find it there and lead it back home. Now that I know what I'm without. You can't just leave me. Breath into me and make me real…"
-Evanescence Lyrics, Bring Me To Life
Limbo.
Extinction, nothingness, pure nothingness…and undiluted emptiness…there was a void within the black sludge of the grail that was nonexistence. The torment, the curses, those would have still been preferred to the purgatory of nowhere. The grail eventually figured it out, the method by which to torment me wasn't nightmarish images or hellish suffering…it was to drop me into oblivion. It learned the best method by which to eclipse my soul…to forfeit my mind…was the disregard of all things, the amnesia of not just the world, but of myself…exhaustive unawareness ravaged my spirit until even gold rusted…unable to catch a pinprick of light in the gloom.
I took a deep breath, if I didn't steady myself, this would never work. I glanced back to my measurements, they had to be exact for this to function. I didn't know if the summoning would work the way I hoped but I expected it would. It wasn't much, but I knew from my research that having something that belonged to a legendary hero improved the chance of getting that spirit to come to you.
The bones of an arm and a hand were piled neatly in the center of the circle. Currently, I was adding a small inner circle of magical dust mixed with gold dust. It was almost as costly as the entirety of the estate but I needed it. I had to get the most powerful servant, and despite what some research might say, I didn't believe that was a Saber. I glanced to the clock, I had a few more minutes before the time that would best work, when the moon would be full overhead.
Then, perhaps it wasn't the best idea that I was trying to summon a spirit that may have been destroyed completely during the fifth Holy Grail War. Not to mention one that had traditionally been far from accepting of his Masters orders. I let out my breath in a sigh and took another one, glancing at my circle. My nervousness wasn't really about the circle, it was perfect. An addition to the Tohsaka household foundation years ago, during grandmother's time she had it forged after her own participation in the fifth war. She'd created a painstakingly detailed circle for future generations. I appreciated it now, as I wasn't sure if my own creation could have stood up to it even if I had made some small changes to fit my purpose.
Grandmother…her soul was at rest now, along with my parents, but I'd always taken after Rin more than either of my parents, at least that's what I'd been told for years growing up with Shiro. I knew more truth of at least two of the last three wars than almost any other person that could be called upon to participate. The last war though…my understanding of it was frustratingly vague…
The sixth war had happened shortly after I was born, it's where my parents and grandmother both had been killed. Shiro hadn't been involved directly and he didn't answer many of my questions about it even though he had told me about the others. He'd lost his wife then, Arturia had been called to another to serve in that war…and when it was over she hadn't retained her form to remain with Shiro any longer. Perhaps that was why Shiro didn't like to talk about it, too painfully close to when he'd lost his wife. Instead he'd described in detail the fourth and fifth wars, more than most mages knew, more than was in any written history.
How Gilgamesh had betrayed my great grandfather during the fourth war, how he had gone to the side of the madman. But Gilgamesh had won, he was strong, stronger than any other single servant by the stories Shiro had told me. When it was over Gilgamesh had earned some sort of permanent form…until the fifth war, when he tried to destroy much of the world again and Shiro and…well Shiro again as a spirit in the future? That part of the story had always been a bit confusing, the intimate and not intimate relationship my grandmother sort of did and didn't have with Shiro. I often avoided thinking too much about it. Either way, grandfather needed two of himself to put Gilgamesh down, throwing his spirit into the grail's darkness until he was absorbed.
I set stones around the bones in the circle, they were magical, strong, many of them were left to me by my grandmother but some I'd forged myself…all of them the same gold color. Perhaps the color wouldn't mean anything, but I didn't know and if even the smallest detail could call the spirit I wanted then I would do it. Grandmother had written at length about what she thought had gone wrong when she'd been trying to summon Saber and how to fix it…she'd also talked about previous cases she'd discovered where items belonging to spirits were used to call them. It was how I knew the bones would help.
The bones I'd found in Shiro's things when I was cleaning out his home after his death. There was a note to me, explaining what they were and that he'd tried to destroy them but he couldn't. He wasn't as learned as most mages and he wasn't going to seek out help to do so. If I couldn't destroy them then I should hide them and keep them away from anyone that would summon Gilgamesh back to the world. Instead, I was using them for that very purpose. I wonder if Shiro is turning in his grave watching me prepare to bring back the strongest enemy he ever fought.
It was a gift as far as I was concerned, a gift that made up for how much he never would teach me about the last war. The sixth grail war had stolen everything from me, the death of my grandmother and parents had permanently altered my life the way the fourth war had altered Shiro's. Shiro had chosen peace when he could…but that wasn't me, I wasn't his daughter, I'd only been adopted. I knew all the things he preached, but they didn't resonate with me. I was a Tohsaka, and I would fight until the bitter end to redeem my family name.
