AN: Hello again to all from Druid; for any of you whom read Creation of All Things and are showing support for this new very short story, thank you very much!
In fact, the ideas really wasn't too new...I actually had this in mind for quite a while (i.e. for more than six months) but I lacked too much fundamental knowledge of Typemoon and especially FSN. Why did I write this...because I want to.
Hence, this will indeed be short and will take place within the Fable universe, though there will be hints of Typemoon events. It is more a prologue fic, which provides background for other authors to use when they decide to write a FSN/Fable cross.
There may be a few more chapters from this story coming up; I will rotate between this and Creation of All Things, for now here is the first Chapter. Lastly, I know of foundation knowledge for FSN but if there are any fundamental errors just let me know and I will see if they apply.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fate/Stay Night or Fable, this is fanfiction for a reason.
"Powerful being talking/chant"
The Chicken Chaser... that was his most humble title when he first started to make a name for himself in the great, big world that was Albion...though he did realise in time that there was more to Gaia than Albion itself, but it was highly unlikely that he would ever travel abroad, so it might as well been the world for him.
Now who would have thought that in a span of about 100 years he has gone from the scrawny little boy trying to find three gold coins to acquire a box of chocolates for his sister to near mortal-god with the powers equivalent to the Great Archon himself?
Now he has gained fame and renown across Albion, people from Bowerstone through to Knothole Glade called him Avatar, Guildmaster, the Hero of Three, and in some cases chosen one...indeed the people of Albion did come up with some melodramatic names and in some cases downright cliché.
Now the privilege to be regarded as a normal person is a luxury in itself, one that was beyond his reach. He stopped the incursion of Jack of Blades, helped many a people in need and was now Guildmaster after the death of Weaver. Furthermore, not many people with the exception of his sister Teresa know of his real name, though frankly he came to the conclusion that using his real name would be too troublesome, so he resigned himself to be called Avatar or Guildmaster, but many still called him Hero for short. Whether it was through some unexplained divine mandate or just the people's inclination to worship him rather than hear him speak, it was an obscure mystery.
It has been decades since his confrontation with Jack of Blades, and Albion was at peace for a time. As the years rolled by the people of Albion had less need for heroes, and with time the Heroes Guild started to empty. The second Guildmaster was at his study in his private quarters, pondering about what the future would hold, for him and the fate of Albion, whether it is near or distant. His sister, quite promptly disappeared after he cast the Sword of Aeons back to the void. He knew she was alive, that much was certain but nothing more.
"Brooding again...Hero?" spoke a dark voice, its direction coming from an ornate mask on the Guildmaster's study table.
"What do you want Jack? And will you EVER stop calling me that?!" the Guildmaster spoke sharply to the mask, albeit tiredly...but the edge is ever-present. If any person were to have seen the old Hero spoke to a mask, they would have associated it with the burden of paperwork slowly but surely starting to poison the nigh invincible Hero. Truly, it was a bane of existence, an enemy so vile and fearsome that the Archon himself failed to stop it.
The truth is, the Hero is talking to a mask, but the mask itself also spoke back.
Thus begins a mystery of what took place when the Guildmaster confronted Jack of Blades back at the Chamber of Fate, many believed the Void Ancestor to either be vanquished or returned to the void upon its "death", however the truth had been very much different...
Flashback:
In the Centre of the Chamber of Fate, stood two individuals both of them male; they could not have been any more different in terms of appearance, aura and presence. The person to the left adorning a pale white cloak, and beneath the cloak was a silver coloured armour that seemed to glow in the darkness of the Chamber, he wore an intricate helmet that covered his entire face with the exception of his eyes, which glowed a bright blue, radiating with barely restrained power. In his right hand was a very well crafted long sword, which also glowed a silver hue.
The person to the right looked very different, he adorned a blood red hooded cloak that fully covered his head, and underneath the cloak was light plated armour that was jet-black in colour. A white ornate mask covered his face, making his appearance as indiscernible as the man in silver; however his eyes were the most discernible trait of the man, which were a sick slitted yellow instead of the other's piercing blue. There were also two different masks that were hung on the front of his torso which completed his appearance. In his right hand however, was a long sword with a blood red hilt and a long black blade inscribed in ancient runes. The sword was easily larger than the one wielded by the man in silver, and was at least half the size of himself. It was surprising to note that the man in red seemed to hold it effortlessly with his right hand.
Lastly, there was a woman, being imprisoned in a wall of magic energy, her eyes were covered by a grey cloth, it was obvious that she was blind. The blind woman was 'staring' in the direction of the silver-armoured man, her face showing off hints of worry.
