Atop Mount Enzou, a dark void leaked its contents onto the world.
Black tar covered the mountaintop. It was already beginning to overflow and make its descent towards the unsuspecting town below.
A lone teenager stood in this river of mud. The mud flowed around his feet, yet he felt no pain. Instead, it seemed to welcome him, wrapping around his legs as if he were some long lost friend.
He let it have its way with him. There was no reason to fight it – his purpose had already been fulfilled; his story was already over.
Out of all the possible futures, only one remained. The 5th Holy Grail War had been one of complete despair, and all who participated in it had already met their ends. Now, as the mud reached the outskirts of the town, the only thing left on the red string of fate was unconditional destruction.
It had all begun with the simple desire to be born; the desire to live. Everything: all the death, suffering, and betrayal, had been a result of this simple wish.
And after all this time, that wish was finally coming true.
Fate/False Enkrateia
This is the story of two: a man who thinks himself to be a monster, and a monster who thinks himself to be man.
Prologue (January 7th, three weeks prior)
As the morning sun shone through the classroom windows, Rin sat at her desk, her mind anywhere but.
Around her, her classmates were chatting about their daily lives. From an upcoming test to a television program that aired last night, the things they discussed were relatively normal, for the lives they possessed were just that: normal. Normal lives belonging to normal people.
The girl sitting alone, however, did not possess such a life.
Only three more weeks, she thought to herself. In a few weeks, a battle of Magi would take place secretly within the city of Fuyuki. Heroes from across time would be summoned by skilled Magi and a battle to the death would begin. All of it in an attempt to obtain the mystical Holy Grail, an omnipotent device that can grant wishes.
The Holy Grail War.
Even now, the words of her father – her teacher – were etched into her mind. It was her duty to win, and she would fulfill that duty, without a doubt.
But the time for that had still yet to come.
She sighed quietly to herself when she heard the homeroom teacher enter. A state of silence quickly fell over the busy room as the students moved to their seats.
"A new transfer student will be joining you today," he said, in his regular impassive voice. He looked towards the opened door. "Enter and make your introductions."
When the new student entered, the class was beget with excitement, and some students began to whisper to one another. It was simple to understand why: from his light skin and dark blond hair it was apparent that he was a foreigner, which would make him possibly the first foreign student in Homurahara Academy's history.
Once he reached the front of the room, the foreigner took a moment to observe his bustling new classmates with a warm smile on his face. After the homeroom teacher quieted the class, the student began.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Charles Sennett, but please, I wish for you all to call me Charles. I have come to Japan from my home country of England, and although I've been taught Japanese from one of my many tutors, I am not akin to all your customs yet. I pray that you will all be patient as I learn."
Immediately after he finished speaking, the classroom flared up once again. Rin could not blame them. Their new classmate carried an almost royal demeanor, as if he were some foreign prince. He spoke in a manner that extruded confidence, yet he still possessed an air of invitation, one that gave the impression that he would be a trustworthy friend. For the average student, a person like that could have only been pulled out of the realm of fantasy.
"Quiet down," the homeroom teacher repeated. In comparison to the new student, his presence was a stringent one, so the class quickly subdued, although reluctantly. "Sennett-kun, there is an open spot between Tohsaka and Nishio. Take a seat so we can begin homeroom."
Rin could still hear the continued gossiping of those around her, and she was beginning to suspect this would cause a ripple effect throughout the school. Even setting aside his outlandish personality, a sudden transfer this far into the term was too bizarre to go unnoticed.
Seemingly unconcerned of how all eyes were on him, Sennett made his way to his seat. And as he passed Rin, their eyes met for a short moment. She felt like he was going to say something, but he simply nodded his head slightly in greeting, and took his seat.
Although it had only been a short moment, Rin could not help but feel a strange sensation inside her. There was something off about her new classmate, but she could not tell what. She felt it at the tip of her tongue, as if the reason was so glaringly obvious it was impossible for her not to see it, yet she still could not come to a conclusion.
But it was only a slight sensation; nothing worth mulling over, so she resigned, put the thought into the back of her mind, and focused on listening to homeroom.
"So, about those rumours…"
During an early morning within the quiet and serene archery dojo of Homurahara Academy, two friends were using the time before class to have some tea.
"What rumours?" asked Rin, the more reserved of the two, as she took a sip of the hot tea.
"The ones about you and Charles, obviously." Ayako replied, with slight agitation in her voice. "You haven't beaten me at our little competition, have you?"
Despite the calmness of the morning, as soon as Rin heard the mention of Sennett her mood immediately worsened. It had been three weeks since that foreigner had transferred into the school. And to Rin, those three weeks had been the most tiring weeks of the past year.
Sennett had become incredibly popular, incredibly fast. This rise in popularity could be attributed to many things: his distinct approachableness, his prince-like personality, or his above-average looks, but whatever the case, he was now one of the most-talked about students at the school.