Grandmother, Father, Mother…my older brother…they had all been killed in the attacks. I was only here because I was trained in my brother's place. I only escaped death because another sorcerer family, the Makiri hoping to take me in, used magic to heal me. I was taken in by Shiro instead, he stated the sort of magic the Makiri used would have harmed me. Later I learned it didn't quite work that way but I feel slightly indebted to them all the same. Instead I grew up with Shiro because he and Grandmother had been friends when they were my age. He'd told me the only reason he was willing to teach me about the wars was because he wanted to make sure I understood fully what they meant. He wanted me to avoid participating in them at all costs. I had been too young during the sixth war to be called upon by the grail…and despite it having been less than twenty years it is happening again. This time…I plan to be involved. I know Shiro would tell me I shouldn't do this, that it was madness…
But now, he was gone too…
Last summer…the cancer finally took him. He outlived most of the people he'd known, I think he only held on these last few years for me. I was the daughter he could never have with Saber…apparently, she'd been lovely…but the sixth war had stolen her as well. If I could keep casualties to a minimum before I won this war, it would be best. I wanted to fight, but I didn't want it to be senseless, I wanted to wipe out the competition before they knew I was here. I already had a good idea where the other Masters would be, at least three of them. I knew enough of the families that were often called on…I could remove them before they were of consequence. Particularly if I had the servant I wanted…
I glanced over the circle again, I'd all but covered it in gold, magical jewels filled with mana, and expensive treasures the likes of which even the King of Heroes should be impressed with. It was shimmering like a dragon's personal vault, all around the very bones that had once been cut free from Gilgamesh. If I didn't summon him, then there was no chance to do so anymore…but I had to. He was the best chance I had to obliterate my competition.
Gilgamesh hadn't been involved in the sixth war. I knew that much, despite records placing him in almost every grail war except the second, he was not on the roster for the last. I knew from Shiro and my other research that he was difficult to control…but I had something I wanted…the same thing my grandfather wanted. We were the ones that created the Holy Grail War, my ancestors had forged it with their hands. If I followed grandfather's original path, if I could find Akasha, I could return everything that had been lost. I could fix everything through the power attainable at the root of magic. I could get my family back not just its prestige, but I could see them again…all of them. It wasn't as though there was much left for me here, what was the point of coveting a life of my own when I had no one I loved to share it with? I'd much rather return my family than be concerned with my own life.
The clock was nearly there, 2AM. I walked to the center of the circle, careful not to disturb the treasures within, I'd left just enough space to stand comfortable. I glanced at my hands before nodding to myself. It was too late to back out now. I raised my hand over my head, calling mana to the surface of my body, altering the flow so it curled into the lines and archaic runes of writing, driving it to glow green as it greedily absorbed the gold, gems, and treasures. The illumination grew, changing to a fiery orange as I started the incantation.
"Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny." I felt my hair pick up as winds curled out from around me. Papers rustled on the desk nearby and even the bones began to glow with the circle. That had to be a good sign but I couldn't let myself rejoice, if I grew distracted then the spell could go out of control. "If you heed the Grail's call and obey my will and reason, then answer me."
The light had grown more fine, seeming almost to come from the lines of the circle and the bones like a flashlight encircling me. "I hereby swear…that I shall be all the good in the world. That I shall defeat all evil in the world."
The glow altered again, growing more fine, turning the golden color I hoped my Servant would be, shimmering like molten metal around me as I poured more mana into the spell. "Thou, the seven days clad in the Great Trinity, come forth from the circle of binding. King of Heroes!"
Steam poured out from the circle, filling the basement with mist and throwing back furniture from the center of the room. Whatever I'd summoned, it was powerful enough to cause the earth to quake beneath me, I couldn't really see however, just feel the shaking. I held my ground, not wanting to disturb the summoning by moving as I felt my mana still being pulled on. Then I realized it wasn't just my mana, there was something pulling at my leg…in the mist it was hard to make out but I saw a white-knuckle bone just before the glimmer of auric dust and flesh covered it.
I stared, shocked by the change. Thankfully the spell was already complete because this had destroyed my focus. A second hand formed on my shirt, dragging it downward as more of a body formed before my eyes. I was certain by the golden hair, the crimson eyes, that this was the Servant I wanted, but why did he seem to be using me to haul himself out of the ground itself? I opened my mouth to ask him what was happening but he stopped any words from coming out as his lips pressed into mine.
My eyes widened…
End Chapter
Well then, that was hopefully unexpected. I thought about what might be an interesting way to continue after the events of UBW but with some new characters thrown in the mix. Not sure what else I'll be using but the focus on this fic will be on Rin's granddaughter who summoned Gilgamesh (not yet named here) and Gilgamesh. Don't worry, there are reasons forthcoming for that last action XD.
-Aura
To my reviewers:
Well, when I get reviewers I'll say something. Otherwise, thanks in advance for anyone that leaves any kind words. I didn't have anything else to lose to the war…nothing that I truly cared about.