Who were these individuals? Oh the people of Albion were very aware who the two men were, to the left was one of Albion's mightiest heroes, the Avatar, Hero of Oakvale whilst to the right was one of the three members of The Court, Jack of Blades (1). It was clear to anyone whom would have been there that there was some kind of bad blood between the two Godlike individuals, but that was unsurprising since Jack practically killed Avatar's mother in order to re-acquire the sword he had to painstakingly worked his arse to forge Aeons ago, which lends itself to the aptly named Sword of Aeons...the name was surprisingly convenient, and held an air of mystique and awe at the same time.
And lastly, the blind woman was Theresa, the Hero's older sister, being held captive by Jack.
"So here we are again Hero, a battle of unimaginable proportions...it was indeed a touching family reunion, the mother, the son and the daughter. However...your mother's death was a necessity in order to bring back what is rightfully mine. Now that I am whole, it is your blood next and then I will see what to do with this world...burn it perhaps?" The Jack of Blades declared, his yellow eyes radiating with cruelty and malice, though there was an undertone of an indiscernible feeling that the Hero could not find out, if he had to hazard a guess, it was akin to desperation.
Moments ago, he saw Jack slit his mother's throat non-existent with non-existent remorse or hesitation. He was shattered to witness her mother's death but to his shock that was about it, that deed did not fill him with hate for the masked man, but rather an instinctual thought of finding out what were his true motivations, and to stop him as soon as he could.
"There is more to this than what you have said Jack, you are a ruler at heart, a manipulator; you would rather see yourself instilling your will over Albion rather than seeing it burn. There is simply no gain on your part to destroy it" Jack was silent for a very short moment, before he took up a combat stance, his right arm holding his blood-forged sword and his left a summoning spell.
"How very astute of you Hero, certainly a far cry from the naive little boy those many years ago, are you not? Perhaps we can come to an agreement, best me in combat and you can keep Albion away from my grasp for a little while longer, and perhaps I will let you on a little secret. There is more to The Court that meets the eye more than what William Black perceived us to be." His summoning spell was complete and in moments ten Wardogs (2) of the Court materialised and focused their full attention towards the hero.
The Wardogs charged towards the hero, their double-bladed swords poised to strike; the Hero acted fast and used his time-control manipulation to slow everything around him. He dodged every strike from each Wardog and effortlessly sliced through the vulnerable parts of each minion. In seconds, one, two, three Wardogs were killed off, evidenced by their dispersal in the form of a red mist, the Hero continued on, executing them with startling efficiency.
Jack gave an impressed hum; in his mind this was going to be a very entertaining and perhaps very dangerous fight, perhaps as dangerous as his battle with Black. Without hesitation, Jack entered the fray as the Hero dispatched the last minion.
The Hero caught the telltale light of an Assassin Rush and placed his sword in a defensive posture, in moments Jack was in front of the Hero, and both were now lock in a fierce swordfight. Jack's Sword of Aeons was the stronger weapon, its power amplified by the hands of its creator. However, the Hero adorned Archon's armour, and his longsword; Harbinger was no pushover either. The legendary weapon and raiment was more than able to compensate for any advantage that Jack's sword had over his own.
The swordplay lasted for a moment before both individuals were locked in a tight deadlock, both Hero and Void ancestor fighting for dominance.
"Oh how the young have grown, almost the perfect replica of the Archon" he said the word with a slight tone of disdain. "I must say you are indeed filled with surprises, but I have a few of my own". Jack dashed and made some distance from the Hero, and charged up his blade. He made a swiping motion and a wave of blade-like invisible air, surged from the Sword of Aeons towards the Hero; he made a quick dodge, and avoided the deathly blade-like wind by a few inches. It collided with the walls of the chamber and he could see a very clear part of the wall being cleanly sliced off. The Hero remained undaunted; he channelled mana into his body and performed an Assassin Rush towards the Masked Ancestor. Upon doing so he made renewed attacks on Jack, with increasing speed and ferocity; Jack was hard-pressed to defend himself from the Hero's unrelenting strikes and soon enough the Hero landed a firm punch with his left fist on Jack's masked face, making him stagger slightly.
That was when the Hero struck with his sword again, wounding the Ancestor of the Court slightly and he planted a firm kick towards Jack's stomach, launching him a few metres. Although launched back, Jack still managed to land upright, his eyes gleaming with glee and slight respect for the Hero.
Said Hero did not let up, he charged his left hand with Od and willed fire to form, the intensity of the flame was then strengthened with Mana; in seconds he launched a large fireball towards Jack, hoping to deal further damage to him, though it was unlikely that the fireball could do too much.
