Warning for: slightly graphic violence, those worms, child abuse, suffering, death. I mean, one of the fandoms is Fate/Zero.
I. Servant
This time is different.
She knows it, knowing it by the smell of sulfur, of magic eater monsters that makes her think of squids and squashing them beneath her heels, knowing it by the loss of innocence in the taste of the blood-stained floors.
She knows it because it is not Soul which is flowing through her but something else, something that her mind tells her is called mana, It is warm and soft and airy, pumping a heart she doesn't need and a body that requires only little sustenance.
She smiles, expression soft, reflexive. She casts her eyes about the underground room. The worms squirm, wanting her, wanting so much of her.
Never again, you little mongrels.
She turns her eyes from the ceiling and towards the ground, towards the summoner. She has not ever been summoned before, not in a magical sense. She's been called to rooms, certainly. But this is new and different. Sayo thinks she might like it.
At least, until she sees her summoner.
Small, feeble body, purple hair. The similarities are uncanny. She touches her own locks, runs the ends through her fingers. The blank eyes reflect her. They have nothing in them that they should. She is not surprised. This place smells wrong for a child.
The words leave her lips in a voice that sounds heavier than she thought it would. "I ask of you," her words are so formal, it's almost like the cage-den, "Are you my Master?"
She does not understand but the thoughts twist in her mind and explain. She is a Servant, a weapon to fight for the Holy Grail and get her wish granted. What wish could something grant that she was not able to do herself?
Freedom from the loops?
Hah. Nah. That would get her into the loops all the tighter.
"Are you my Master?" she repeats. Her voice is still soft, she's careful to avoid startling the person, her summoner, this poor little girl. It seems like she's too empty to be surprised but Sayo knows better. She knows how it is to be a shattered corpse-child and come to life in baby steps.
"I..." The girl speaks and reaches out a hand, one with an odd red marking, like a flower on the moon. Then, of course, she faints.
Sayo makes a note to find her tormentors and throw them to their own worms.
A/N: So... this is an idea. I blame all the Fate/Zero videos I've been watching lately. For the moment, I have about half of this planned out and a loose idea of the ending. Let's just see where this takes us. But for now, let's focus on Sakura. She has a new guardian and we need to figure out how. Enjoy!
Challenges: Halloween Trick or Treat Bag day 22. Write a crossover with a Halloween theme. (And what is Fate/Zero known for? Summooning 'spirits'? See what I did there?), gameverse boot camp prompt 'righteous', and Diversity Writing Challenge I15. a multichapter with no prologue or epilogue.