Under normal circumstances, Rin would be fine with this. Besides maintaining her own status as school idol, she did not care much about any social circles within the school. There was only one problem. Sennett, for whatever reason, did his best to make maintaining her perfect honour student appearance harder for her.
Every morning, without fail, he would greet her. During lunch, he would often ask if she would like to eat together. After school, he would propose that they walk home together. And since he seemed he lived quite close to her, there were even times where he would find her on the way to school and begin chatting with her, as if they were close friends.
Being the school idol, this was not uncommon to Rin. Many boys have annoyed her like he has, but none have ever been so stubborn. Most get the picture after one rejection. Some don't understand until it is put bluntly. However, this foreigner took rejection like it was nothing. After every rejection he would simply smile, laugh it off, and say 'Oh, maybe next time!', as if it wasn't a big deal.
Somehow, this just made her even more annoyed.
But that was not even the worst part. Because of his popularity, anything Sennett did at school was noticed. And as a result, rumours had quickly begun to circulate, rumours that still made their way through the halls of the school. And Ayako had obviously picked up on them.
Sighing, she replied. "They're nothing but rumours."
"Oh?" Ayako said, grinning. "Are you sure? I've heard some pretty crazy things. Some say that you two are engaged, from an arranged marriage planned between both of your parents. Others say he is some sort of rich suitor, come to take you away to England after the two of you graduate. I've even heard that you two are long lost childhood friends, and that you both made a promise when you were young that you would marry when you got older."
Rin, who had been taking another drink of her tea, almost spit it out after hearing Ayako's response. She actually had to contain her laughter. What was that last one?
"None of those are true, Mitsuzuri-san. Or are you just hoping they are so you'll never have to see my charming face again?"
Ayako laughed. "I'm not that cruel, Tohsaka. I may be your rival, but if you left, things would get a lot more boring around here.
And besides, what's with that attitude? I know you've rejected a bunch of guys before, but Charles seems to be a pretty alright one. I figured you would at least give him a chance."
Just as Ayako said, Rin knew that many girls would love to be in her position. And if the circumstances had been different, perhaps she would have even given him a chance, if only to get him to stop annoying her. But there was one key misunderstanding in Ayako's questioning.
"Sennett-kun hasn't actually confessed to me."
Ayako's face lit up in surprise. "What do you mean he hasn't confessed? He is clearly interested." She took a few seconds to think of an explanation, and a smile slowly formed on her face. "Do you think maybe he is afraid to? Knowing you, I don't think it is that farfetched. Who knows how cruel your rejection would be."
"Maybe you should ask him yourself." Rin replied, after taking one last sip of her tea. "I don't know, and I don't really care to find out."
Even so, although she did not particularly mind his requests, – every school idol needs a couple stubborn admirers, after all – maintaining her mask grew tiring after a while. She would have preferred it to end sooner rather than later.
But whatever the reasoning for Sennett's pestering, she had other worries. Tonight, she would finally join the Holy Grail War. She had no time for a petty school romance. The battle of her lifetime was just about to begin; a battle she was absolutely determined to win.
"Y-Youuuuuuuuuu…!"
Within the darkness of Fuyuki, a battle between immensely powerful beings was raging on. Just as the killing blow was about to be struck, a bystander moved to jump in the way.
This bystander pushed away an injured girl and was immediately met with a massive blow from a giant more than twice his size. He collapsed onto the cold asphalt, his stomach completely blown away by the attack.
"—Why?"
All those watching the scene could only gasp in surprise. Rin, who knew that the bystander had been forced into the war, was perhaps most surprised of all. He had no wish, no reason to fight, yet he had risked his life to protect his Servant. And now, he lied in a pool of blood, all for nothing.
"…That's enough. This is boring." Said a young girl who was standing behind the monstrous giant. Just as she looked like she was about to leave, she left one final comment. "—Rin, I'll kill you if I see you again."
Rin ignored this comment, and immediately ran towards the bystander in a panic.
"…W-What were you thinking!? Don't you know I can't save you again…!?"
When she reached him, she could clearly see that it was much worse than it first appeared. His entire stomach had been blown away like it was nothing. But despite the severity of the wound, the boy somehow appeared to be still holding onto his life.
"Don't worry."
Suddenly, a voice coming from nearby took her away from the gruesome sight. She turned to look at the speaker and saw someone in a student uniform with a hooded figure behind him. Their faces were cloaked in shadow, making it impossible to see who they were.
As she stared at the two, the student began to walk towards her.
"He will be okay," he stated, as if nothing were wrong, "but we should hurry and get him out of here."
And as he got closer, she realized that mysterious student had dark blond hair, and was not Japanese.
Suddenly, her mood worsened.