The fireball hit its mark as it landed on Jack, which in turn resulted in an admirable explosion of fire; when it subsided, the Hero was unsurprised to see Jack almost undamaged. A normal person would have been shocked that the fireball had little to no effect on the Ancestor, but the Hero knew the reason why.
"That spell of yours actually turned out much stronger than any other Hero, it seems like you have discovered the secrets of Will."
Indeed, the Secret to Will that not even Maze himself could discover; it took many years of practice, meditation and observation in the practice of magic for the Hero to understand Will in its entirety. However, the breakthrough came from the Hero's discovery of a very well hidden demon-door hidden deep in the mountains of Knothole Glade.
Frankly speaking, it was merely by luck that he encountered the Demon Door, and the only requirement it asked of him was blood-test. It claimed that only someone with the blood of the Archon was allowed entry, and surprisingly enough the door recognised him as a descendant. Through the door, was the Archon's stash of tomes, containing lost knowledge of Strength, Skill and especially Will. It was from his old tomes that the Hero of Oakvale discovered the two components that made up Willpower, rather than just mana.
The contemporary Guild member and aspiring Hero had no true knowledge of Will and most merely assumed that it was all part of Mana, the life force and energy ever present in the world. To them, only the Archon and perhaps the three members of the Court of Blades knew of the true nature of Will; however with the Hero's discovery, that made five individuals. Will was made up of two very distinct components; Mana, the universally recognised energy of the World, and Od; the energy ever-present within any human or animal that lived and breathed. The Guild apprentices and others merely harnessed one portion of Will, resulting in their difficulty in creating more destructive spells, or in Maze's case, doing them quickly. Maze was an exception due to the endless amount of training and experimentation on his part to improve his mana use, but that was it.
With that knowledge, the Hero of Oakvale was determined to keep it a secret until someone else he deemed worthy enough, he shall teach.
"You used reinforcement, didn't you?"
"Ahh yes, reinforcement...such a simple concept that holds so much use. Makes the brittle bones of an aged man as strong and unbreakable as the hardest diamonds"
"However there is more to Will that meets the eye, that much I can vouch Hero. You have certainly placed me on edge throughout our conflict, and I believe it is time to step things up." Jack dashed to the centre of the Chamber, and his body started taking a flame-like cloak. His entire person then levitated and the Sword of Aeons now in front of him. The Hero then heard the Ancestor chant.
"I am the Jack of Blades;
First be the Queen, third be the Knight;"
The Hero did not like where this is going, it felt as if reality itself in this chamber was being bent; and likely replacing it with whatever twisted image the Void Ancestor has in mind. Jack was levitating and hence was out of his sword's reach; he placed Harbinger back to its sheath and took out his Longbow.
"Thousands a blade I have forged;
Thousands a blade I have mastered;"
He was now frantic, the Hero took out an arrow and charged it with Will, and he released the arrow which was now split into multiple shots of energy converging towards the Ancestor.
"Blood of many, to forge my will;
Will to bring about the fate of man;"
The arrows hit their mark, but the arrows dispersed due to the barrier of Will protecting Jack from further harm. He then attempted to destroy it with more destructive spells, lightning, fireball, force push, anything but the barrier remained strong. The Hero sighed, it looks like he could not reverse or prematurely stop this, so he placed his bow back and held on to Harbinger, ready for whatever would take place.
"As I declare on by the will of the void, Court of Blades"
A massive wave of fire came from Jack's body, moving outwards; the Hero had no choice but to cover his eyes with his sword. He was slightly surprised by the lack of heat from the fire which by then would have gone through him. When he opened them once again, he was met with a very grim and foreign sight.
AN: Like I say, most of what I write tend to be experiments in one way or another, this is a prologue fic and will provide some significant linkage of how Fable will influence the events in Fate/Stay Night, and perhaps the bulk of Typemoon. And once the story ends and the links are drawn...CHALLENGE!
Jack of Blades is still one of the MOST Underrated antagonists in gaming, kind of sad he had SO much potential but is now merely a whisper in Molyneux fans. I also felt that Jack of Blades would have mixed in well with FSN. In fact, Fable in its entirety would mix well with FSN, Heroes Guild, Throne of Heroes, am I the only one to notice the potential there?
The end there...smells like a reality marble does it not? Since every R.M is unique to each entity, I will have to vary it slightly from the one I had originally intended. I am aware of how TOUGH Typemoon veterans are when it comes to knowledge, even in fanfiction.
What did you think? I welcome any constructive comments and reviews. If there is some inconsistencies in Typemoon explanations, I do apologise, but it is AU so some changes would occur. And this will be updated when it is ready. Thanks to all!
Jack of Blades image in my profile link, see for yourself
Wardog appearance link in my profile as well
Druid